Okay, so I went back and forth about posting all this as split chapters or not. In the end I'm splitting it, mainly just because the rest of it isn't done yet and it has been a while since the last chapter. Plus, the first half is more than 5,000 words and I know a lot of you prefer smaller chapters. I'll try to bust my chops on the rest, but it has been particularly crazy these last few weeks so as usual I am making no promises.
Part of the reason this whole chapter was such a pain is that the history is mostly accurate. Many a year ago when I was fleshing out the plot line, I stumbled into the history of Dacia (modern day Romania) and was blown away with how the actual history lined up with the story ideas I had. Really, really crazy stuff. The king, the battles, the mysterious ending, the Draco, it is all accurate. So the history is real, minus the vampirism, of course. (…but it is awfully coincidental…)
Moving on… I am guesstimating that the next half will be the end of GPOV, So B's back story is almost over… and you know what that means…
Kisses to D, S, and T. Who indulge me more than I deserve.
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Frustrated,Itoss the stick out from the cover of trees. While I haven't seen anyone in hours, it is not worth the risk. Not when we are this close. The bright sunshine has us trapped for the next few hours at least. I sigh as I head back into the woods and find her lounging at the base of a branch a few feet off the ground.
"How about that history lesson while we wait?" She calls down to me.
"Now is as good a time as any, I suppose." I hop up to her branch and balance on a fork and take a seat, swinging my feet and watching our whole branch sway.
"The Trinity can best be explained as half vampire history and half fairy tale. To most, the Trinity is nothing more than legend," I begin. "So you know the rule against immortal children, yes?"
She responds with a roll of her eyes, "I am not entirely hopeless."
"Well The Volturi would have you believe the law is simply what they say it is: A rule to insure the accountability of every vampire, to protect us from detection. They would have you believe that children are too impulsive, too destructive to handle the change and the newborn years. They are too much of a liability. While there may be a shred of truth to that, for the most part, and as usual they are entirely full of it."
"Not again." She sighs with a dry chuckle, banging the back of her head on the trunk. "Shall I go fetch you a lovely tin foil hat? I swear Garrett; the conspiracy theories get crazier and crazier. If you put half the effort into…"
"This is completely true." I insist. Can she not see the importance of what I am trying to tell her?
"They always are Garrett." She chuckles again shaking her head.
I spare her a dirty look before continuing.
"Around 85 AD in what would someday become Transylvania and even later become Romania, there was a country called Dacia. Dacia was ruled by powerful king named Diupaneus. He was known a brilliant strategist, credited with reuniting the 'states' of Dacia so to speak and making Dacia a very powerful nation. He was also a renowned and fierce warrior. Legend has it he was so brilliant in battle during the early years of his reign; his subjects had renamed him Decebalus meaning 'strong as 10 men.'"
"A vampire?" She interjects.
"Precisely," I smile over at her. "Since Egypt it had been common to turn those in the most powerful positions. It became almost a form of insurance, granting one eternal life tends to make one rather loyal to the cause."
"So Decebalus was not just the king of one of the most powerful nations, he was the vampire king of one of the most powerful nations. Before his reign, the vampire council had been based in Dacia. As was usual for the time it was comprised of the oldest vampires. But things were changing. Cities were changing. Vampires were changing. Most importantly, people and their beliefs were changing. Christianity was taking hold. And where we once were worshiped, fear had begun creeping in. The council was hesitant to change. As he gained power Decebalus saw them for what they were at the time; archaic, mistrusted, fairly weak and widely disrespected. So he dispatched the council and declared himself King of the vampires as well as humans."
"Dispatched?" She interrupts.
I stare at her, raise my brows expectantly and one side of my mouth curves up.
"Dispatched," she repeats pressing her lips together with a nod, "Got it."
"Surprisingly for someone who up and declares himself king of anything, he was not a horrible ruler. He had a wicked temper and served as judge, jury and executioner to both species of his subjects. Yet he organized those in his rule and helped protect them, mostly from each other. Those that were able to palate the thought of a monarchy were content to let him hold his title. Yet as the years went on he began to grow paranoid, obsessive in holding his crown."
"This paranoia began to eclipse the same strategic intuition that won him his following. He began to quietly track down and execute anyone he considered a threat, a distinction that was not very difficult to earn at the time. It was the oldest and most talented that bore the brunt of his insecurities. As his tenure and his massacres led on, there were stirrings in Rome."
"The Volturi?" she asks sitting up on her perch.
"But of course," I reply, not masking my distaste. "Several millennia younger, they were quite a bit more charismatic yet every bit as ruthless. They played Decebalus' insecurities against him. They offered the promise of a new ruling council, not a self serving monarchy. Considering their most valuable allies would be the very ones Decebalus had been out to assassinate, the Volturi had very little difficulty in recruitment. Given Dacia's human political power at the time and the fact that the Roman King was indebted to the Volturi, the Romans – both the human king and his army and the Volturi and their army - invaded Dacia.
The Roman army was larger than Dacia's by far. The Volturi's contributions far outweighed Decebalus' own champions, yet no matter the tactic they tried, they could not budge him or his army from their foothold. The Dacians easily beat back the first invasion. Every assassination attempt was thwarted. Every spy was captured. The second invasion did gain the Romans a tract of land, yet they were still beaten back by an army a barely quarter of their size."
"Decebalus and Dacia seemed utterly unstoppable."
"Now this is where it gets really interesting." I bait, as I turn on the branch to be able to face her. "According to the Volturi version of events, one of Decebalus' highest ranking officers was captured. Through the gifts of their guard, they were able to break the man, gaining enough information to hit Decebalus where he least expected it. Within a few days Decebalus had met the true death by suicide and Dacia was under Rome's command."
"And the other version?" She leans in towards me, completely engrossed.
"The true version has it the Volturi were completely stumped. Both the King and the Volturi were starting to look weak and incompetent. The Roman king especially was more than a little fed up of being embarrassed in Dacia. By all accounts, both Rome and the Volturi were bested."
"So the three were locked in their tower plotting a final strategic attack when a small girl appeared before them, she was incredibly young, Dacian, and a vampire. She claimed the secret to Decebalus' invulnerability lie with his 'children'. She was one of his former human subjects. Her father, a criminal sentenced to death, had offered her life in exchange for his."
"That is horrible," She interrupts again, sitting forward. She shakes her head in disgust as the light sneaking through the foliage sends shards of light glittering off of her skin. "Why would someone do that to their child?"
I can only shrug, "Life was much different then, harder, especially those unlucky enough to be born female."
"It is still horrible." She adds, settling back in her branch. "Did he mean to turn her?"
"No one quite knows his motivation at the time. Perhaps he was merely interrupted, or curious. Regardless, the girl became his greatest achievement. He soon realized his ward was talented for and above anything he had ever seen. So he sent his spies to the villages, keeping tabs on all the children and chose the strongest and the brightest for his experiments. Only the very best and most useful were kept. It was an atrocious and vile action, yet it was a brilliant move on his part. He was able to Control the humans with the concerns for their children, publicly executing any vampire causing him trouble by pinning the deaths on them and slowly and privately amassing his collection. In the end his crown jewels were the three, the Dacian Trinity, whose combined powers alone were enough to keep Decebalus in his crown."
"At first his children were easy to control, easy to manipulate. With no memories of their previous lives, a defeated Army would cost him no more than a few villagers, a pony, a new dress, a new bauble. The children were spoiled, coddled and blind to the fact they were being used. But all children grow up, even the immortal children. After 30 years a girl is an adult even if she appears to be a child still. As they grew beyond the ability of being so easily used they became nothing more than prisoners."
"So the Trinity had enough of being Decebalus' pawns and presented a solution to appease both parties. The Romans would again invade Dacia and the Trinity would not hamper them, they could claim Dacia and bring Decebalus' human crown under Roman rule and move the vampire governing body to the Volturi and to Rome. In return the Volturi would kill Decebalus and remove any evidence of them at all. Most importantly the Volturi would swear on their rule they would use every resource at their disposal to prevent children from being used as weapons again."
She leans forward on her branch again, wrinkling her brow. "But if they were powerful enough to take down the Roman army, why would they not 'dispatch' this Decebalus themselves?"
"I can only assume it was part politics and part self preservation." I reply with a shrug. I had spent quite some time debating the very same question with Dar. I lean back on the branch leaning my head on my folded hands. "As is customary, if Decebalus was to fall whoever had defeated him would be named as the new ruling party. Not only were the Trinity obviously tired of the blood, the violence and war and were disinterested in further responsibility of vampire affairs. Additionally and more probable in my opinion is they feared idolizing the turning of children. The Trinity were a very closely guarded secret. Decebalus would not risk his human subjects learning what was becoming of their children, just as he would not allow anyone to learn of his secret weapon."
"Think of it Elisabeth," I rise to sitting, "what do you believe would happen if it became common knowledge that children could be turned and would posses advanced abilities, abilities that could challenge the Roman Empire?"
"There would not be one fool with delusions of grandeur that did not create an army of children." She replies with a small, sad shake of her head. "So if they are so secretive, how do you know all this?"
"Oh that's easy." I reply with a smirk, leaning back on my branch, "I know everything."
Her eyebrows rise expectantly.
"Through Dar," I admit. "They have an almost friendship and I was lucky enough to hear the stories from her."
"And how do you suppose we find them?"
"They find us. If they are interested in seeing us, that is. I sent word to Dar and I trust she'll forward the message."
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I feel the cool water shift by my feet. Patience, just be patient I caution myself as I continue to busy myself rinsing the dirt from my clothing. We have been staying close to where Dar had suggested, but after almost two weeks with no contact at all I am starting to worry. I would have expected something by now. I have to make contingency plans in the even they decide we are not worthy of an audience. Where else can we go? As much as I hate the thought, the very best I can come up with is Eleazar. I can bring him here to her. Certainly he trusts me enough to come if I call, it is just a call I hate to make. As much as I dislike the idea of dragging him into this, I am even less fond of the thought of Katie getting wind of my companion. It is a horribly selfish desire. My loyalties must lie with Elisabeth. Technically this is all my doing. I cannot leave her to fend for herself over what another woman may think, even if that other woman is Kate.
Another small disturbance brings me back to myself. I continue my much needed grooming, unbraiding my hair taking careful consideration to remove all the small debris. I survey the surrounding woods again; satisfied they appear empty I close my eyes and concentrate on my hearing. A few small heartbeats, wings flutter, leaves rustle and otherwise I appear to be entirely alone in the river. I feel another ripple, slowly creeping upwards. Not much longer now.
But how much longer, I sigh to myself, how much longer should we wait, another week, two? Two seems excessive; I will just have to assume that no word is a refusal. A week then, another week and I'll send a note to Dar, see if she has news. And if there is no word of the Trinity I shall call Eleazar. There is no better alternative.
Contingency plans solidified, I finish unbraiding and run my fingers through the wavy mess, untangling the ends. Another more powerful wave caresses my legs, the interruption of the water still delicate enough to be missed by anything besides the fish and myself. I place my hands on the top of the water, acting as though I am about to go under to rinse my hair and I feel the water practically quiver with restrained power. One second more… I take an unnecessary deep breath and close my eyes, tipping my head back as just another part of the act. I feel the water shift again and rather than slowly slipping back and under the cool water, I drop to my knees and sink down too quickly for even the fish to follow. My hand shoots upward, caching her by the ankle as she attempts to turn her gross overshoot into a flip. She tries to struggle, but my grip is rock solid as I jump back to my feet holding her still by the ankle.
"Something wrong with your side of the river, love?" I ask as I hold her aloft. Her laugh echoes from the trees.
"Damn you!" she shouts, slapping the water for effect. "How did you know?"
I right her and float back slowly.
"It is amazing you manage to eat if you consider that stealthy." I flash one of my most teasing smiles as she rearranges her shirt, "Toss me the shampoo?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" she calls back as she ties off her own hair, "I would like to see you do better, I seem to remember a certain night in Rio Ebro." I slip underneath the water and inch closer, waiting until she turns toward my bag on the bank "How big was the one that got away agai…"
I spring up out of the water just high enough to place my hands on her shoulders and push her back and down, rear first, into the water and the mud below. Using the momentum I swing forward, hopping over her and head towards the shore. I don't make it three feet before her hands catch my leg. Rather than hold tight she kicks the back of my knee hard enough to pitch me forward. Her other knee comes up to the back of my neck as she grabs my arms, pins them behind me and forces my head down into the mud. I am horrified and proud at the same time.
"Say uncle!" she shouts in triumph.
I release the tension in my arms, letting her think she has won this round. I pull my feet underneath me, the best I can under present conditions and kick into the mud, swinging back and causing her to lose enough of her grip that she tumbles back into the water. We both reach our feet in the same instant and slowly circle each other.
"You will pay for this." I call out to her pointing to my mud covered hair.
Her laughter echoes from the banks. "Bring it on, old man." She challenges, with a grin, soaked, muddy and positively radiant.
She feigns right. As I compensate she lunges forward hands outstretched and knocks me off my feet back into the water. When did she get that fast? I jump up, spitting out water. She is doing some sort of silly little victory dance shaking her fists like maracas and rocking her hips back and forth. Combined with fact she looks like a drowned cat, it is enough to have me doubled over laughing smacking the water, until a small voice freezes us both in place.
"Can I play?"
The young girl sits high in the tree on the opposite riverbank staring down at us with amusement. Elisabeth flashes to a position of defense by my side a moment before I use my forearm to sweep her behind me.
The girl merely laughs as she drops to the ground in a crouch before righting herself. Hands behind her back, she walks to the river's edge. Up close she is even younger than I had first imagined. I cannot even begin to guess her human age, less than ten surely. She would barely reach my waist. She is thin, dressed in a simple burgundy shift and barefoot. Shiny cooper coils snake up both of her arms, pale for even our kind. Her long brown curls frame an angelic round face. Only the red glow of her big, sweet eyes betrays the picture of childhood innocence.
"She is more than we had been led to believe." She directs to me with curiosity managing to still eye Elisabeth warily.
"She can be addressed directly." Elisabeth announces coming to my side again. I reach my hand out to squeeze hers. A warning now is not the time to appear defiant. The girl may appear the ethereal picture of her youth but I have no doubt she is every bit as capricious and lethal as the legends claim.
Her soft, sweet chuckle surprises us both. "So she will be," she allows appearing rather amused. "My apologies, old habits are certainly hard to break. We mean no disrespect." Her wide smile, intending to be disarming I'm sure, is nothing short of incredibly creepy.
Elisabeth somehow manages a weak smile in return.
"Please forgive the delay in greeting you properly." She says as we head out of the water to join her on the bank. She takes a few steps backward as we emerge, taking careful consideration to angle her body as far from Elisabeth a possible. "We prefer to have a bit of information in regard to our visitors, especially in circumstances such as these."
"I would expect nothing less." I admit reaching for a dry shirt in my pack.
"Then we shall give you the opportunity to dress. Feel free to follow at your leisure." With a small nod she disappears back into the woods.
My back to Elisabeth, I remove my fairly cleaned yet still soaking clothing and don a new set. I wring out the excess water before shoving them into the pack. My mind spins through not only the strange introduction, but the thought of the 'information' they would have been gathering. While I still believe this is the best avenue currently available to us, there is a certain aura of intensity surrounding the girl that makes me incredibly uneasy. Hearing a sigh behind me, I turn back to Elisabeth and I can feel the tension rolling off of her as she busies herself tying up her boots.
"That was…" she trails off staring back at the tree the girl had been perched in.
"Uncomfortable?" I offer, "unexpected, intimidating?"
"Creepy", she finally finishes with a dry chuckle. "I had no sense of her at all. I hadn't known a single thing was out of place until she spoke."
"I would venture that was intentional" I reply reaching down and offering her my hand. I help her to her feet and make motion for her to take the lead as I reach behind her and pick up her pack as well before heading for the trees and following the trail left for us.
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We reach the small stone house quickly and again I am rather bewildered we spent weeks in these woods and never had inkling it was so close. It is a simple and ancient stone structure so tightly bound by trees it appears to have grown from the dirt alongside them. A well sits off the back side of the small clearing. The only other adornment is a long strange red and green cylinder the size of the child, hanging from the closest tree branch. Elisabeth draws closer reaching out to turn the strange object. It is brass with a thick patina, some sort of animal head with what appears to be multiple tongues. A dog perhaps, leading into the body of a dragon before becoming the long red fabric tube. She turns to cock an eyebrow in my direction and I only shrug, having never seen anything quite like it. It seems to encourage the same general feeling of unease as the girl. She comes from behind us as we are admiring the strange decoration.
"It is a Draco." She announces with another incredibly unsettling smile as if that were explanation enough.
I nod as though I have any idea what a Draco is supposed to be. Rather unconvincingly I assume as she reaches out and lets the tail of red ribbon run through her fingers. "It was to be held aloft by a guide as he rode into battle." She explains. The focus in her eyes is much, much farther than the tree line. "The wind of the rider would cause the Draco to sound as if it were screaming. A horrible keening wail meant to intimidate your enemies. We keep it as a wind chime." She admits, turning back to us with a small shake of her head, bringing herself back from her memories. "A private joke if you will."
"Shall we?" she motions to the door. As much as I would love to enter first and assure myself there is no danger, I do believe formality will do us more of a service at the moment. I reach out and hold the door for our host as she gathers her skirt and walks over the threshold. With a questioning glance Elisabeth follows and I can only hope I am making the right call, that the courtesies will be mutual.
I have to duck slightly to make it under the door frame. It is nothing more than a large room, smelling clean yet of age and disuse. A stone hearth fireplace holds an entire wall. The remainder of the space is sparsely yet elegantly appointed. Large plush couches converge in the middle of the room, bordered by small tables. Lush rugs are underfoot and several candelabras line the room.
The girl manages to gracefully sit on a couch I would have assumed to tall for her small frame to manage without jumping. She crosses her ankles and waves us over to the opposite seat before folding her fingers together.
I am Garr…" I begin only to be stopped by her small hand held upright.
"We know who you are," She announces staring at me in a way that is meant to convey they know much more than our names. "…and who you are not."
I close my mouth and venture a glance at Elisabeth who looks every bit as wary as I feel.
"You are her maker." A statement, not a question, she continues to stare into me with an intensity that forces me to fight the instinct to flinch away, "but she is not yours."
"She is mine enough." I reply, staring back, fueled by the anxiety of this line of questioning.
"No," her tone shifts from cool to frigid. "Not enough." The air begins to hum with the power radiating from her. "You have knowingly taken that which is not yours…and still you keep her." She accuses, never breaking her glare, "which can only beg the question of your motivation."
The accusation is so horribly insulting; the insinuation I would use her in that way flares my temper enough to bring me to my feet. Before my better judgment can halt my actions I am practically shouting "If you are insinuating…"
I am suddenly unable to speak. I am unable to breathe, unable to move. It is not painful, just incredibly frustrating and I fight the panic at the thought of being so very helpless.
"Your outrage is unnecessary, Patriot." She admonishes calmly, turning her attention back to Elisabeth who is frozen in her seat, gaping at the display before her. I try to caution her, as much as I am capable of anything at the moment, to remain calm and not to attempt anything that may make this situation worse. Our host is clearly capable of mopping her floor with the both of us without leaving her seat. Elisabeth doesn't stand a chance and I can tell the moment she accepts it and I am beyond proud of her composure. She is certainly the brains of this particular operation. She turns her attention back to the girl with a confidence hopefully only I know is fabricated as I see her mind racing with possibilities.
"Will you release him please?" She asks as calmly as if she were asking for another lump of sugar in her tea.
"He will remain uninjured." The girl replies evenly, "unless you were to wish otherwise, of course…" she trails off expectantly, her expression suggesting nothing but a polite interest.
"No, thank you," Elisabeth continues cautiously, bringing her eyes back to my frozen form. "I would prefer if he were released intact."
"You genuinely care for him?" The small girl's brow is slightly rumpled as she cocks her head to the side, with a small smile, "how very…curious."
Elisabeth takes another breath but is interrupted by the girl. "He will be released momentarily, uninjured as requested." the sardonic smile misplaced on her small face "But first there is other business to which we must attend. It has been decided, we will offer you the education you desire." Elisabeth's head snaps up and meets the calculated gaze of our host, before looking back to me. Again I can read the expression on her face. As I have taught her, everything carries a price. She looks back to the girl, "and your terms?"
The girl smiles again before leaning back on her seat. "You will remain here and will train under us. As we deem appropriate. If you choose to submit to the knowledge we share with you, you will benefit from the breadth of our experience."
Suddenly her voice becomes frigid again as she leans forward to stare at Elisabeth with one on the most frightening looks I have ever seen. I struggle harder with my invisible binding, trying desperately to reach out to her. "But be warned, if at any time we decided you are unable or unwilling to achieve control of your abilities, you will be executed. If you bring violence or attention to our sanctuary you will be executed."
She looks to me as if she can read the screaming in my mind. Nothing is worth this risk. She would be signing her own death warrant, leaving herself at the mercy of the whims of a clearly insane child. We will find another way.
"How long" Elisabeth asks of her.
"As long as we deem it necessary for you to attain the proper control, your gift is too precarious to be wielded so recklessly." The girl replies as she continues to renter me mute and motionless without as much as a passing glance.
"This is not his decision to make," the girl interjects, noticing Elisabeth's wavering attention. "This belongs to you and you alone. He is no longer of consequence."
"He is of great value to me." Elisabeth responds, her glare resolute and unwavering. "If I am to remain here, he shall remain with me."
"As you see for yourself, he is entirely incapable of protecting you here." the girl says with a patronizing smile
"I assure you," Elisabeth retorts, bristling at the girl's tone, "I do not value him for his ability to protect me."
"You are not in a position to negotiate." She almost snaps, as I realize this must be far from how she expected Elisabeth to respond. That's my girl, always doing the unexpected.
"He remains with me." She says again, forcefully.
The girl sighs and sits back on the couch. She closes her eyes and goes completely still. Minutes tick by with no change in her composure. I struggle harder at my restraints and am still unable to even breathe. Elisabeth looks over to me, cocking an eyebrow in question. I am hoping she is coming to the conclusion to just pick me up and run out of here. She may be old and powerful, but her power is not absolute. It would have to fade eventually. Just as I see Elisabeth coming to her own decision the girl's eyes flutter open. She spares a glance at me, a sly smile playing on her lips.
"It shall be arranged." She says, slowly shifting her attention to Elisabeth. "Perhaps we may have use for him after all."
"Then you have a deal."