RBC06.50 - Marcella, Vampire Mage (10 page)

It was exciting to think I would now have a chance to prove myself on this journey. As Katrina’s Watcher, I was bound to protect her no matter what might happen, even to the point of giving my life for hers, something our family had done for generations.

“Quinn,” Gunter started to pace, “I’ve have decided that only four of us will accompany the Baron and Katrina on this trip, and I feel you may be too young and untried in battle to be one of the four.”

I jumped to my feet, pulled my sword, and with anger I didn’t know I possessed, looked Gunter straight in the eye. Through clenched teeth I yelled, “I dare any of you to try to keep me from my duty. Nothing is going to stop me, including you, Gunter. If you have any doubts, let us settle them here, and now.”

Gunter gave a surprised look to Thomas, and slowly rose from the seat he had just taken by the fire. Looking around at the others, he shrugged and said, “All right, little brother, let’s see what you’ve learned.”

As I backed into the open part of the courtyard, Gunter drew his sword. As we prepared to fight, the fire reflected off our blades and made them seem to jump in our hands. We circled first right and then left. Gunter lunged, his sword held high. When moments before I felt tired and weak, I was now invigorated by both my anger and the thought my brothers would try to leave me behind.

I countered Gunter’s move, our swords sparking in the night. Out of the corner of my eye I could see servants and my other brothers gathering. Guards were now yelling encouragement from above.

“That’s it, lad, don’t let Gunter push you about!”

Gunter was strong, but I was fast and that easily made up for his extra years of training. I had always been a quick study and even before I was allowed to train with my brothers, I had mirrored their movement in mock battles over and over again.  Although Gunter had trained all of us, his eyes showed surprise at my proficiency; and at something in me he hadn’t seen before: pure rage. The rage brought an adrenalin surge that made me stronger, quicker, and more alert. We fought across the compound. Then Gunter made a mistake, and I seized my chance. As he lunged, I easily jumped aside. As he whirled by me, I whacked him on the back of his head with the hilt of my sword.

Gunter grunted, turned and swung for my head, but I ducked. With the newly found power of my anger, I hit him in the gut with my fist. Gunter bent over in with a gasp of pain and shock, and as I backed away the crowded courtyard erupted in cheers and laughter.

“I guess your little brother showed you a thing or two, Gunter,” a guard said from above.

Gunter raised his head, his hands still on his knees, and yelled, “Don’t you all have work to do? Be gone, morning comes quickly!”

Still breathing hard, I remained in an attacking stance, ready to continue if I must, the adrenalin still rushing though me would enable me to take on all of my brothers one by one if I needed to. I would not be denied. The coming journey was my destiny, now more than ever.

Gunter slowly stood and put his sword back in his scabbard.

“Well, little brother, you’ve learned well and I have obviously misjudged your skill. You have just earned the right to join us. So it will be the two of us, plus Thomas and Simon. Be ready, we leave before dawn.

~~~~

I rose with a start, not even sure what day it was. My head throbbed, and just as I was about to ring for Sarah, she rushed into the room, a full breakfast tray in her hands.

She dragged me out of bed, peeled me out of my rumpled dress, and helped me wash, all the while bemoaning the state of my beautiful hair. While I ate, Sarah told me about a fight the night before between Quinn and Gunter. What started it she didn’t know, only that Quinn had seemed to win and that everyone had survived intact.

By the time I had finished my huge breakfast, plus a large goblet of very fresh Crimson, Sarah had finished braiding my hair back, away from my face.

I rose and dressed myself in a simple, functionally tasteful traveling outfit of the softest lambskin leggings, riding boots, and a beautifully embroidered emerald green over-tunic. Sarah then pushed me in front the mirror, a gift from my father on my seventeenth birthday. Had it been so long since I looked at myself? I hardly recognized the girl in the mirror. The tall young woman looking back at me looked surprised too!

I had to admit, as Sarah often told me, I
was
pretty. My golden brown hair shone in the candlelight, and my green eyes, full of wonder at my appearance, complemented my outfit perfectly. I felt strong and ready for whatever would come.

The Vampire as a species has undergone centuries of evolution and a progression of that development is our ability to slow down the process of aging. Beginning in our seventeenth year, our metabolism slows and we begin to age very gradually. For the next hundred or so years my body would undergo only subtle changes, changes that would leave me looking more mature but essentially the same; unless of course I
didn’t feed.
I would have to apologize to Quinn about yesterday. I also wanted to ask him about the fight. Maybe it would be better to let him bring it up, I decided.

It was May in Germany, and although mornings were still cool, the wind was sweet with hints of jasmine in the soft mountain breeze. The birds were already awake, singing and going about their business. The beginnings of sunrise made the eastern sky glow with soft bands of pink and orange.

I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath. In my mind I could still hear my father’s voice asking, “What do you ‘see
’
daughter?” When I was small I didn’t understand what he meant, but soon the purpose of this action became clear. I was gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell, one even stronger and more refined than the normal vampire acute version of that sense. With my gift, I could ‘see’ almost everything—humans, vampires, and animals alike—and was able to discern their numbers.

Later, I was able to identify individuals, using each being’s unique scent (not always pleasant) as a marker. I was able to differentiate between horses, dogs, sheep, goats, and the like. When outside the grounds, I could add my acute hearing to my sensing, and tell not only the kinds of animals or people, but also how far away and in what direction they were. If I was patient and practiced, Father said it would become a very useful gift indeed. I quickly learned that once I found and identified a scent, that I was able to somehow store and retrieve it for reference later. I have never forgotten one.

“Katrina,” my father called as he walked towards me. Tall and regal, he looked handsome in his all-black attire, which included a hat and a cape. His slightly graying hair fell to his shoulders.

“Yes Father?” I replied, as I hastened to meet him.

“Are you ready? Did you have gifts packed for everyone?”

Although it was customary to give gifts of friendship to his Lordship the High Regent, and his wife the Lady Margarite, I had also ordered Sarah to pack extra trinkets and sundries in case we needed them along the way.

“Yes Father, everything is in order.”

It must have taken all night for the servants to complete all the preparations, I thought.

“Then let us be on our way. The journey is long and we know not what awaits us. Why his Lordship demands such secrecy I don’t know, but I’m anxious to arrive early and have some time to seek council with others before everyone else arrives.”

“Yes, Father.” I felt as if I was rushing behind him like a young pup, in order to keep up with his long stride.

Then I spotted Quinn and my heart started to race.  He was standing by the horses, my beautiful bay mare and his dark grey gelding, their manes fluttering in the early morning breeze. He was talking to Thomas and hadn’t noticed me yet.

Why was I reacting to him this way? He’d been my Watcher for a year now, and after all, we had grown up together. It was just my Quinn.
My
Quinn? Where had that come from? He’d always been
just
Quinn. I was drawing closer now and just as I stepped within a few feet of him, Thomas stopped talking and looked over. Quinn then turned and our eyes held for a moment before he looked away.

“My Lady,” they both said at the same time, and made a slight bow of their heads. My Lady? Not, good morning, Katrina, or why are you late? This was all too strange and I was determined to get to the bottom of it soon, but just as I was about to remark on their new attitude, the castle guard yelled out.

“Caravan approaching!”

Count Philepe Bistodeau, his son Gerhardt, and their entourage cantered through the west gate.

“Oh, good, Fredrik. I was afraid you would already be gone,” said the Count, slowing his mount to a walk and circling.

“We were just about to depart, Philepe,” Father said, extending his hand in greeting.

“Excellent, we can travel together. There’s safety in numbers, and we can talk along the way.”

Then Philepe turned his gaze to me.

“Ah, is this Katrina? How beautiful you have become. You remember my son Gerhardt don’t you?”

I did. A pompous, spoiled, self-absorbed peacock, as I recalled; but I said, “Yes, of course. How are you, Gerhardt?”

“I’m getting better all the time. I look forward to a long journey together.”

I managed
not
to show my distaste as I thought of being regaled by his self-aggrandizing tales of daring-do for days on end. If I heard him talk about how great he was one more time, I would be nauseous.

Quinn brought over my horse, Nulla, and helped me mount. After I was safely in place he gazed up at me and said in a low voice that only I could hear, “Don’t worry Kat; I’ll always be here to save you.”

Then he winked at me and went over to his horse and mounted.

I smiled and turned Nulla toward the east gate, positioning us so Quinn was on one side and Simon on the other. Gerhardt then had no option but to ride with someone else.

I turned to Quinn to say thanks, but he was looking straight ahead, a wry smile on his face. I know that I would have laughed out loud if I had been privy to his thoughts.

Much later, I was relieved when finally Gerhardt rode by us and joined our fathers. I had endured hours of his trying to engage me in conversation. His surrender was a small victory, but a very satisfying one.

For the next three days there was no privacy and no chance to speak with Quinn alone. We would arrive in Salzburg the day after tomorrow, about which I felt both excited and fearful. Having the young royal vampires together at one time and place had never happened before. Up to now, we had only briefly met with the other European clans to discuss rogue vampire killings or other clan business. I’d never seen most of the other clans. Of course Father had visited all of them, responding whenever help was needed, and knew those members who had been sent to Council. Along the way I had heard my father speaking to Philepe about how ‘on edge’ all the clans have been. The council is keeping the peace for now, but rivals are arguing among themselves over a new territory across the sea in the New World.

Where will all this lead? Was it true they intended to send us off to that New World they talked about? The Viking vampires had been going there for hundreds of years and had sent an expedition as recently as two years ago. I hoped there would be an opportunity to hear the tales of their exploits. These were not things I cared about usually, but the thought of young vampires from several of our clans being offered the opportunity of starting a new one in this New World, was exciting. I knew I wanted to go. Now all I had to do was convince my father.

Finally, after almost two weeks on the road, we were in sight of Salzburg. The view was stunning. I had no idea a place could be so grand, so beautiful. We rode through the city to the Regent’s palace, located not too far outside the city gates. We had no time to linger now, but passing the shops, seeing the lovely outfits adorning the women and the couples having lunch, it made me wish I had time to stroll the streets and explore all the wonders that abounded there.

“Daydreaming again?”

Quinn’s voice jerked me back to reality.

“Yes, and I wish.…” Then I realized these were the first words he had said to me for days, and I wondered where Thomas and Simon were.

He said, as if reading my mind, “Thomas and Simon are consulting with Gunter about how best to guard you and his Lordship while in the Palace. What were you about to say?”

I paused. “Nothing.”

My heart sank. I hadn’t been alone with him for days, and now that I did have a chance, I couldn’t think of anything to say. What a fool I was!

Quinn turned to me, and the look on his face showed me that he couldn’t think of anything either.

“I was thinking about the reason that we were traveling, the coming announcement about the Americas. You’d be coming with me? That is, if they really are sending us to start a New World clan, I mean.”

“Nothing is sure, Katrina. What we’ve all been hearing is just speculation. The High Regent may have called the Council together to tell us something completely different. He may even forbid anyone to go to this ‘New World’ as you put it. But I will say this: wherever you are, is where I’ll be, until I am no longer.”