Lunar Flare Book 1: Crimson Moon

Chapter 11

Despite Thedrick being a bit unsure at first about trusting Beowulf again, the soldier had kept his word so far and had not tried to hurt or kill the jester again, hadn't told anyone his secret and also had not even said anything bad about the fact he was a vampire. In fact, things went mostly back to normal for them, their relationship picking back up from where it had been before they had gone to visit Beowulf's mother.

Balthasar had warned Thedrick several times about being so quick to trust Beowulf again, but the jester couldn't help it, he was smitten. And it would seem that the soldier was equally so, considering how quickly he seemed to get over the whole blood sucking vampire thing. When Beowulf wasn't on guard duty, they spent nearly every moment together.

They'd wander through the castle, Thedrick perched on Beowulf's shoulder, chatting away to him as he walked. They'd sit in the garden or courtyard together, Thedrick often playing his lute and singing for Beowulf. They made no effort to keep their relationship a secret and would get glares from castle guards passing by that saw Thedrick sitting on Beowulf's lap.

Thedrick knew Beowulf was being ostracised and even given a rough time by the other soldiers for associating with the jester, but the big man didn't really appear to care. It seemed that Beowulf wasn't going to listen to the repeated advice from Cassian about choosing his company carefully. Thedrick wasn't offended by this, Cassian had always treated the jester quite well and didn't seem to have anything against him personally, he just knew how all the soldiers felt about Thedrick and was trying to keep Beowulf out of trouble.

Of course, Cassian had been right, and hanging out with Thedrick inevitably attracted trouble for Beowulf. The thinly veiled threats from the other soldiers eventually came to a head one evening, when Thedrick and Beowulf were taking a stroll together through the gardens surrounding the castle. Thedrick was walking backwards ahead of Beowulf as he spoke and gestured his way through a story when suddenly the soldier came to a halt under a large tree they had been passing by.

Thedrick's story died off as he also stopped walking, looking up at Beowulf's helmet questioningly. He realised the soldier seemed to be looking over the top of him, and so quickly spun around to see what had caused him to take pause. Thedrick felt a slight shiver run down his spine as he saw a group of three guards approaching them in the dark, the moonlight reflecting off their armour. As they got closer, Thedrick could see that it was Emil who was taking the lead of the group.

As the guards came closer, Thedrick started to backpedal, until he was quickly stopped by having backed up into Beowulf. He glanced up at the large soldier nervously but couldn't see his expression as his face was covered. Beowulf raised a large, armoured hand and placed it down gently on Thedrick's shoulder. Thedrick was comforted by this and faced the approaching guards with a little less anxiety. He was safe, Beowulf would protect him.

"Ah, well, if it isn't Beowulf and his little toy," Emil sneered as he approached, looking between the two of them.

"What do you want, Emil?" Beowulf asked, squeezing Thedrick's shoulder slightly.

Emil pouted slightly and raised his arms in a full body shrug. "I'm just taking a nice evening stroll with my friends. A whole bunch of my very good friends," he said, and glanced around the garden. Thedrick looked around and took in a sharp breath when he saw the moonlight glinting off a bunch of armoured bodies coming towards them from all directions.

The soldiers approached silently, stopped a short distance away just as Emil and his two closest lackies had. They had Beowulf and Thedrick more or less surrounded. Thedrick glanced between all their helmets nervously, feeling his body stiffen up with anxiety. Then he looked back at Emil, the only one with his helmet off, and could see the growing smile on his face as he saw Thedrick's reaction.