Lillian

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- If you say that he dealt with your people alone with his bare hands, how can we remain unarmed?- Horel shouted.

- We had a deal! - Christopher hissed, throwing knives at him with his eyes and aggressively gesticulating with his hands.

- Horel is right! - I said loudly, earning myself an angry look from King Adaman. - Even if you go there with our people now, he will kill them as well.

- What about werewolves? Will you save them for yourself too? – spluttering with saliva, he asked.

- It’s not time for them yet. The last experiment was thwarted, you know that yourself. And those that are, are not yet trained. They will be like a double-edged sword if you release them now. Even with their numbers, we have to make sure that they will follow our orders unconditionally. - I raised my voice, trying to hammer this truth into his head.

- And what, such powerful magicians can’t cope with one vampire? - There was an undisguised mockery in his voice.

- We will send our people. Some. - Horel interjected while I was considering my move.

- No, we won’t do that. We need allies. More strength, more chance to defeat him. – I interjected, thinking that I needed more strength against the immortal to be able to survive.

I had to think it through carefully. He’s been hiding from my eyes for so long, and now that I’m glad to find him, I realize that I’m not his equal. I can’t beat him with what I have. Fucking girl, what did she do to him, how could she make him immortal? Surely there must be a way...

The voices of those present merged into one continuous unintelligible noise while I was immersed in my thoughts. I got up from my seat, ignoring the stunned faces.

- Send delegations to the nearest kingdoms. We have to assemble an army and prepare before we go on the offensive. We need allies as much as possible. He’s probably going to show up here with his next action, so there’s not much time. And I... I need to go away for a while. - I said uncompromisingly.

Fortunately, Horel was not attached to me like a restless dog right now, so he nodded silently, accepting my decision, and that was it.

I have too little time left to find a solution. I need to call a coven, I need my witches.

I left the Council Chamber, but then I heard the sound of accelerating footsteps. Already in the corridor, away from prying eyes, pulling my hand and turning sharply, Christopher glared at me with a wild look filled with excitement.

- I have nothing more to say to you. - I told him and lowered my gaze to the floor, hiding the painfully tingling eyes.

- I’m sorry that this happened to us. I still can’t believe she’s gone, - he whispered softly and hugged me tightly, helping me hide the tears that came. - If I had only had time to notice, I would have prevented her from doing this crazy thing.

- She looked so much like you. - I whispered sobbing, remembering Xana, my beautiful youngest daughter.

She inherited her father’s traits, but at the same time exclusively my character. She was the fruit of my love with Christopher. We were young and both disappointed in our lovers, so she united on like no other.

"I still love you, Lil," he whispered, kissing my hair.

***

Terrence

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I was standing hiding behind a pillar like some little cowardly boy, and I was afraid to make any sound. Everything I accidentally saw came as a natural shock to me. Were my mother and Pegins lovers? This revelation did not overshadow the honor of my late sister, but opened my eyes to the identity of my mother.

I had noticed her split behavior for a long time and could not put the puzzle together. I loved her, respected her, feared her, and sometimes hated her. But I couldn’t decide for myself which of these I feel more. Her attitude towards Thea always caused a wave of anger in me, and although I tried not to cause my sister more harm by intervening to protect her, but I did everything not to cause her more problems. I stayed away from her, caring in my own way.

We all grew up together and despite our differences, we are connected by blood, we should not be enemies to each other. It is a pity that Xana chose a different path for herself and thereby paid with her life. She will always remain in my heart, not blackened by her last heinous act.

And yet recent events have clearly made it clear to me which side I want to take. I was extremely careless when I left a V-vendetta mark on Thea’s body, a blood feud. This tag allows to track the person wearing it, wherever he is. If I had only known she was under a shape-shifting spell, I would never have done this to her. I would never have told my mother that I put that mark on Abion’s spy. Never.

Mother will surely come to me soon to look for Thea, so I can’t delay any longer and let her use me against my sister. The only option left for me in this situation is to leave Riliya as soon as possible and find Thea. And remove the mark. I have to correct my mistake. I was particularly sorry for the memory of how much pain I subjected her to that time. I behaved like a real monster, will she be able to forgive me?

When I finally waited for the two secret lovers to leave the deserted corridor, I immediately opened a portal that swallowed me up without a trace. It didn’t make sense to take any things with me, all I needed was my knowledge, an amulet and magic skills.

The portal opened outside the castle and I exhaled with a nervous shudder. I need to get away and cover my tracks, without leaving a single whole magical stream by which I could be calculated. Applying my many years of skillful experience, I created such a web of spells, which, even if possible, would be extremely difficult to unravel and would take a lot of time. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It was already dusk when I finished, so a slight fatigue began to overcome, after all, I was not some mythical creature with boundless energy. I reopened the portal, as far as my strength allowed, and having calculated the right place, I stepped over the shimmering edge, which led me to a small street of Raswell, which was one of the border towns of Riliya.

After wandering around familiar places for a short time and indulging in nostalgia for the times when I was staying with my grandmother, I found a small tavern that provides overnight accommodation. The tavern looked inconspicuous and simple, probably for wandering travelers like me, but now I wasn’t going to find fault, even if there were bedbugs.

A creaking wooden door notified the hosts about a new guest and a short woman with open-eyed bodily virtues immediately approached me. Her waist was too tightly tightened by the corset so that her lush breasts were half visible and caused me some embarrassment, forcing me to look away.

But the woman did not seem to be timid and immediately grabbed my hand and led me away, which caused a wave of dislike in me with her touches.

- It’s late enough, you must be looking for a bed for the night? – I pulled my hand out of her grasp the moment we reached the bar. – Here, have a glass for a good night, and I’ll arrange a room for you.

- Thank you. - I said through my teeth, trying to hide my irritation. - Just for one night.

- Oh, of course, of course, darling, whatever you say. Only money in advance. – she smiled broadly, and I could not suppress the disgust on my face.

Just the thought of some woman treating me so lightly and touching me was disgusting to me. I was quite picky in my relationships with women, and therefore her behavior was categorically unacceptable and condemned for me. But I didn’t say anything to her, the only thought was to get into the room as soon as possible and collapse on the bed without hind legs.

I paid for the room and grabbed my key, went up to the second floor, where my temporary room was located. The room turned out to be small and there was a distinct smell of cigarettes and ... as if someone had just been actively fucking here, the whole air was soaked with sweat and smells of physiological fluids. This caused a slight attack of nausea. Rolling my eyes, I jerked all the sheets and blankets off the bed, took off my jacket, put it under my head and lay down on the bed in clothes and shoes. You need to endure just one night.

In the morning, as soon as dawn came, I went downstairs, gave the keys and hastily had breakfast with some incomprehensible substance resembling something between porridge and soup. It was tasteless, but my stomach was full and I could go on living.

- You’re up so early. – the same woman from yesterday smiled as she sat down at my table. - Are you in a hurry somewhere? Are you passing through here?

I almost didn’t get enough sleep, and she’s been asking me questions since early in the morning. What the fuck difference does it make to her where I’m going. Instead, I decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

- Have you ever met vampires? - my eyes were fixed intently on hers.

The woman moved away a little and froze, looking at me in bewilderment.

- You know, I’ve been working here for more than fifteen years and I haven’t met anyone during that time. - she shrugged her shoulders, as if this was usually the case.

- How did they behave? Were they aggressive? Did they kill anyone?

The woman leaned closer again, resting on her elbows and grinned.

- Are you a vampire hunter? - There was curiosity in her eyes.

- No. Just wondering what kind of creatures they are. – I explained distantly, finishing the remains of an incomprehensible meal.

- Well, I can say that there have never been murders here because of vampires, but drunken things have happened, but this is a common thing. Although our tavern looks shabby, the guests often behave decently. And there are good people among vampires, if that’s what you’re interested in. - She smiled sweetly enough.

- Good, you say? Hmm. – I grinned.

Can I believe her words, because I have always considered vampires to be the devil’s spawn, bringing death, and they certainly did not associate me with the word "good". The only time I made my beliefs waver was when this vampire king looked at Thea so tenderly during the ball, how gently he touched her in the dance, as if she was made of glass.

It was then that I began to doubt. In fact, I, her own brother, treated her more cruelly than this vampire, who, it would seem, was in love with her.

Funny, is love even possible between a blood-sucking monster and a blood vessel? It’s more like parasitism. I realized that I knew too little about these creatures, never going into details.

- You know, there are people among humans who are more violent than vampires. There is no need to be so categorically reprehensible. – she wished one last time and then went behind the counter to serve new customers.

- What’s your name? - I asked the woman when I came to pay for the food.

- Claire, milord. - she smiled.

She obviously looked vulgar at first glance, but her face was pretty, and her inner world turned out to be not bad, it breathed kindness. The discrepancy between the inner and the outer.

- Thank you for the reception and for the conversation, Claire. – I replied dryly and put her a couple of silver coins as a tip.

- Good luck on your journey.

Finally, having replenished my energy, I activated the amulet and created a portal that vibrated to the mark left on my sister’s body.