Chapter Six – Sofia
Lucy opened the door for Sofia while Vivian scouted the area. Sofia couldn't help but feel annoyed with their paranoia today. Her nerves were a huge jumbled mess, and it felt like she had been on the verge of breaking down ever since they had found out what exactly was wrong with Aaron.
He was turning human. And it wasn't just some random magical attack that had managed to get through the walls, it was the potion. The one she had used to get herself pregnant. Had Gloria known? She had been angry with Sofia when she first announced that she was going to marry the vampire king... Could Gloria have taken that anger too far?
Sofia marched up to her friend's house and knocked rapidly. She didn't stop until Gloria answered, looking put out.
"Did you know?"
Gloria blinked. "What?"
"Did you know?"
Lucy put a hand on Sofia's elbow. "Not in the street."
Sofia glared at her bodyguard but pushed past Gloria into the house. Her friend protested. Lucy and Vivian ignored her cries as they followed their queen in. Sofia took a deep breath, resting a hand on her swelling belly. She turned to face her friend with the calmest expression she could muster.
"Did you know what the side effects of that fertility potion were going to be?"
Gloria's eyes widened. She rushed forward and grabbed Sofia's hands. "What is it? Are you okay? You didn't do anything out of character, did you?"
Sofia pulled away. "It's not me. It's Aaron. The potion is turning him human."
For a long moment, Gloria just stared at her. Then suddenly she turned away and laughed. Sofia's hands clenched. How could Gloria think that this was funny? Didn't she realize just how terrible the situation was? They didn't know what would happen to Aaron because of it. Did he have an immune system left? Would the change kill him? There were no answers!
And it was all Sofia's fault. If she hadn't been so reckless, if she had just made sure to take the time to talk to her husband about this…
"That's funny," Gloria said. "You had me going for a minute there. But it's impossible for a vampire to be turned into a human."
"It's not impossible, that's what's happening."
Gloria turned back, the mirth dying from her face. "You're serious? He's really turning human?"
"Yes!"
"But… you were the one who was supposed to drink it, not him."
Sofia shook her head. "I did. But he drank from me right after, and it had already entered my bloodstream. Why didn't you tell me that this could happen?"
Gloria pulled her hair to its ends, a distressed look on her face. "We have to look at the recipe again. It didn't say anything about side effects! I'll go get it."
Sofia shook her head. "I want my grandmother's spell book."
"But I got the recipe from a friend, not your grandmother's book."
"We still might be able to find a similar recipe in it, and figure out more about what is happening to Aaron. Where is it?"
"In my kitchen. I'll get it."
Gloria had always had a knack for magic that Sofia didn't have. When Sofia's grandmother had passed, she had decided to give the spell book to her friend. It seemed like the right decision at the time since most of the spells and potions in it were too advanced for Sofia's training. Right now, though, Sofia wished that she had been able to dedicate more time to lessons with her grandmother.
Sofia sagged onto the couch, resting her face in her hands while Lucy and Vivian both stood near windows, looking out. They had been with her as bodyguards from the start of her relationship with Aaron, although they only started accompanying her everywhere a month before the wedding.
Close to the beginning of her engagement to Aaron, a male vampire attempted to dance with her at a ball. It was then, when Aaron had had the man thrown from the hall, that Sofia realized that he had given her women as bodyguards because of his own possessive jealousy.
Their relationship had come so far since then. Aaron had realized that Sofia didn't see his actions as protective, but rather as a sign he didn't trust her, and had worked to overcome his issues. The incident before their wedding showed that it was still a work in progress, but he was getting better…
And now he might die because of me.
"Got it!" Gloria came back into the room, lugging a thick, age-stained book. She set it on the coffee table.
Sofia checked the table of contents, flipping to all fertility potions and anti-vampire protective wards. Her heart beat shallowly, eyes skimming over the ingredients lists. Eventually, she came to one that had the same recipe as the potion that she had made.
"Here it is. And here's the warnings. Side effects… vampires who drink a human's blood who has drunk this potion will become human. It doesn't say anything more than—" She gasped, her heart rising as she turned the page. "An antidote. A way to stop the transformation and turn Aaron back into a vampire."
Gloria frowned as she peered at the pages. "You'll have to make the potion yourself, it looks like."
"I can do it. Lucy, Vivian, we're going back to the palace." Sofia shut the massive tome and headed for the door. She stopped and turned back to her friend. "Thank you, Gloria. I'll let you know how it goes."
"Sure." Gloria gave her a wan smile. "And stop eating so much, you're getting fatter."
"I'm pregnant. Stop calling me fat," Sofia said shortly and left.
All the way back to the palace, she poured over the potion to fix Aaron again and again. There was a blood element to it that was unreadable, but other than that, it seemed straightforward enough. The final ingredient, black-capped toadstools, had to be added within five seconds of being picked under the light of a full moon, but it was the most complicated step to the brew.
Her heart rose as they arrived at the palace. They had hope again.
Sofia found Aaron in his office. He looked better than he had in the past few days. His skin didn't look as thin, his back was straighter, and overall he was better rested. It still looked strange to see him with a juice box in hand, munching on a sandwich. But his digestive system was changing, and he needed human food. Blood just wasn't giving him the nutrients he needed.
"I found a cure." Sofia put the book down over the papers he was working on and showed him the page. "I have to make it myself, but it should restore you to being fully vampire."
Aaron glanced at her with wide eyes before focusing on the page. As he read, his face first fell and then smoothed out, the way it did when he knew something wasn't going to work and was trying to hide his disappointment.
"Black-capped toadstools. They're only found down in the swamp."
"I know. But the rest of the potion can be readied beforehand and—"
"The radical sect of witches have taken up residence in the swamp, Sofia." Aaron put his hand over hers. "It's too risky to send you there. Seeing this, my guess is that they somehow set all this up in the first place, to get me off the throne. And I guess it's going to work."
Sofia's heart plummeted. "Aaron—"
"I won't lose you. We don't know if becoming human will kill me, but if you go to the swamp, chances are you will die. So no. You are not going to attempt to create this potion. I'm sorry, Sofia. I love you. But I really have to finish this paperwork off. I'll see you later."
Sofia picked up her book again. She hugged it to her chest as she glanced down at what Aaron was working on. It was an official abdication of the throne, and a document naming his replacement. Bile rose in her throat, but she turned away quickly. Her husband wouldn't see her cry…
But once she was alone, she let the tears fall. Being king was important to Aaron. He was determined to help people the best he could. He loved being a vampire. Sofia couldn’t imagine how much it would destroy him for his identity to be taken away…
It won't, she vowed. I am going to save him.
She opened the spell book again. First things first. She would need a cauldron.
***
If Aaron was still at his full strength, Sofia knew she wouldn’t have been able to sneak out without him knowing. He would have known everything that was going on for the past few days. Sofia had been using her old chambers to make the potion, and now had it in a thermos in her backpack with her grandmother's spell book as she slipped out of the palace. She had told the guards she was just going for a moonlit walk since she couldn’t sleep, but that was far from the truth.
It was the night of the full moon, and there was only one ingredient left on the list that she needed to turn Aaron back into a vampire. Black-capped toadstools.
Sofia took one of the cars and left the palace grounds, her heart in her throat as she headed for the swamp, where Gloria was going to meet her. Her friend had been scouting the area for some time and found the mushrooms they needed. Luckily, she hadn't seen any of the witches that were supposed to be living in the swamp.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gloria asked once they stopped at the edge of the swamp.
It was a dark, frightening place. There were a few paths and boardwalks set up throughout it, but nothing that a car could travel over. Sofia hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and nodded. "I'm not going to give up on Aaron."
Gloria put a hand on her shoulder. "Is it so bad to have a regular human as a husband? Is being a queen that important to you?"
"Being a queen has nothing to do with it," Sofia snapped as she headed in. "It's Aaron. You can't see how this is destroying him. He doesn't deserve to die because of my actions. And we have no idea how becoming human will affect him. A cold might kill him!"
"Sofia, I know this is hard for you, but—"
A flash of red light burst through the trees. Sofia stumbled backward, crying out as something hot seared across her shoulders. The smell of burnt hair mixed with the methane of the swamp. Gloria grabbed her arm and pulled her back the way they had come.
"It's a witch!" she shouted. "We're under attack. Sofia, run!"