Mark of Betrayal (17 page)

“
Anytime.”

We held a smile between us for a second past uncomfortable, until I looked away. He was so much like David—the ancestral connection very clear between the two—which made walking out here, in a forest, hard—made me very glad David was actually alive, or I might’ve fallen to the floor in a sobbing mess. “You look so human today, Arthur.”

“
I do?” he said, half frowning, half smiling.

“
Yeah. I mean…I guess I just never pictured you in jeans.”

He looked down at his pants, shrugging. “Well, I
can
be quite human at times. I trust, by the end of my stay, you will have a more unguarded opinion of me.”

“
Unguarded?” I asked, noticing the path narrowing at my feet, closing in with long, green grass. “Oh, you think I don't trust you.”

“
You’re just guarded.” He smiled, looking away quickly. “Like you're afraid you might say something you shouldn’t.”

Hm. Clever.
“You
have
been around for a while, haven’t you?”

“
Well,” Arthur began, looking up as Petey came running down the trail toward us, “you pick up a little about human nature when you live for a few—for as long as I have.”

“
Hey, Petey.” I squatted down and scratched the top of his head, then peered up at Arthur. “How long have you lived?”

“
Lived?” He bounced a little as he started walking again. “I
lived
for only thirty years.”

“
You know what I mean.” I followed him, patting my leg for Petey to come, too. “And technically, you’re still living. Since vampires aren’t dead.”

“
Hm.”

“
Do…do you ever get tired—of living?”

He made a tight line of his lips, a smile in his eyes, and nodded.

“
So, are you alone now? Like, were David and Jason the last of your bloodline?”

“
Yes.”

“
I'm sorry, Arthur.”

He reached across Petey, who walked between us, and took my hand. “Well, at least I still have you.”

“
Yes. You do.” I gently squeezed his fingers
.
“We immortals have to stick together, right?”

“
Right. And I must say, I look forward to your friendship over the years to come.”

I almost thought about that for a second—eternity—but my dad’s face popped into my mind, and the idea of seeing him die one day, knowing I’ll never see him again, felt too heavy, so I pushed it all aside and dropped Arthur’s hand, walking a little faster.

“
Everything all right, my lady?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Then, why the sudden dash for distance?”

“
I don't like to think about it—eternity. It’s just a bit…well…”

“
Empty.” He nodded and we both slowed, coming to the edge of the forest, the trees opening out to a wide field of wind-swept grass; its hues of pale green on a backdrop of blue ran as far as the eye could see. “I shouldn't say this, as I do not wish to cause you grief, but I understand the pain of living without those we love. I know you think of David when you imagine eternity, and—”

“
Please.” I closed my eyes, angling my head away from him. “Please don't talk about him.”

“
Of course, my lady.”

I started ahead, my footfalls sinking heavily on the uneven ground, while my fingers ran lazily through the blades of grass, making sweeping motions, like I did in the dreams where I walked a field much the same as this, with Jason.

“
Do you see that—where the ground disappears up there?” Arthur pointed ahead, past the lone, wide tree.

“
Yeah.”

“
That’s the cliffs and—”

“
The lighthouse.” I looked all the way up at it in the distance; white, tall, just like I imagined it would be, but also really far away—enough that I could cover it with my thumb from where I stood. “This place is beautiful,” I said.

“
Yes. I have always loved it here,” Arthur noted, then pointed to a steep incline of trees to our left that bordered the manor—leaving the other side of this grassy plane open. “Have you been told of the myth about that forest.”

“
Um, yeah—something about if you go in there at dawn, you’ll be trapped for eternity.”

“
Correct.” He smiled, walking with his hands behind his back.

“
This place has so many of those stories. I've heard several since I came here,” I noted, watching Petey run ahead, chasing a murder of crows.

“
Well, live in any one place for long enough, and myths will form. Nevertheless, be mindful to choose carefully which ones you believe, Princess. All legends derive from some fact.”

“
I’ll be fine,” I said, hiding a smile, but stopped walking suddenly when the tree came into full view. “That’s my tree!”

“
Your tree?” Arthur stood beside me, looking at my face, then the tree sitting centre field, its branches reaching out like welcoming arms.

“
Yes. My tree.” I almost folded over and started crying, feeling so close to a part of my past—a part with a boy I was made to love—that, in that breath, I couldn’t stand the fact of his death. “Jason showed me this place—in my dreams. But he said I chose it, except, I’ve never been here before.”

“
Perhaps he lied.” Arthur walked ahead.

“
Why?” I bolted forward, Lilithian-style, stopping only once the cool shade of the tree covered my skin from the sun, closing me in, showing me home once more. I touched its trunk, feeling him there—feeling Jason within its spirit—and let the urge to cry trickle away with each panting breath. “Why would he lie?”

“
I'm not sure.” Arthur appeared beside me. “Perhaps he didn't wish to explain why this place was special to
him
.”

I slid down the bark of the tree, feeling each ridge, then each blade of grass under my knees, touching my skin. It felt just like the dream—like reality, and when I looked up at the man beside me, I half expected to see Jason. “This is the field Jason and David played in as boys?”

Arthur nodded, looking upon the scene as if the children might be running there once more, then sat down carefully beside me. “Jason loved Loslilian. When he became a vampire and was forced to move to the castle, it nearly broke his heart.”

“
Forced?”

“
Yes. That was where our Set resided.”

“
How come Drake lived there then? Didn't he have his own Set?”

“
No. Drake lived wherever he wanted. The castle was merely where he chose to be for the last decade or so.”

“
Why? I mean, was there a reason?”

He shrugged. “I was not privy to such information.”

“
So, you never talked as friends?”

“
We did.” He nodded. “I just never asked him what reasons he had for coming or going. He was always a wanderer.”

“
But he made everyone else stay in one place?”

“
No. We moved on—had opportunity to see the world.”

“
By moving each winter?”

“
Yes.”

I thought about poor Emily—how she lost Jason to that tradition. “Why did you move all the time?”

“
Well—” Arthur folded his hands in his lap, crossing his legs at the ankles. “It began as a tradition—one we started in a time where food became scarce as the days grew colder.”

“
Scarce? Why?”

“
Farmers would have no crops to tend, markets would close when it snowed and travellers would lodge until spring broke. And since it is our strong belief it’s bad form to kill a man in his own bed, we travelled to warmer parts of the world, returning to our original homes when the snow melted.”

“
But, not if you were a Set leader—then you could stay?”

“
If on your two years’ leave, yes. But we were required to check in weekly, meet with other Set leaders on occasion to keep updated.”

I nodded. “Eric told me once that he had to ‘check-in’ daily. What’s with that?”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. “Why so many questions, my dear?”

I shrugged. “Guess I'm just trying to get an idea of how the Sets worked—you know, since I’ll be
disbanding
them soon.”

He grinned at my teasing tone. “The check-ins were vital to keep tabs on all vampires. Each person had a different time, and would be hunted down by the Warriors if they failed to check-in on time.”

“
Hunted?”

“
Yes. And brought to trial.”

“
Punished?”

“
Yes.”

I nodded. “So, the Warriors were like vampire cops?”

“
Yes.” Arthur laughed lightly. “Exactly.”

“
And that’s what Jason was?”

“
Yes.” His voice became small.

I exhaled and looked around the field then; it felt strange to be sitting here, knowing I was awake. “So, why did Jason love this place so much?”

“
He always felt safe here, like he belonged.” He slid down a little, leaning on his elbow, his face in line with my shoulder. “After their aunt died, the boys lived here until they became vampires. This was home.”

“
And Drake let you live away from the Set while you raised them?”

“
No, we simply moved the Set here.”

“
Oh, yeah. Mike told me you were Lord of Loslilian. So, that was when the boys were human?”

“
Yes.”

“
Wow. And…you just up and moved the entire Set here?”

“
Yes.”

“
How did everyone else feel about that—about moving just so you could raise the boys?”

“
We had some resistance.” He looked up at me, his brilliant blue eyes shocking me for a second. “Drake quickly put a stop to it.”

I toyed with the hem of my dress. “Why was he so accommodating?”

“
I was an old friend of his.” Arthur sat up a little more and dusted the grass off his palms. “I had always given the best of myself to the throne—not to mention, one of my conditions of becoming a vampire was that I always watch over my brother’s bloodline. I couldn’t let the boys end up in an orphanage, possibly never to know what became of them, so Drake and I came to an arrangement.”

“
Arrangement? The way you say that makes it sound like there was crux.”

He nodded. “Smart girl.”

“
So, what was it—the catch?”

He reached across and picked a yellow daisy from beside my knee. “Drake let us live here on the condition that, when the boys came of age, I would turn them both.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes.”

“
Wow, David never told me that part.”

“
He never knew that.”

I sat back against the tree, feeling superior for knowing more than David did—for once. “So, if Drake was such a good friend, so good he changed laws and moved an entire Set just because he knew what the boys meant to you, why did he order David killed?”

Arthur let out a long breath, his chest sinking. “There are laws, my dear, even I cannot protect someone from. That is why I told Jason to warn you—and to run.”

“
But he gave David up instead.”

“
Yes,” he said, his tone deep. “I know he thought it would give you time to escape. After all, it was you they were truly after. Without you, they could never have killed David.”

“
Right.” I nodded, pressing my tongue to my fang. “Guess that makes sense.”

“
I fought for him, though.” He touched my hand until I looked at him. “I fought for David's life to be spared. But Drake overruled it—said he had to make an example of David.”

I sunk back a little. “Sorry, Arthur.”

“
Don't be sorry.” He patted my hand. “None of this was in your control.”

I looked down at his fingers, then wound mine softly through his, as if he was the boy I missed so much. And it was just as easy as it was touching Jason, but this time, was merely a gesture of friendship. Something it had never been with Jason. “I
am
sorry he’s dead, you know?”

“
Who?”

“
Jason.”

He squeezed my hand. “Are you?”

“
He was always more human than David. He never even had to try.”

“
And you always liked human, didn't you?”

I nodded.

“
It was the first thing I noticed in his eyes, after I changed him,” Arthur said.

“
What was?”

“
The glimmer of compassion—something vampires commonly lose.”

“
But he lost it later, didn't he? When David took Rochelle.”

Arthur looked down. “Yes, but not completely.”

I thought about Rochelle for a second. “He described it once, the way he felt to fall in love with a human. If he never lost his compassion, how come falling for a human changed so much in him?”

“
Love does that. It opens your world.” Arthur laughed, letting go of my hand to unfold his in front of him, like wiping paint across the sky. “Once you’ve felt love, you notice light in the day you never saw before.”