When Blood Runs Cold - Chapter 231

(Soren’s Perspective)

Looking out onto the crowd of vampires in the court room from my seat on my throne, and back up to the angels who float warily in the eaves, I suddenly wonder if everything I have done is enough.

It is unlike me to get doubts- even over something as monumental as a coalition of peace, and yet here I sit in roiling waves of anxiety wondering how on earth I will be believed without my counterpart beside me. Biting my lip, I scan my eyes across the swarming crowds, not truly seeing.

It has only been a few days, and the loss of her presence is already becoming to great a weight to bear. Who would have thought that the Scarlet Prince turned King would break down over something as seemingly insignificant as love? Or perhaps it is simply the toil and the stress of the day grinding at my bones.

From the minute we had ascended from the maze, the eternal flame in hand, our arrival was rejoiced by the hordes of expectantly waiting vampires who milled around in the castle, praying for our safe arrival. By then they were all staunchly aware of the crimes my brother had committed- many of which had experienced them first hand. Some had experienced a loss of a friend or a loved one in the recent months, had seen them disappear into thin air and vanish without a trace. I never could quite bring myself to tell them that their bodies now rot in the dungeons of halflings down below, though the looks all of us had shared seemed to tell them enough. Perhaps when this is all over, I shall give them a proper burial.

The others within my palace had suffered and equally vile fate: condemned to rot away in a chamber of unforgiving darkness while my brother carried out his rituals to take over the world. Perhaps this was the reason why our initial return was so greatly commended: cheers ran high across the eaves, rumbling the palace with a joyous laughter- the simple joy of being alive, which is a rare asset for most of the vampire kind to appreciate. But this uproarious occasion and bumbling celebration was swiftly cut short as soon as the vampires had determined what sort of company I carried with me.

“Angels!” They had cried, half with a devious hunger and a dripping lust for blood, the other in shock, a fearful confusion rippling around the room. Even the other Folk had glared over the two angels by my side, both of which were cocooned in the steady grasp of Delina and Kal. Perhaps it was they had never seen an angel before (at least not outside the borders of their clan), or maybe, just maybe, they had a sudden inclination of what was to come.

“Kill them,” they had chanted like the murderous wretches we were always made out to be.

For a moment- and only for a moment, there was a clamorous uproar, vampires screeching, some cackling like witches, and whatever folk were in our company chattering with a series of befuddled looks, as though they could quite bring themselves to understand how The Scarlet King had come to acquire two angels. Fortunately for them, they would soon find out.

“Silence!” I had roared, sending a shock wave of darkness dispelling round the room, rocking the hordes of onlookers into some kind of temporary sense. Then they glanced over the wings on my back, the ruthless look in my eyes, and the lack of my female companion, and all at once grew very, very quiet. Never in my life had I seen my people look more terrified than I have then.

And so I had stalked towards the crowds, looming over them as I inspected each face with disgust. Why hadn’t I changed things sooner?

“In light of the recent events,” I had begun with enough foreboding to send shivers racing through the crowd, each person huddling closer to stave off the memory of fear that was still fresh in their mind. “There are some alterations to our pact of war with the angels, and with all of the Folk, that I have been meaning to address for a very long time now,” I had admitted, my eyes scanning over the crowd as I began to make my way down a few steps from the dais, but not a squeak can be heard. It seems for once, the rowdy, lust driven vampires had nothing to say. So I continued:

“And while my Queen has been taken, I am ever more now, your king. And so I will ask once, and only once, that you listen to me. I am sure that you all very much are aware of the consequences of not abiding by that rule.”

A series of subdued nods echoed in silence round the room as I turned to the white haired angel before me, holding out the flame to him. At the light gasp that makes itself apparent, Ithuriel had hesitated over the flame, his fingers withdrawing for a moment, before I had given him a sturdy look, and he took it into his arms. Ithuriel’s reluctance in the matter is obvious, but I commend his actions nonetheless. It is not every day that the age old enemy of the vampires reveals himself to Faey’s strongest kingdom of blood sucking beasts. Anything could happen. And anyone.

And that is precisely what I am counting on.

“For the first time in over three thousand years, I am calling a truce between the angels and the vampires. For the time being, this truce will be fixed while my friend here invites the angels for a hearing at my court. None of you will lay a hand on these angels. They are to be our guests until a conclusion to this request has been established.”

Taking a breath, I had looked out upon the mix of puzzled faces, each one more perplexed than the last as they silently mouth to each other the frivolity of the situation. How unlikely it would have seemed to them that the Scarlet King would have softened in such a manner. But in truth, it is much less softening, and more hardening for the reality of the situation at hand. For my ways are still tyrannous, and my methods of control firm, but now I simply have another to keep them under a certain… control.

Had you told me a month ago that I would be calling a truce between the angels and the vampires… Well, it is very probable that I might have just killed you for treason. But in light of everything going on: my brother, the hunt for the souls, how the whole of Faey has been plunged into danger via the reckless accounts of my own brother, and, of course, my wife, there is little reason as to why my mind wouldn’t have changed by now. A new age is dawning, one that has no room for petty squabbles and blood feuds that stalemate for three thousand years.

A few more voices had risen up from the crowd, quiet and tentative with the concerns of the masses, but not livid as I had supposed they would be- at least, not the ones I can hear. At least that is a start. So I had raised my hands authoritatively to call silence, a second, lulling hush settling around the room as the focus once again turned to me.

“I am aware you all have many questions, but I would ask you to refrain from asking them until the angels arrive. No doubt they have the same questions as you about the whole ordeal. So please, everyone, get comfortable. I am sending off my associates to contact the angels and bring them to us. You will have your answers in a matter of days.”

And that is where I am now, standing in front of an audience of both angels, and vampires, the first time in three thousand years where I species have intermingled on somewhat cordial terms. But this does not feel like a revelation, nor did I think it would. It only remains to ceaselessly remind me of the one I am missing, lost to the grim and cruel hands of my brother to be played like a toy, a puppet on strings. I can only hope that she is okay now. I have not heard a whisper through my bond for a two full days.

Stalking up to the top of the dais, I take a stand, raising my hands to the crowds of expectant Folk, vampires, and angels, their eyes narrowed with disgust or confusion or sheer utter loathing. But I have not asked for their respect, at least not yet.

“People of Faey,” I call out, my voice rumbling through the eaves, shaking the angels who sit there with a queasy and dubious expression as they glance between themselves. Perhaps they did not expect the King of Sezeria to address them so cordially.

“I call you all here today to discuss the grave matters that have befallen us in recent days, and make you aware of the fate of our own kind, of Faey, if we remain indignant of them.”