Lunar Flare Book 2: Midnight Eclipse

Chapter 1

Thedrick looked down at the small, pale skinned, white-haired infant that was lying in the ornate wooden crib before him. The baby, who was swaddled in opulent fabrics, was looking up at him with large, crimson eyes. Thedrick swallowed nervously.

"Would you mind explaining this, Thedrick?" Balthasar asked in a very measured tone, making a sweeping gesture with one hand towards the child.

Slowly looking up at the chirurgeon, Thedrick feigned an expression of confusion. "It's a baby?" he offered tentatively.

Balthasar scowled down at the jester. "And do you mayhap notice anything, say, slightly unusual, about this particular baby?" he pressed.

Thedrick glanced back down at the child apprehensively. "It's... very cute?" he attempted to continue dodging what he knew the chirurgeon was trying to ask.

"Uh huh," Balthasar said as he rolled his eyes. When he rested them on the jester once more, he made another attempt. "Doesn't she, mayhap, remind you of someone?"

Thedrick examined the baby with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "Hrm, yeah, I guess so. She has her mother's eyes."

"No, she doesn't, Thedrick, she has your eyes!" Balthasar pointed out, his tone sharp with annoyance.

Thedrick winced slightly under the verbal lashing. "Well, uh, she certainly has her mother's nose?" He knew the inevitable wringing out he would get if he confessed, so he persevered in trying to delay it, even though there was no real way of getting out of it.

Balthasar heaved a massive sigh at Thedrick's attempt to dance around the issue, looking down at the jester with extreme weariness. Thedrick gave the chirurgeon a small, nervous smile in return, trying not to flinch under his burning gaze.

"Why you, of all people?" Balthasar finally asked, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut in dismay. "I know that Richard is infertile, but by the gods, surely there were better options?" The chirurgeon opened his eyes again and looked the small jester up and down.

Thedrick gave an overexaggerated shrug. "Perhaps because of my charming personality?" he hazarded, gesturing towards himself.

"Well, they certainly liked you a lot, for some reason, and you are of noble birth but..." Balthasar reached up to press a hand against his forehead as he shook his head slowly. "Didn't you realise how irresponsible it was to do this, given your 'condition'?"

"Hey hey, it's not my fault!" Thedrick claimed, raising his hands in surrender. "I was just following her orders, like I'm supposed to."

"Well then, it seems that choice cost the queen her life," Balthasar said, his tone now a lot softer.

Thedrick felt like a cold iron rod was suddenly piercing his heart. "Wh-Wait, Vivi is... dead?" he choked out, looking up at Balthasar with wide eyes.

The chirurgeon nodded solemnly. "She passed away during childbirth, and I can't help but wonder if it had something to do with this child being part vampire."

"You're... you're blaming her death on me?" Thedrick asked in a wavering voice, sudden grief and hurt both pulling at his guts. "No no no... it can't be that. My mother didn't die giving birth to me, she's fine! Why would this be any different..."

Balthasar took a deep breath. "Alright, perhaps it's not that. I can't know for sure," he admitted with apparent hesitation. "But what I do know for sure is that this is still a rather tricky situation. The resemblance is too clear, everyone is going to know that this is your child."

"Does it matter? Vivi was the heir to the throne, not Dick," Thedrick pointed out quietly, looking away from his friend.

"But have you also considered the other issue, that the child is part vampire?" Balthasar asked firmly, and Thedrick felt like the chirurgeon's eyes were boring into him. "Firstly, there is the matter of caring for her, is she going to rely on blood like you? And then, if anyone found out what you truly are, she would be persecuted the same as you."