Broken Warrior

Rurik

Eirene

Rurik was not subjected to the chains and wooden prison I was during our trip back to Europe. By that time we had moved to a monastery deep in Catholic Ireland, due to the reformations and changes within the churches throughout Europe, so the travel was nearly entirely by boat. I had not been prepared for how hungry a newly made vampire was, all the time. I remembered the thirst as a constant companion, though time had stood still for me in my prison and Rurik's freedom seemed to make the depravation harder on him.

He did not trust me from the beginning and had a hard time following the rules I tried to set down for him. Not because he was evil, but because he was willful. The only times he did not argue with me, was when he realized the rules I gave him were for the safety of others. For as rough an exterior as he had, he had never been very good at cruelty.

I taught him patience and control, though I know I did not withhold his feeding as much as the Knights would have proscribed, which would make things far harder on him once we were among them. Still, he suffered, though he had learned long before me than no one listened to his pains and remained a quiet sentinel, watching the water drift by as the ship moved onwards towards the old world. He had begun to warm to me, forging a trust that was grudgingly built on shaking, unsteady foundations, like a colt just born and standing for the first time.

Perhaps it is the introspection of time and knowing how it all turned out, but I feel like I knew even then that it was a mistake to take him back to the confines of my masters. They were prepared for us when we docked, as I had sent them word of what had happened. Though some of those who had selfishly thought themselves more suitable candidates were angry, most of them were pleased I had finally bent to their wills on this account.

My first betrayal of Rurik happened in the moonlight, only three feet from the ship upon which I had just begun to reach him. The Knights stepped forward with their chains and swords and Rurik had stepped behind me, looking for protection. There was no surprise on his face when I stepped out of the way and held him still while they restrained him. Only a pain filled resignation, as if I had lived up to all his dismal expectations.

He never sought safety or comfort from me again. Rurik did not forgive transgressions, nor did he make the same mistakes more than once. Though I remember those haunting blue eyes locked with mine as they clamped the iron mask over him and threw him into the prisoner carriage. I had spent a good day arguing with them once we arrived, telling them that he was far more controlled than they gave him credit for. I argued that he had learned restraint, could be trusted, I argued until I was promised one thing.

That if I continued to choose my inhuman attachment to another monster, they would remove him from existence. He was not my pet, he was their weapon, as I was their weapon. I was sentenced to thirty lashes for my impertinence, to find salvation in the pain of a just God.

And when it was over, to prove my loyalty, Rurik was sentenced to fifty. By my hand. I still remember that cold look he gave me through the holes in his iron mask before they turned him toward the stone wall and locked his chains in place. The whip they had placed in my hand was barbed with metal and weighted heavily, enough to tear through supernatural skin without remorse. He let out a low sound of pain when the first last hit him, but not again.

I could have ripped the whole monastery apart if I had wanted to, but I was their weapon and enraptured by their doctrine, I felt I had no choice but to follow their commands in order to save Rurik's life.

His training started the next day and spanned over decades, some of which I was there for, always forced to use a heavy hand and cruelty, for fear of showing any attachment or weakness of affection that could doom him. Other times I was hunting and away, and would come back to find Rurik more withdrawn and less cooperative than he had been before.