Forgotten Heir: Realm Doors Book One

Chapter Seventeen

“That’s it Cara, love,” the voice whispered, drifting to her through the hazy blanket of listlessness currently wrapped around her. “Flicker those pretty lashes again and open your eyes.”

Someone pressed a damp cloth to her forehead, and she felt grateful for it as she noticed the pounding headache she'd given herself. Her mouth was dry and she realised she was thirsty, her dehydrated throat choking her.

“If you wake up there’s a glass of water for you,” Ric coaxed.

Slowly lifting her eyelids, she stared up at the man who would willingly give his life for hers. His lips had lost some of the blue tinge but his eyes were still bruised and hollow. The blood loss would take a while to recover from. At least he seemed intent on recovering; already a pile of empty jars lay around him and another container of blood sat open at his side. She sensed relief pour through him as he recognised the sentient state of her consciousness, and the lack of any permanent damage from the drugs, toxins, and pure unadulterated energy she’d conducted through herself.

“How long have I been out?” Cara croaked and she took the glass of water willingly.
Checking his watch, Ric answered, “Twelve hours, thereabouts.”

He stayed sat close to her, one arm thrown casually over her stomach, his hand resting on her waist. She suspected he didn’t want to let go of her, which was fine by her as she didn’t want him to let go either.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered softly as she took his hand in hers, squeezing it.

He leaned forward, kissing the tip of her nose.

“Me neither, apparently.”

But he almost had. Tears rose unbidden to burn her eyes and her voice cracked as guilt suddenly overwhelmed her.

“I nearly killed you!” The words yelped out in a hiccupping sob. “I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t mean to.” Her head shook vigorously for emphasis. “Everything just seemed so disjointed. I couldn’t connect the blood with you, or even with me. Everything was just so hot, in every way imaginable, and my whole body just seemed to be doing what it wanted while my brain went on holiday.”

Ric pulled her up into his arms, stroking the tears from her cheeks.

“I know you didn’t mean it, my love. I know what your kind’s blood does to me, so I know what such a quantity of my blood would do to you. I couldn’t watch you die, though. I had to make you drink.”

“But Ric,” she wailed at him. “I couldn’t live without you. I barely lived when you left, but I could hope you were ok. How could I go on knowing you were dead, that I’d killed you? You passed out and I didn’t even care. Then I started hallucinating and suddenly I remembered what I was doing. I stopped drinking but it was too late. In the names of all the heavens, Ric! I couldn’t even see your aura. You were just so very blue and so exceptionally still. I just panicked.”

His thumb stroked soft circles on the back of her hand, his blue-grey eyes watching each flick of emotion to cross her weeping face.

“Love, you saved me. No one knows what you did to do it. Kalidir said the whole barn filled up with static and seemed to buzz with the magic radiating from you, but he has no idea what you did.”

Frowning, lines creased Cara's forehead, pulling her brows together as she chewed her lip and considered the blurry memories of her terror.

“I was just so desperate,” she admitted, resting her head on Ric's shoulder. Her eyes came level with the silver-white brand of a ragged scar on his throat. She gulped and touched the mark she’d left on him. “How? You should’ve healed.”

“Too little blood.” He shifted, kissing the scar he’d left on her neck many years ago, “whatever you did to me let me live, let me heal, but it took so much to make me live I don’t appear to have healed as seamlessly as usual. Don’t worry about it, you’ve given me bigger brands than that.”

Her brow quirked and she opened her mouth to ask but he pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her.

“Soon, Cara, first finish telling me how you accomplished the impossible.”

She shrugged. “I don’t really know. I was just so desperate and I remembered Kalidir telling me that the elahdril drew energy from the world; that we could open our minds to the life around us to boost our strength. I’ve never managed to do it before but pure panic set in and I just reached out. I touched everything Ric, I connected with every living thing in the world. Every bug and animal, every bird and fish, and ever tiny, microscopic organism. I pulled so much energy into me from them, so much I thought I’d burst with it.”

“Then you channelled it into me,” he finished for her. “You poured pure life into me.”

At her nod, he added, “You gave me a heart beat you know, for awhile.” Ric grinned a lopsided half-smile at her, both overjoyed by what he’d felt and sorrowful at losing it again. “I woke up to find my heart thundering in my chest and the little blood you’d left in my body pounding through my veins like nothing I’ve felt in centuries. I knew I was still vampire, but hell, for a few hours I almost felt human again. It started slowing soon after but it’s only in the last hour or so the thumping has desisted back to its usual stillness.”

Cara stared silently at him, wanting to apologise but not finding the words. Ric smiled warmly back.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, dear one, I knew what I was doing when I fed you my blood. This outcome is better than any I’d anticipated, all thanks to you.”

Then he crushed his lips to hers, parting them, his tongue coaxing her to kiss him back. She closed her eyes and sigh, happy to give him what he wanted. Ric’s nose tip brushed lightly against hers before he pulled back, stroking her cheek as he admired her.

“You did something else as well.”

He stood to pull his t-shirt over his head to reveal his chest, and she gawked at the black falcon emblazed there, its chest on top of a silver scar shape like her hand print, which in turn sat over Ric’s heart. That was what he’d meant about brands. She’d scorched him while filling him with the energy she’d absorbed, a supernatural wound that would leave its mark. Thee falcon crest tattooed to his chest matched Kalidir’s. Almost, at least. On Ric the banners of Blutholme and Galahidras twined together, rapping in folds around each other and tapering and twisting into a celtic knot which wove its way down passed his navel. The black infill failed there and she reached out to touch the outlines that continued down towards his abdomen and eventually stopped themselves.

“It’s not finished.”

Ric glanced down at himself. “Then maybe one day you’ll see to sorting that out.”
She rested her head against his stomach, not daring to meet his eye.

“I didn’t mean to scar and mark you, Ric, to tattoo you without your permission.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest and he hunkered down in front of her, catching her chin and tilting her face up to him.

“I love it, Cara, that you claim me. I am yours, you are mine.”

That was such a vampire way of looking at it; so possessive, but that didn't change the warmth he felt for her, the unconditional love which filled Cara's mind as he kissed her again. Perhaps claiming each other was not so bad.

As she kissed him back, she saw his eyes begin to silver. No, not silver. To her surprise, she realised what she'd seen earlier hadn't been the imaginings of a fevered mind. His irises really were tinted with the barest yellow.

“Your eyes are different.”

“Yes, I know.” Ric grinned. “That's just one more thing you’ve managed to modify.”
He stood, pulling his t-shirt back on, adding, “Your eyes are different too. They’re paler than bronze, somewhere between gold and rose gold. Kalidir thinks we’ve somehow... blended slightly. Or tied ourselves together with even greater bonds. I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m just pleased we’re both alive.”

She thought about Kalidir, her heart squeezing.

“How is he, with his father....” she trailed off.

“That is something for you to sort out, oh destined ruler of the elves. Kalidir’s barely spoken since you passed out. He noted our eyes, and fell silent. When Luke insisted Tyrnir be flayed alive in punishment, Kalidir said that under elahdril law his father would be convicted of treason for going against your will and seeking to kill me, and he would also be convicted of endangering a crown elahdrilas. As you pointed out earlier you were crowned heir, even if you have not yet been crowned Queen so the conviction would stand. Both crimes are punishable by execution. Kalidir announced that his father, being a Lord would normally be requested to pierce his own heart to show he accepted his wrong doings and die and honourable death.  A lesser man would be beheaded. Kalidir hasn’t spoken or moved in hours.”

Poor Kalidir. The man he condemned was still his father and that had to hurt.
“And you?” Cara asked Ric. “What would you do?”

He grew still, brows pulled down in a scowl.

“As an unbiased vampire I would have him flayed. We tend not to execute, death is a waste of life and despite our reputation we do value life, perhaps more so than those races who find it so easy to reproduce. Yes, the threat of execution may act as a deterrent to others but so should being whipped into unconsciousness. For that reason my kind utilizes physical but not fatal methods of punishment. Jail time doesn’t really punish someone who could live forever. Flay him; that should be my answer.”

“But?” she prodded, knowing that while it was an answer it wasn’t what Ric would do to Tyrnir if he had the power.

“But... As a man in love with you I would say he should die. I would strip him of his assumed rights as lord; he is not deserving of an honourable death. I would inject him with his own poison, tie him to the hillside and let him die the agonising death he could’ve brought on you. I’d let the carrion birds and scavengers eat from him and I’d leave his remains up there as a warning to anyone who would hurt you.” His mouth is drawn in a narrow line, his jaw tight as he turns to me and concedes, “But that would be undiplomatic, the elahdril council may disapprove.”

She ran a hand through her air, feeling suddenly weary.

“And you expect me to decide his fate?”

“You cannot go to Galahidras for justice, we don’t yet know how Heliana would react to your presence. Blutholme still harbours ill will towards the elahdril for their failure to help us, so the vampire realm would not offer a court to you either. Right now you are the one who must make your justice. We can be your jury, and we find Tyrnir guilty of wrongdoing, but you must pass sentence.”

She stood up, taking the new t-shirt Ric offered her, and wondered what sort of ruler she would choose to be. Tyrnir had been going to kill Ric, a man she'd both kill and die for. As Ric had said; a person in love would pass a very different sentence to a person without bias.

“Come on then. Whatever I decide, I should hear what he has to say for himself.”

They trooped out of Ric’s stall and towards the main barn, where an ominous silence waited for them. Kalidir sat, arms folded over his chest and eyes closed, though from his posture he remained awake. Anthony and Luke sat quietly and warily, eyeing the man who'd been bound and forced to kneel facing a stone wall.

The vampires jumped up as Cara entered, greeting her with small bows and more respect than she deserved. There atmosphere seemed more solemn than it ever had been before, apprehension thick in the air. When Kalidir’s eyes sprung open, he leapt lightly to his feet, despite the slump of his shoulders. His posture indicated that he bore a great burden as he strode over to her, dropping to kneel at her feet.

“My queen, I wish to beg a favour of you.”

Nothing could’ve  prepared Cara for his next words.

“I ask you to grant me an honourable death to atone for my failures as a Guard sworn into your service.”

And audible gasp hissed around the room, and against the back wall, Tyrnir drooped, his body going limp as the last ounce of defiance left him. Disbelief stunned Cara. She must have misheard him, surely.

“What?” she asked.

Kalidir raised his eyes to her, his expression strained with all-consuming regret and humiliation.

“I invited that man,” he spat in his father’s direction, “to enter your presence. I underestimated his lack of ability to understand your position, to respect the prophecies. I caused the pain you’ve suffered today.” His gaze dropped to the floor as he whispered, “My decisions almost led to your death, my lady. I failed in my duty to you, as I failed in my duty to your father. Lord Tyrnir was right to disown me for the dishonour I brought on our family when I failed to protect your father and mother.” He didn’t look at her as he begged, “Please, release me.”

She realised then that Tyrnir encouraged the guilt which tortured his son daily. Tyrnir had abandoned his son to shame through some vain and misguided sense of pride. He tortured his son just as Rowlisa had tortured her, a he'd finally broken Kalidir's spirit, just as her aunt had once broken hers.

Cara bit her tongue to stop herself screaming. Her hands clenched as I fought to keep her temper under control. When Ric touched her elbow then indicated to her hands, she realised they flamed with brilliant ultramarine fire.

“Oh, hell,” she raged. “Bloody residual energy.”

In a way, Cara wished she could hold onto her anger, but she wilted as she stared at Kalidir, who knelt, unmoving, in front of her.

“My answer is no, Kalidir.”

He opened his mouth to protest but she raised her hand in a command to stop.
“No, you did not cause what happened today, and I demand you stop berating yourself over what happened to my family. You obeyed your orders, nothing less. If my father gave the wrong orders then that’s his fault not yours.”

What a blasphemy; both Kalidir and Tyrnir stiffened but she continued regardless.

“The elahdrilas are no more infallible that you. He made a mistake in leaving us so unprotected, though in truth I believe that if you’d been there that night you would have died as well. I didn't need to witness one more corpse sprawled in the gore to haunt my childhood nightmares and make me mute for a decade.”

A room of speechless men stared back at her, but she wouldn't bow to their shock.
“You will still be my principal guard once I have guards for you to captain. You will do your job then the same as you’ve done it every day since we met.”

She hunkered down so her face drew level with his, stating, “You will do your job with determination and understanding and a willingness to do what is right.” Cara took his hand. “As your queen, potentially, I deny your request to die and I insist you continue serving me in your current capacity. And as a friend who’s already watched one family bleed to death, I say this; I can’t lose anyone else. Kalidir, the closest thing I have to family is in this room. I almost killed Ric earlier. Please don’t ask me to sign your death warrant.”

Kalidir sighed but nodded, and when she stood, holding out her hand to him, he took it willingly and allowed her to pull him to his feet. Then he bowed low to her.

“As you command, my queen.” Bronze eyes met hers. “As you wish, my friend,” he added gently.

She threw her arms around his neck, squashing him against her. He smiled and squeezed her back, holding her until Ric growled and she stepped back from Kalidir.

“Hush, you,” she told the possessive vampire. Her possessive vampire.

Cara couldn’t avoid the inevitable though. She realised as much as she looked over to Tyrmir. For the first time, as she advanced on the man the others would see tortured or dead, she felt the weight of her own power. She didn’t doubt his remorse as she closed in on him, though, but she couldn't tell if it was for his actions or for his failure to do as he'd intended to Ric.

Opening her mind, she let her consciousness touch lightly against his. He felt the feather light brush and shuddered, fearful.

“I’m going to ask you some questions and I will know if you lie.” Cara chewed her lip a second before taking a deep breath and demanding, “Do you regret making an attempt on Sir Ulrich’s life, a man who risked himself to avoid fighting our people in the first war? Do you regret attempting to commit an offence which you knew would hurt me? Or is it that you regret your failure to separate me from what you feel is an unsuitable consort? And he will be my consort,” she added, defiant. “I swear it.”

Tyrnir stared at his bound hands without seeing them, fingers twisting together.

“I regret many things, my queen, but I am thankful that I failed to kill Sir Ulrich. I will never knowingly endanger you or those you love again, no matter their species.”

She felt stunned he’d called me queen when he'd often denied her even the most basic title before, but she recognised that he spoke the truth and she accept his words.

“Do you really believe Kalidir responsible for what happened on that night? For what happened to my parents at a wolf’s paws? Do you really belief he has brought dishonour on your family.”

“No,” the man answered, his tone despondent and guilt filled response. “My actions after your father’s death were driven by sorrow. I was once your father’s teacher, as Kalidir is yours. Your father was not the survivor you are; he was a dreamer in a world of warriors and politics, and I took it upon myself to teach him, to keep him safe when his own father was so often away trying to keep peace with wolf and vampire alike.

“Fardir was like a son to me, and I am ashamed to say I became vain about having him as my ward... I am even more ashamed to admit I neglected my own family. Years passed and my own children acquired positions of power. It angered me when Kalidir applied for a position among your father’s guard. It infuriated me when your father’s trust in my youngest son slowly replaced his trust in me.

“I acted like a foolish old man.” His admission was barely audible. “I antagonised and eventually drove away both your father and my son. But when Fardir died, I still loved him, and pain made me say and do things I can never take back and have little hope of putting right.”

He paused as his voice broke, before managing to say, “Kalidir has never brought dishonour to us. How can I express how proud I am that he had the courage to enter that tomb and give a slandered man acknowledgement, when even I, a man who’d raised your father from boyhood, was too afraid to do so? Then to find you, to train you, to bear the tattoo which will bring so much honour to our line; how could any father feel anything but pride?”

His eyes scrunch closed as his body shook with pent up emotion.

“I am sorry,” he finished, running out of words.

Cara considered the honesty in his story and the repentance in his weary face. 
“If I were to let you go free... if I were ignore the vampires calling for your flaying, renounce an elahdril cry for execution, and deny the death-hungry anger of a man who’d kill for me, would you continue to rebel against Heliana? Would you do it in my name? Could you, Lord Tyrnir, obey my command even if that command were one day to bow to a vampire as my Prince Consort?”

“I deserve to die,” Tyrnir answered.

“Yes,” she responded, biting on her thumbnail a moment as she debated her next words. “Your execution is still among the sentences I may her pass, but I'd have you answer my question all the same.”

He looked up at her from where he’d knelt for half a day, the rough concrete still digging into his knees.

“I would fight in your name, Queen Nekyra. I would obey your command as is my duty. I would bow to any consort your heart chose, but I would bow to the vampire who would die for you with far more gratitude that I would any other suitor.”

Slowly, Cara walked to the weapons chest, pulling out thin dagger. She noted the acceptance in Tyrnir’s expression as he prepared himself to die. Kalidir opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again instantly, quashing the desire to beg for his father’s life. Then she paused at Tyrnir’s side.

“This is my decision.” Carefully she stepped around him, crouching before him and slipping the blade between his wrists. The blade sliced easily through the rope that bound him and he gasped in amazement as she added, “Use your second chance wisely, my lord, go against my wishes again and your passing will not be honourable.”

“A ma i thor vaw in annil mi vireiy egat, mi a ma vais, us irrane vaw gliveiy da raighlaw. Us mys ma veyah, ma vanrig. Baw ma claviw dan. Ur us mys cascai dalis egat.”

Tyrnir whispered the words Kalidir had said months earlier, swearing his fealty as a guard would. He kissed the back of Cara's hand before admitting, “I do not presume you would give me the honour of being among your guard or your trusted circle, but I want you to know that I willingly swear myself to you. I ask nothing of you in return... but know I will answer when called.”

Once again Cara found herself considering the weight of the guard's oath. She couldn’t give Tyrnir the same answer she'd given his son though. Despite her willingness to give the lord a second chance, she couldn’t forgive him for setting out to kill Ric. She respond slowly, hesitantly, unhappy about the new burden laid on her shoulders; the burden of a queen out of her depth.

“I cannot accept as a monarch creating a new guard, you must earn that, Tyrnir. Still, I thank you for what you offer and I’ll remember that you have freely sworn allegiance to me. One day, when you have proven your loyalty and recovered your relationship with the man who will be first among my guards and therefore your captain, maybe then I will be able to give you a different reply.”

“I accept your decision, my queen, and hope and pray I will serve you with greater dignity and proficiency than I served those before you.”

Cara nodded while debating her first official order to him.

“Lord Tyrnir, continue building me a powerbase among the elves, but while you do so, serve your family as a father should, with love and understanding and a willingness to overcome your pride and apologise when necessary.”

He acknowledged her order with a bow of his head, and another thought struck her.

“Why, now, do you call me your queen when yesterday I had to fight for any title at all?”

Tyrnir smiled as he climbed stiffly to his feet.

“Only an elahdrilas queen could do what you did for Sir Ulrich. To channel the power alone that must’ve taken unbelievable strength, and to direct the flow to your bidding as well? Incredible. To do what you did and live through it is unbelievable. No elahdrilas in generations has possessed that sort of ability.”

He paused as he scrutinised her.

“You are rightfully Queen Nekyra of Galahidras, long may you grace us with your strength.”