The Queen of the Night

Chapter 17

My eyes opened but everything was blurred for a few seconds longer than I would've expected. "Is she waking?" The voice was faint, like a dream. In my mind's eye I could see the dirt stained dress, and the voice had apologized for his son's actions. I wanted to open my eyes but it felt like something weighted them down. When my eyes finally felt light as air, and I opened them, everything came into focus gradually on the walls and windows. Rain pounded the glass with resentment. A crack of thunder made me jump.

"Jus' a bit o' rain, dearie, nothin' to be jumpin' at." I didn't recognize this woman or her voice as she made her way over, with a warm smile on her face, and drew the thick curtains close. I could barely tell against the lamplight that they were a very dark green. The woman was a bit older than what I was used to seeing after being with vampires for as long as I have, slightly hunched, but I could imagine she must've been a beautiful woman in the prime of her life. "Master Matthew, is tha' wot he calls 'imself?"

I shrugged before I could process everything she said.

"Well, either way 'e's on 'is way. Best get ready. You will find your clothes in the closet." The old woman left, humming as she walked.

I didn't understand what she meant until I looked down at myself. The clothes I wore had been replaced by a delicate pink nightdress that covered every inch of skin. I didn't mind the color as a human but now the color made me look like I belonged in a grave! I threw it off as soon as my feet hit the ground. In the closet, just as the woman said, were my clothes neatly hung on hangers but that was the only thing that occupied the closet.

The hall was mostly emptied of servants, except the old woman's humming still haunted the hallway. Old knight's armors eerily stood in the quiet. The floors were made of some form of wood but what caught my eye was the circular staircase leading down to the next floor but it also led upward, where to I didn't know. It was huge and beautifully lit, and the dark wood that made up the rail had been well maintained. The house looked more like a mansion!

I wanted to explore the entire place! I wanted to know if there were any secrets, but as I descended the stairs I was stopped by Eden's presence. He looked a bit surprised to see me but his mouth quickly drew up into a smile. "Good to see you are up and about. I was just coming to check on you."

"I'm fine," I said quickly, as if giving this answer would satisfy him. It didn't.

"Come join me for some tea." He held out his arm. I couldn't come up with any excuse to explore. I didn't know how he would take to a stranger exploring his home and the tone of his voice told me going back up to the room I came from wasn't an option. I forced a smile and took his arm reluctantly, but my mind still wandered to the secrets this place stored.

The room we entered was just as beautiful as the hall, though there wasn't much to it. It had a fireplace and couches that were hardly used. Servers glided in and out preparing tea on a silver tray on a glass table. Eden and I sat down on opposite sides of the glass table, our chairs angled toward the fire place and a little bit toward each other. Eden propped his feet up on an ottoman.

Somewhere in between my imagination of exploring Eden's home I realized I should've been home by now. Images of the night flooded my mind. "How's Draco?" I found myself asking a bit more urgently than I meant.

Eden's smile grew wider. "So, you do remember last night's events." The sound of his voice made the servants work faster. The youngest of them, barely in her teens, struggled to start a fire in the fireplace. "He is fine. He awoke hours after the incident. You, however, struggled to wake up. I wasn't able to send word to Matthew since we barely got you here before the sun rose."

My stomach churned painfully. I knew he was telling a lie. Something told me he probably had enough time to send Matthew a message, and I'm sure Matthew must of a cell phone of some kind! Although, I could be wrong...

"Right now, my son is out with a friend. He should be back soon."

Another servant came over and helped build the fire then he ushered the youngest girl out of the room. Now, only me and Eden occupied the room with the objects. Eden carefully handled the teapot as he poured it into the china.

"Tell me what happened last night."

I stared at Eden for a few moments, studying him, and his movements. I still remembered, in the back of my mind, my mother asking me a question in a very similar manner. It had been like she was probing me to reveal information but whatever information she wanted she was disappointed to find I didn't have it. I was so young then that I hardly remembered it now. I only remembered not being suspicious of anything until I overheard her talking to a friend later that week.

I recounted the events, carefully watching Eden's reaction. I stopped suddenly, feeling my face contort with confusion. "I think I was shot shortly after we passed that boy..."

Eden nodded. "Yes, your back was badly injured. It appears that they shot you with an argoule."

"A...what?"

He laughed, "It's a French term. Argoule is a term that combines argent, meaning silver, and boule, meaning small ball. As the name suggests it was, and still is, a small ball made of silver. To most vampire clans, this is a very toxic combination. It does not affect the Necrarch?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't get out of the house often enough to get shot at."

Eden nodded and sipped his tea. "Go on, then."

I stuttered when I continued what I remembered. His face was almost like stone until I stopped and stuttered. "And...and before passing out," I rubbed my head. I could still hear the roaring, like an animal clear as day. Eden had stopped pouring the tea as he listened intently. "I remember hearing a sound, a roaring sound and...and I think Draco was...transforming but it looked odd. It didn't look like the transformation I witnessed at home."

Eden nodded, whatever information he wanted I apparently gave to him willingly. His smile returned. "I see. I am very sorry you had to go through such a traumatic experience." He dropped in a few sugar cubes in one of the tea cups.

I laughed humorlessly, "Not really that traumatic after being turned."

Eden offered the tea cup and a small stirring spoon to me, which I took gingerly. "True, I suppose. I will have a talk with my son. What he did was...inappropriate."

"What do you mean? There wasn't anything inappropriate happening."

"My son should not have gone back to take you away, even as willing as you were to go with him, and he should've taken you straight home rather than wandering the streets after the incident with the sprites. They do not forget and word spread like wildfire with them." He sipped his tea.

I shook my head. These weren't sprites, these people smelled of ash and earth, like dead people. However, I decided to argue a different side of the conversation. "Part of it was my idea too!"

"Yes, and I am sure Matthew will have a long argument with you." His smile became crooked as he amused himself with the idea of me and Matthew having an argument.

I rolled my eyes.

The door opened partway and then a short, fat man waltzed into the room, bowed in front of Eden, and then said, "Master Draco has arrived, sir." This man had golden, cat-like eyes and when he looked at me I felt the pressure behind his stare, as if he expected something grand of me and was quickly disappointed at someone so small. His voice sounded like it strained to get past something. He pulled out a white handkerchief and coughed wetly into it. 

When he regained his composure Eden waved a hand, "Send him in, then, and take our guest to the kitchen to..." He paused for a long while and looked at me expectantly but I didn't react to his stare. "What is it that you can eat."

I shook my head with a small smile and tried to hide my chuckle. "I'll eat when I go home, Eden."

Eden nodded, "Then, do you mind waiting out in the hall?" There was a finality to his voice, a command in the form of a request. I recognized it because it was what Matthew did, it was what my father did, it was a practice that everyone of authority knew how to execute.

I stood and followed the fat man out.