Chapter 9

FINDING PURPOSE

 

 

 

"A princess? No. She's a bastard. A Shade. Everything she has in this life she's had to work for. My father… my father did not treat her kindly."

—Fenris Vane

 

I may not be able to break the contract, but I'm determined to improve it. I train late into the night with Fen, then wake early and finish breakfast before he and Baron return from their morning hunt. I'm leaving just as he arrives.

"You look to be in a rush," he says, when I nearly slam into him as he enters the dining hall.

"Just have some research I want to do," I say vaguely. I don't want to tell him my plan yet, because I don't want him to try to talk me out of it.

"Anything I can help with?" He raises an eyebrow, clearly curious about my intentions.

"Nope. I'll be in the library most of the day if you need me." He's standing so close to me I can smell him. I want to step back, to clear my head from the influence he has on me, but I don't. Instead, I step closer and lay my hand on his chest, pointing to a spot on his shirt. "Blood?"

He looks down and frowns. "Apologies. I'm usually more careful."

"Fen, yesterday when Rodrigo attacked me. He said something about how you don't let them feed properly. What did he mean?" I'd been thinking a lot about the hierarchal structure here with the different races, and some questions were starting to pop up. Like how did the vampires get their human blood?

"My realm is stricter than others about feeding on humans. It causes some… unrest." He averts his eyes and I can tell we are dancing on a sore subject.

"Do you feed on humans?" The thought of him doing so does not settle well with me.

"When I must." He steps back. "But I limit the frequency of trips to your world for feeding, and I've curtailed the keeping of more than a minimum number of human slaves in our world."

"There are human slaves here? For feeding on?" This is the first I've heard of that.

"Not many, and nearly none in Stonehill. My brothers aren't as particular. Weren't you in a hurry to get to the library?"

Feeling summarily dismissed I nod and wish him a good morning before leaving. Baron follows me, and I hear my two guards trailing far enough behind me that I don't feel totally stalked.

I explore the castle looking for the library. I could just ask Marco or Roco for directions, but I'd rather find it on my own and see what else I discover in the process.

Sadly, I do not find any secret passages or exciting rooms full of treasures. I do, however, find a room full of dusty furniture and rugs that look like they haven't been moved since the dawn of time. I also find several empty chambers, that Marco informed me had been empty as long as he could remember. "The Prince isn't much of a decorator," he tells me. Roco smirks at that.

When I finally discover the library, I feel as if I've found the heart of the castle. Roco and Marco stand outside the door, apparently confident that nothing will harm me within the sacred walls of so many books. I've always loved libraries, always loved being surrounded by books, so many books I could never read them in a lifetime.

And this library, with its ancient scrolls and leather-bound books, is full of its own kind of magic. The room has a high ceiling spanning several floors, with stairs going up, and tall rolling ladders spread throughout to help access books and scrolls on the highest shelves. It smells of old leather and parchment and magic and mystery. I run my hands over the spines of books I've never seen, never even heard of. Books not written or available in my world. The thought boggles my mind.

"May I help you?" a deep voice asks.

I spin around, my heart pounding. "I'm sorry, I thought I was alone."

Before me stands a tall, lithe man with long white hair and a long white beard. He wears white robes with symbols embroidered into them in silver thread. His face is unlined, though his eyes and hair give the impression of agelessness. And his ears are pointed. He looks different than the Shade. Less vampire and all Fae.

"You are never alone in here," he says. "This is my domain."

I hold out my hand. "I'm Arianna Spero."

He looks at my hand, but does not reach for it. Instead, he bows deeply. "It is an honor to meet you, Princess. I am Kal'Hallen, the Keeper of the Castle, at your service. You may call me Kal. Or Keeper."

"What does a Keeper do?" I ask.

He frowns at my question. "Why, he Keeps, of course."

Right. Obviously.

"I'm looking for information about the slave contracts in this realm. And anything I can find about how the slave trade works in this kingdom."

He nods and begins to walk down aisles while I follow. Balls of white light illuminate the large room. I point to one. "I've seen these everywhere. They are powered by magic?"

"Yes," he says.

"By you?" I guess.

His eyes widen. "How did you know?"

I shrug. "You look like the castle wizard."

His face pinches in distaste. "No. I am the Keeper of the Castle. Not a… " He flicks his wrist as if trying to get dog shit off his fingers… "wizard."

"But you are magic? You are Fae?"

He nods. "I am."

"Does that mean you too are a slave?"

He purses his lips. "There are no free Fae save for the Shade, and to call them free would be to play with the truth. All Fae are slaves to one degree or another in this world."

"And yet you are in a position of authority here?" He wears that authority in every step he takes.

"I am. Prince Fenris has bestowed upon me a great honor." We stop in front of a set of shelves lined with scrolls. "Now, what kind of information do you require, Princess?"

I tell him what I'm up to and he frowns again, but helps me. We spend the afternoon looking through books and scrolls and talking about the slave force in Inferna and how it's been exploited. "Why can't I just make it so Kara and Julian are paid?"

"Where would the money come from?" he asks.

"I don't know. Where does any of the money come from?"

"Each realm has its specialty. For Stonehill it is lumber and defense. For the Prince of Gluttony's realm it is food and herbs. There are also taxes on the cities and villages."

"So can't they be paid from those?"

He shakes his head. "The majority of our labor force are enslaved Fae. If we had to pay them all, there would not be enough funds to survive."

I shake my head. "There is a way. It might mean a disruption in the economic functioning of this kingdom for a time, but it is possible." I think of my own world, of how it must have been for the South to transition from slave labor to paid labor.

"You are talking about war, Princess. A disruption like that would lead to war, death, and the collapse of our government."

I sigh, frustrated, and close the book I have in front of me. "If I can't fix it for everyone, can I at least pay my own girls?"

Kal shrugs. "It would be up to you to find the funds. You are unlikely to pry it from the Prince. He keeps a firm hold on finances, particularly as winter nears."

"Why do the Fae not rebel? You speak of them as if they are not your people? But don't all Fae have magic?"

He leans in to whisper, as if to even speak of such things is treasonous. "Magic is strictly forbidden unless commissioned by a Prince directly, and even then only under supervision. Even I, Keeper of the Castle, cannot perform magic without Prince Fenris giving me a direct order to do so. Under penalty of death."

"But the only way that kind of rule works is if… "

Kal nods his head, and I frown.

The only way that kind of rule works is if the Fae have been put to death for using magic so often, they gave up trying.

It's late in the afternoon, and I need to stretch and get something to eat. I thank Kal for his help and promise I'll be back the next day for more research, then I head down to the kitchen to find a snack before I seek out Kayla.

I find her in her forge, working over the blazing fire while shaping a sword. I wait, watching, until she notices me and puts her work down.

She pulls off thick gloves and smiles to me. "Arianna! I hoped you'd come by."

"I wanted to see your work." It's not a small workspace, but it feels cramped with so much equipment, and hot with the fire blazing. Hanging from a wall and sitting on tables are swords, daggers, lances, arrowheads and armor and shields.

She walks over to me. "It's not much, but it'll do. I'm in the process of fulfilling Fen's sword order. The first step is turning iron into steel through carburization."

"Carburization?"

She holds up a large hammer and iron tongs. "I add a small amount of carbon through heat and hammering. Iron is malleable and ductile and can be easily welded and forged at high temperatures. Steel, though, is very tough and, once tempered, very hard and elastic. Perfect for making weapons."

I nod, taking it all in. "I have a favor to ask you," I say. My palms are sweaty and I'm not sure if it's nerves or the heat from the forge.

"What's that?" she asks.

"I'd like you to train me. I'd like to work for you." If the only way I could pay my servants is from my own funds, then I need a job.

She laughs, then stops when she realizes I'm serious. "Oh. Well, I already have an apprentice." As if being summoned by his title, a wiry boy of no more than eleven runs in, out of breath and full of news.

"Mistress Kayla! You'll never guess what I heard at Stonehill Inn." The apprentice has green hair the color of spring grass, with matching eyes and long, pointy ears. I can't tell if he's full Fae or a Shade, but my guess is a Shade. He's scrawny, and I'm trying to imagine him lifting the equipment required to work with metal the way Kayla does, but it's a hard mental image to latch onto.

"Daison, you know I don't like you hanging around there. It's not good for one your age."

He rolls his eyes in such typical kid fashion I can't help but grin. "I'm old enough," he says, puffing out his chest. "Besides, how do you think I'm getting you all the rich customers?"

Kayla laughs. "I'm pretty sure my reputation has a little something to do with it. But do tell, what is this amazing news I'm not going to believe?"

"The new Princess they brought in is going to be on display for the Princes, and some of the lads in town want to try to crash so they can get a better look at her. She'll be all dressed up fancy-like."

I'm assuming I'm the Princess in question, but this is news to me. Kayla looks surprised too, and glances at me with a frown. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

I shrug. "Not a clue."

Kayla looks back at her apprentice. "Daison, I'd like you to meet Princess Arianna, guest of Prince Fenris. Princess, this is my speaks-before-thinking apprentice, Daison."

I bite my lip to stop a laugh as his jaw drops open in shock. He lowers his head and bows. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I didn't realize."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Call me Ari. And don't worry about it. It was an honest mistake."

His pale face turns bright red and he mumbles some excuse about picking up more iron, then darts out of the smithy so fast I barely see him run.

Kayla sighs. "He's a good lad, but so very young. It's hard to remember being that age."

"I'm confused about something," I say. "I don't see any old people here, though some, like the Keeper, look old, until you look at their face. And there are children. I've seen them around the city."

"Vampires can't breed with full vampires," she explains. "They need Shades or Fae, or even humans, to breed. And once those children grow to full adulthood, they essentially stop aging physically. For the Fae, the older we get, the whiter our hair becomes. Fae with white hair are deeply respected as elders. It takes several hundreds of years or longer to achieve their look."

So would I be considered a full vampire after I take the Blood Oath, I wondered? If so, how does that work with giving one of the princes an heir?

I want to ask more questions, but Kayla walks back to her forge and uses tongs to pick up a chunk of metal and heat it over the fire. She uses the mallet to bang on the steel, molding it into a sword. "So why do you want to work for me?"

"I need a purpose here beyond just being the princess who must choose the next king," I explain. "I've always worked hard. And… I want to be able to make my own sword, when the time comes."

She eyes me skeptically. "This isn't easy work. It requires physical strength, attention to detail and patience."

"All I'm asking for is a chance."

"You don't start out making swords. You start out sweeping," she says, holding a broom out to me.

I take it and begin sweeping.

 

***

 

Days pass. I spend early mornings training with Fen in sword, hand-to-hand combat and anything else I can get him to teach me. I spend the day working at the forge with Kayla and Daison. The boy seems thrilled to have an adult to boss around, and delights in his new raised status even as he blushes and becomes unbalanced each time I walk into the room. There, I spend my time sweeping, putting away tools, cleaning rust off devices and putting them away, cleaning the forge, hauling stock, fuel and water, whatever I'm told to do. It's back-breaking work, and by the end of the day I am exhausted, but I still manage to spend most evenings in the library with Kal, learning what I can about the history of the world in which I now live.

Each night during dinner I pepper Fen with questions, which he always answers with increasing worry in his eyes.

My body is growing stronger. I am getting more experienced with the fighting techniques Fen has been training me in, and I am actually starting to enjoy my life in Stonehill.

I'd nearly forgotten about the odd bit of information Daison first brought to us about me being put on display for the princes until Fen brings it up over dinner.

"You will need a dress," he says. "Perhaps Asher can help with this."

I laugh. "No, I can manage. I'll talk to Kayla about it tomorrow. But what do I need it for?"

He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes glancing away from me. "I have been informed you are to be presented to the princes in half a fortnight, so they can all meet you. It seems some have been grumbling that they have not had a chance to set eyes on you and this gives them a disadvantage in your selection."

The real disadvantage is how fast I'm falling for the man in front of me, but I say nothing. I can tell he's trying to keep his distance from me, even as he keeps me safe and trains me.

"Is it a formal?"

He nods.

"And will you be escorting me?"

"I suppose, yes. Though once you are there, I will be at the same level as them. That is to say, you will be no one's date, to maintain balance."

"Who decided this?"

"The Council," is all he'll say, as he stands to go. "I trust I will see you at sunup for your training?"

I nod, and he turns to leave.

That night as Kal and I pour over books, I ask him about the Council.

"The Council consists of the seven princes. They were meant to be advisors to the king. When a matter was in dispute, the king had the princes vote on a matter and usually abided by the majority rule."

I tell Kal what they have commanded of me, and he frowns. "I have never heard of this. It is not a custom or tradition that has been done before."

"I guess there's a lot involving me that's new."

"That would be quite true," he says.

"Why do you think the king wanted me here so badly?" I ask.

"I have given that considerable thought," he says, his hands idling over one of his beloved books. "But I do not have an answer. It is completely unorthodox, even for a king who changed much of his policies toward the end of his life."

"Kal, I have a question… "

"How shocking," he says totally deadpan.

I laugh. "I know, I'm usually so timid and reserved."

That gets a guffaw out of him.

"But seriously, I'm curious. How would someone from my world contact a demon to make a deal? Somehow my mother managed to do this, but I can't for the life of me figure out how."

He lifts my right hand and flips it over, revealing the symbol on my wrist. "That is a demon mark. It is unique to each demon. Yours is the sign of Lucian, who originally made the deal with your mother. When you agreed to their contract, you became part of that deal and thus took his mark. Your mother would have had to know his mark and draw it in blood to summon him."

"So as long as you have blood, you can summon any demon if you know their mark?"

Kal nods. "Indeed, that is the way of it."

"Do Fae have these too?"

"No, we do not. We use a much older magic, some would say. At any rate, it is very different."

 

***

 

I tell Kayla of my need for a formal dress the next day and she agrees to help me shop for the materials required to have it made.

My time in the forge, though hard, sweaty, dirty work, has been rewarding thus far. I learn a lot just by watching her shape and sharpen steel into all manner of weapons. What surprises me is how much time she also spends crafting regular everyday items, like nails and doors and locks. But I think some of my favorite work of hers is her jewelry. Her designs are magical, and she uses crystals found throughout the city to make them more amazing.

"Would you teach me how to do this too someday? When I'm ready?" I ask, holding up a ring.

She nods. "When you're ready."

Daison trips into the smithy, all knees and elbows and blushes. He stutters when he says hi to me, and I smile and try to make him more comfortable. He can't make eye contact with me, but he's holding something small wrapped in leather that he shoves into my hands. "I heard it was recently your birthday, so I made you this."

My birthday. That seems like forever ago, but it was really just a few weeks. I take his gift and let the leather fall open to reveal a small dagger stuck into a custom black leather scabbard with silver designs. I pull it out and admire the edge, sharpened to a deadly degree. The blade has graceful leaves carved into the steel. "This is beautiful," I say, honestly. "I will cherish it."

He grins, looking up at me long enough to see that my words are genuine. On impulse, I reach over and hug him. He staggers in my arms, then wraps his around me and returns the hug, before pulling away.

When he runs out, I strap the dagger around my waist and admire the way it hangs at my hip. "He does good work," I say.

Kayla grins. "He did learn from the best. But I'm surprised he gave that to you. He's been working on it for a year."

I look at her, stunned. "A year? I can't accept this," I say, reaching to take it off.

She places a hand on mine to stop me. "You must. It would break his heart if you refused. He's quite taken with you. I think you remind him of his mother."

"What's she like?" I ask, realizing I know very little about him.

"She was beautiful, like you," she says. "Fae, of course. A slave. She was raped by a vampire and left for dead, pregnant with him. She died when he was a young child, though no one knows how. I suspect the vampire who attacked her came back to finish the job. He would have gone after the child too, but Daison was smart, clever. He hid until it was safe. I found him days later, his dead mother still in their home. That's when I took him in as my apprentice. I made up a story about him to cast off suspicion. He's a Shade, so he couldn't be enslaved, but it wouldn't have gone well for him if he'd been left to fend for himself, either."

My throat tightens at the story, and I fight a wave of sadness imagining what that poor boy has been through. "Did anyone catch the vampire who hurt his mother?"

Kayla laughs a bitter laugh. "No one ever looked for him. She was a slave. Property. Nothing."

I feel sick, struggling to think of what to say when we hear a scream from outside. Kayla and I run around the back of the forge, where Kayla keeps a wagon she loads up with weapons to deliver to Fen, or other customers as needed. Daison was meant to transfer the new supply of swords to the wagon, but something is wrong.

Another scream comes from behind the wagon, which looks off-centered, as if it's been knocked to the side.

Kayla and I rush around the wagon. Daison is trapped under a broken wheel, his body contorted in such a way that he doesn't even look human. His leg bent backwards at the knee. He is so pale, and his blood is seeping into the ground. Kayla screams at me, and I move to help lift the wagon off him, but it's full of steel swords, and I'm only human. Not strong enough to lift this. I bend down next to Daison, who is slipping in and out of consciousness. I brush the hair off his sweaty brow, my eyes flooding with tears. "You're okay, kid. We're going to get you out of this. Just hold my hand."

His hand, so cold and still, does not move in mine, and I fear we've already lost him.

Kayla curses under breath, as if arguing with herself about something. She seems to come to some kind of decision and bends down next to Daison, pulling out a pendant I've never seen before, tucked under her tunic. She holds the stone in her hand and mumbles words in a language I've never heard, but somehow feels familiar, like something from a dream I once had.

As she speaks, the wagon begins to lift off Daison, who is so still in my arms. I pull him out before the wagon falls, then watch in amazement as Kayla leans over him and rests her stone on his chest as she continues to chant.

A thick piece of wood sticks out of his abdomen. She pulls it out and straightens his twisted leg. He screams so loud I have to resist covering my ears.

But as Kayla continues to chant, his body begins to mend, and his breathing levels out. Color returns to his face.

"We must get him back to my house," she says, lifting the boy's body easily in her arms. I follow them as she moves quickly through the streets and into a cottage near a waterfall surrounded by trees and the mountains. It's more remote than the other houses. I follow them in, and she guides me to a small bedroom to the right where Daison usually sleeps. I turn down his bed and she lays him in it, then covers him up and says one more chant before ushering me out of the room.

Her cottage is small. She sleeps upstairs in a small room. Daison sleeps down here. There's a hearth with a fireplace and a pot hanging over it, a small kitchen packed with herbs and fresh food, and a living room with a few comfortable chairs and cushions on the floor. Kayla makes us both some tea and sits down in the chair next to me as we both stare at the fire.

"That was magic," I say.

She nods, sipping her tea. "And if you tell anyone what you saw, Daison and I will be executed."

"Fen would never do that!" I say, hoping I'm right.

"He would have no choice. And it doesn't matter. If he didn't, someone else would. It is the way things are. My life, Arianna, is now in your hands." She looks over to Daison's bedroom door. "His life is now in your hands."