Chapter 36 – (Royal Rooms)
"Well I have to say it looks like you are going to make a 100% recovery quicker then I expected." James said pocking my finger with a pin and watching me flinch, "Yep you are healing up nicely, and looks like there will be no nerve damage. How do you feel?"
"I feel fine; it is just when I sleep I tend to roll over onto it which hurts like hell." I confessed as I put my shirt back on with the help of Mr. Crepsley.
"Well all I can suggest is if you roll up an extra blanket and put that behind your injured shoulder it should stop you from rolling over, hold on I might have a spare somewhere." He opened up an old cupboard and pulled out a blanket and handed it to me. "And if that doesn't work you may have to sleep in a chair till you are completely healed."
"Thanks Doc." I smiled. "Same time tomorrow?" I asked getting off the table and straightening my shirt out the best I could one handed.
"I have 3 surgeries tomorrow so if I get a free moment I will come and find you, but if you don't see me just come the day after at the normal time, I'm sure your arm won't fall off in a day." We all smiled and said our goodbyes.
"I am glad we have James in the mountain I haven't had to worry about infections or anything." I said as Mr. Crepsley and I made our way back to the new games hall to see how Seba and Zak were doing.
"Yes it is somewhat of a relief to have a capable person on the job." Mr. Crepsley agreed and smiled at me.
"I do not see why he is not the head of the Medical staff, from what I have heard he is the only one who has been properly trained at all." I said puzzled.
"I did not know there was a ranking within the Medical staff." Mr. Crepsley confessed as we continued walking.
"James was explaining it to me a few nights ago; he will not personally mention it to you because he does not what people to think he is trying to get you to back him."
"Then why are you telling me all of this?" Mr. Crepsley asked eyeing me confused.
"Because I think he should be running it. You said it yourself that it is a relief to know we have a capable body on the job. The vampire running it now cannot even look at blood without throwing up. If James led the staff he could train them and make sure everyone is up to par… It would be beneficial to the clan." I hinted.
"So are you saying I should use my newly obtained position to get James to run the Medical staff once I have been blooded?" he asked again eyeing me oddly.
"Of course not, I am only pointing out my own personally observation." I laughed and he put his hand on my shoulder. "Maybe Paris should of left the job to you." he laughed and we continued on to the new games hall.
"Hay Daz how's the arm?" Zak asked while he hacked away at a wall with a pickaxe.
"I should make a full recovery and have full use of my arm." I smiled
"That is brilliant news, I am glad to hear it." Seba said as he looked away from his blueprints to smile at me then looked over to Zak "Zak may I borrow you for a moment." Seba asked, Zak put his pickaxe on his shoulder and walked over to look at the blueprints as well. They started rambling on about wall heights and where what games would go where. I was about to ask Mr. Crepsley about where Seba learnt to make such elaborate building plans but a royal guild burst through the door.
"Sire." He knelt down in front of Mr. Crepsley who just huffed in a disapproving way. He hadn't even been blooded as a prince yet and still all the guilds in the mountain bowed to him and called him Sire.
"Yes what is it?" He asked not really in the mood to talk to the guild.
"Sire, Arrow has asked for you and Seba to accompany him in the hall of princes." The guild bowed once more and left.
"Well it must be important 'sire' If Arrow has asked for the both of us." Seba laughed at the scowl he received from Mr. Crepsley and patted Zak and me on the backs and left followed closely by a muttering Mr. Crepsley.
Jack and I both signed we use to be able to go with them but the past few times we had been banned and we both felt it was totally unfair. We were both about to moan about it to each other when Mr. Crepsley popped his head around the door. "Are you two not coming?" He asked with a smile on his face. It was all we needed to hear and went running after the two older vampires.
On the way up to the hall we all spent most of the time straightening ourselves out and making ourselves look presentable. Zak had to ran off to his room to change his top and managed to catch up to us just before we reached the halls, before we entered I handed Zak my handkerchief and pointed to his face, he quickly wiped the dirt off and stuffed the now dirty handkerchief in his pocket smiling his thanks.
"I am glad you could all make it." Arrow boomed from across the other side of the hall.
We all bowed and arrow laughed. "Larten you are a prince you don't need to bow." Arrow placed his hand on Mr. Crepsley's shoulder and made him stand.
"Sire I have not yet been blooded as a prince so I shall continue to bow until such time as I have." Mr. Crepsley protested.
"The moment Paris died and told us you where to take his place you became a prince besides you drained Paris, so technically you already have been blooded." Arrow turned and sat down on his thrown and tapped the arm of Paris's old thrown indicating Mr. Crepsley to sit down. "Sire I would rather…" He was silenced by a wave of Arrows hand.
"Paris asked you to take his place, which means in every way, you will have his thrown, his room, and his books, his everything. Paris knew what it meant to give you all of this and he will be happy for you to have it all." Arrow patted the arm of the thrown again.
"But I would not feel right sitting in his thrown so soon after his parting. Plus I have a room I have had that room since I first came to the mountain." Mr. Crepsley again protested.
"Your first priority is to the clan not to your personal feelings. Your stuff shall be moved to your new room before the crowning begins." Arrow sighed. "Those are the rules I'm sorry but you need to be up here by the halls you will eat and sleep up here for your own safety." Arrow looked at the floor he knew Mr. Crepsley didn't want to be locked away. Arrow had felt the same way when he was crowned but it had to be done.
"Well Darren and Zak will also have to be moved up here with me, I am teaching them and our studies will not be halted." You could hear it in Mr. Crepsley's voice; he didn't want to be left alone up here.
"About that… You will have to let one of them find a new mentor, you will not have the time or energy to watch and teach both of them. I am sorry Larten but there is nothing…" Arrow was cut off.
"No, I blooded Darren his is my assistant and I took Zak on after his mentor left him I shall not do the same." Mr. Crepsley was getting mad and so was I. It was taking every ounce of will power not to say something.
"We believe it would be better if someone else mentored Darren. We do not wish you split you up, we all know there is a bond between you that is very different to other vampires but once you are blooded you will not be allowed to fully blood Darren, you will have rule blood and we can't just give that away to anyone." Arrow said with a heavy heart.
I was about to take a stand and tell Arrow how this was really making me feel but Seba grabbed my arm and forced me back into my chair. "Sire, may I make a suggestion?" Seba piped in. Arrow agreed and Seba took the floor. "What if I took Zak as my assistant, he has been working very closely with me for the past number of years and he has become an invaluable part of my team, I would gladly become his mentor."
"Would you not be open to taking on Darren?" Arrow asked again sighing.
"I am sorry but no, he is Larten's assistant and I would not separate that, and I advise you to not separate them either." Seba was looked upon as an old and wise vampire so he could occasionally speak very bluntly but could get away with it.
"Why would you not separate them?" Arrow asked a little confused.
"As you said before they have a bond never seen before in our clan, I believe it is the will of the Gods they stay together and if Paris were here he would agree with me." When Seba spoke about it being the will of the Gods I felt a cold tingle run down my spine.
"I would have to agree, Paris did believe the Gods were working closely with Darren and I don't wish to upset the Gods. Darren shall be allowed to stay as Larten's assistant and right hand while he is a Prince." I let out a sigh of relief and thanked the Gods Seba had the influence and respect he did.
"However Seba do you think you have the time to teach the boy everything he needs to know and help run the mountain Seba?" Arrow asked honestly.
"It would make no difference; my work load would not change in fact having him as an assistant would be quite beneficial." Arrow could tell Seba was telling the truth and allowed it.
"Fine, you may tutor Zak Seba and Larten can continue to tutor Darren but you cannot blood him when the time comes, I can give no leeway of that matter." Arrow said strongly and unwillingly we agreed.
"Then it is settled Darren shall stay as Mr. Crepsley assistant and shall be moved up to the room next to his." He clicked his fingers and a handful of guilds headed out to collect our stuff.
"Thank you." Zak smiled to Seba and hugged him playfully, then turned his gaze to Mr. Crepsley, "And thank you for all you have done." Zak let go of Seba and tied to hug Mr. Crepsley playfully as well but I was put in the way and ended up with the hug. "Zak please, get off me." I said laughing as I tried to get him off, "No!" He protested continuing his hug, eventually he let go when he accidently hit my shoulder but we all just laughed.
"So you're gonna be living up here with the big wigs." Zak said smiling at me half sad but also happy.
"Do not worry we will come and see you, someone has to make sure you do not drive Seba mad." We all laughed and said our fare wells like we would every day, Seba and Zak had to get back to work and Mr. Crepsley and I had to be shown around.
"Before you are shown to your rooms I must speak with you in private." Arrow said leading us both into a hidden room within the walls of the hall. The Room was quite small there were 5 chairs placed around an open pit fire and a table in the corner of the room full of cups and blood. We sat down and accepted a drink from a guild who was sitting in a dark corner of the room. Arrow noticed my curious look.
"You will find guilds posted within every room and corridor while you are in the higher levels of the mountain apart from in your bedrooms, studies and private bathrooms." He said smiling at the horror on my face when he said every room, just the thought of a guild in the corner of my room watching me sleep creped me out. "Now before we get down to the real reason I brought you in here I need you Darren to swear to a blood oath." Arrow asked pulling out a small knife out of his pocket.
"Why do I need to swear a blood oath for?" I asked slightly scared at the way Arrow was holding the knife and smiling.
"Because you have chosen to stay with Larten you will not only be his assistant but you will be Larten's right hand man while he is a Prince or as such time you wish you leave to make your own way in life. You will see and hear things of a sensitive and extremely person nature in regards to the clan, you will hear about wars before they happen, see trials of mad or insane vampires which are not made public to protect reputations, hear secrets which have been such for 1000's of years and will need to be kept that way. You must swear that anything and everything you see or hear up in these halls and corridors will never again leave your lips as long as you live." I could feel the weight of responsibility but I knew I had Mr. Crepsley's full confidence so I accepted to the teams and swore my blood oath.
Arrow nicked my finger with the knife and dripped some of my blood onto the fire and smeared some on the wall. "All done, see it was harmless but it is not an easy agreement you have entered into and we have never had someone so young take the oath, but if I believed you couldn't handle it I would never have asked you to take it." He patted me on the back and Mr. Crepsley smiled proudly at me.
"Now that the boring stuff is out of the way we can get down to brass tax. Seba has told me about the prisoner we have chained up in the cells but I need to know who he is, how he found this pace and why he is here." Arrow leaned onto the back 2 legs of his chair and waited for us to speak.
Mr. Crepsley had first been told about the intruder by Zak after he finished questioning him with Seba but to no prevail. He got quite mad at me for not telling him that Evra had been there and that I had been in a fight with him. I told him I didn't want to worry him about it because of the hassle he was going through but there was no excuse to him. Eventually he forgave me but we never went down to see Evra locked up.
"His name is Evra; he was once half human half snake when he worked for the Cirque Du Freak but turned part Vampaneze…" And so we told the tale about how we met Evra how me and him use to be friends, how he turned to Steve and tried to kill David and take the silver coffin all those years ago not leaving out any little detail.
"So why is he here?" Arrow asked me knowing I was the one who had put him in a near comatose state.
"He said he came to kill Mr. Crepsley in the record room but I came along instead." I answered truthfully.
"Darren may I ask, why did you beat him so badly, I don't hold it against you if I had of found an intruder only the will of the Gods could of stopped me killing him but I still must ask." His voice softened and I thought back to that day.
"I just could not stop, I had so much rage towards him I just let go of my senses and only stopped when I realised one more punch would kill him." I looked down at the floor; I was partly ashamed at how wild I had got in the room and thought back to the message Mr. Tiny gave me about becoming a monster, still to this day no one knew he had saw what I had done and what he said to me and I would take it to my grave.
"Well I have to go and talk to him and I would like you to both accompany me." Arrow stood before we could protest, Mr. Crepsley didn't mind seeing him but he knew I didn't want to, but we had no say in the matter. I was nervous on the walk down to the cells; we walked down corridors I never even knew existed hidden behind the walls of all the halls. "These were built to keep the princes safe when they travelled to their destinations, I must ask that you never tell anyone about these." Arrow said sternly and we both agreed. "You are very privileged Darren not many vampires get to see these halls apart from princes and only a handful of the most trusted guilds get to use them. Oh while we are on the subjects of guilds, you will find a lot of the normal mountain guilds may teat you very differently. A lot of guilds wanted your job of being a Princes right hand. A lot of them feel a trained guild should have had the position, but don't let it bother you just remember you now outrank them all." Arrow laughed but I could only gulp.
When we reached the holding cells Arrow placed his hand on the wall and a door opened. Several guilds stood to attention and blocked the main entrance so no one else could enter.
"Sire we have been interrogating him nonstop for the past 2 weeks but he will not talk he only sings different versions of Mary had a little lamb." The guild said with a grim look on his face. Arrow just nodded and ordered the door to be opened.
The room was dark and smelt of tainted blood, sick and excrement and I held back my need to be sick. "Oh look more visitors." Evra said not looking up from the floor. He had been chained up against the wall arms and legs spread wide open even his neck was chained. It reminded me of the state I found Mr. Crepsley in when he had been Vamp-napped but I buried the memories deep and refused to remember them again.
"How did you know about this mountain?" Arrow asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Do you want to hear my song?" Evra asked he sounded drugged or drunk.
"How did you know about this mountain?" Arrow asked again this time more forcefully.
"Mary had some little lambs." Evra sang
"How did you know about this mountain?" Arrow asked again his voice getting more forceful.
"Their fleeces black as ash." Evra continued.
"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS MOUNTAIN?" Arrow screams punching the wall next to him.
"And every time the Mary stabbed the Lambs would bleat and scream." Evra smiled this time and looked up at us. "OHHH is that the spider-master and his little helper?" Evra asked in a clear daze.
"What are you doing here Evra?" Mr. Crepsley asked softly.
"I came to kill you, but he got in the way." He spat at me but it missed.
"Why do you want to kill me?" Mr. Crepsley asked still in a soft voice.
"It was my job, Steve and the tiny man didn't want you to have power, far too dangerous with power. I have to kill you so Darren will kill everyone and everyone will be dead. It is simple, get a vamp to kill other vamps." Evra looked around the room confused.
"Why will killing me make Darren go mad?"
"I was going to make a picture out of your organs and make it so Darren would find you. Full of anger he would kill with that picture buried in his head." Evra smiled at the thought.
"Well he isn't dead what will happen now?" Arrow asked but Evra only started singing again so Mr. Crepsley asked and Evra stopped.
"If you are put on the chair then Darren will do everything in his power to protect you. He has done it so many times in the past. The tiny man is getting tired of it, life after life he has tied to change Darren's heart but he can't he likes you too much to kill you, but this time, this life is different." Evra laughed
"What do you mean life after life?" Mr. Crepsley asked getting slightly worried.
"The tiny man said you have been together since the start of the vampire world and that this 'God bond' as the tiny man calls it holds you together in death and life, you are never apart for long and one of you will come back always a master needs his assistant."
"Do you mean Darren and I have been Mentor and Assistant before in other lives?" Mr. Crepsley asked a little shaken.
"Yep, the tiny man said this will be the 20th time and he doesn't like it, 19 times he has tried to turn Darren from you and wipe of the vamps and 19 times Darren has died for you or you for him protect these lot. He doesn't like it, he sent Red to get in the way and that failed, made you attack Darren and still failed, made you run away and still failed… But he has a plan to take him." Evra confessed with a smile.
"How will he try and take Darren?" Mr. Crepsley asked with a mixture of fear and anger in his voice.
"He will have a chose, kill Larten or kill Emma. One will die and he must chose but if he kills Emma the whole of that clan will full and burn!" Evra just started laughing and I again help back the need to be sick.
"How do you know all of this Evra?" Mr. Crepsley asked.
"The tiny man showed me, in 2 hours they will come and in 3 a chose will be made it has already been pencilled into the book of stuff going to happen." Evra smiled once again and passed out.
"I want you to find Duncan and tell him to meet me in the new games hall." I asked a guild and he ran off in search of him and I ran off to the new game hall.
"Darren what are you doing?" Mr. Crepsley asked as he ran after me but was blocked by a group of guilds.
"We are sorry Sire but if an attempt on your life has been made we have to protect you." The guild looked at Mr. Crepsley and he knew they weren't just going to move.
"Fine then come with me to the new game hall." He ordered but they didn't move.
"We should head back to the halls of princes it will be safe there." The guilds where about to move towards Mr. Crepsley again but he shoulder barged past and ran off after Darren.
"Leave him be. Trust me he knows what he is doing." Arrow pointed out before they could chase after him. "Besides you would never catch up to him, I want you all standing guild by an entrance to the mountain, if you see them approaching I want you to report back to me immediately." Arrow barked and watched as the guilds ran to follow their orders. Arrow was left alone in the cell and looked down at the pitiful Evra who had started singing in his sleep. "Evra had a little friend, whose blood thirst grew and grew, and so he took a sharpened knife and killed the lot of you." Arrow was slightly worried by the song but put it down to Evra's madness. He left and locked the cell behind him and told a guild Evra was to be executed in 2 night's time.