Seven
Adelasia
In the morning, breakfast is delivered to my room. I quietly stoke the fading flame in the fireplace as I sit on the floor and nibble on some bread with jam. I bathe, and as my hair drips cold water around my feet, I emotionlessly dress in a leotard and tights.
After I lace up the ribbons of my dancing shoes, I use the vanity chair as a barre as I leisurely warm up my muscles and soothe the chill in my bones.
When I rise on my toes to spin and warm up the left side of my body, I find Kaius standing at the entrance to my room. He’s eerily quiet. Uncomfortably still. Maliciously cold. His raven feather cloak sits heavy and luxurious on his tall frame. His silvery-white hair is loose around his face. Something about him looks troubled.
I swallow. “What do you want?”
“I came to ask you what you knew about vampires.”
I scoff. “My opinion on demons like you shouldn’t be any of your concern.”
In truth, I know very little about vampires and other monsters of the world. All of my knowledge comes from legends and tales from the few survivors that have been passed down through generations.
The Nine Priestesses, the keepers of magic and defenders of the darkest corners of the world are said to be responsible for all demons.
After vampires were created, the werebeasts came next; shapeshifters that favor the instincts of predators–wolves, bears, leopards, hawks. The werebeasts often prefer their animal form over their human form, and many give up their human troubles in favor of living amongst each other in the wilds.
With each new creation, the monsters became more wicked and vile until the world was crawling with horrors beyond imagination. Walking corpses. Giant spiders. Krakens of the deep so vicious that the oceans have been reclaimed, and no human has dared cross the Endless Sea in nearly six hundred years.
There were once ten Priestesses, but our human legends only go as far as to say one simply vanished without a trace, and that shortly after she disappeared, hordes of vampires took her place and quickly became the apex predator.
Kaius grits his teeth, but to my shock, he doesn’t retaliate with violence or try to subdue me with fear. He steps further into the room and takes a seat in a chair set up near the fireplace.
I turn my back to him and continue my technique warm-up. I can feel him staring at me, and his gaze is as cold as this strange palace. As that unsettling thought crosses my mind, my mood sours further when I realize why my dancing feels so lifeless.
I miss music. I miss the beautiful crescendo of the orchestra and the delicate scale of the piano accompanying my steps. I miss the way the music echoes off the floors as my dance shoes do.
With a huff, I stand up straight and eye the black marble wall in front of me with annoyance. No windows, no music, no warmth.
Yet he has the nerve to call me the animal.
“What is it?”
Kaius asks from behind me. I turn to face him with my hands on my narrow hips. He’s flipping a silver dagger between his fingers. It does not leave cuts across his skin.
Why carry a weapon that cannot harm vampires in a vampire settlement?
“This place. It’s lifeless.”
To add venom to my words, I raise my eyebrows in challenge. “Like you.”
“Trust me, Adelasia, I have plenty of life left in me. I cannot say the same for you, as you insist on testing my patience.”
I huff. “You want me to dance as a way to beg for my life? Fine. The least you could do is not force me to do it in silence.”
His face falls from bitter amusement to anger. “Perhaps I’ve spent my lifetimes doing things more important than being polite to crass humans and filling their ears with music.”
As he finishes his sentence, he lunges for me and takes my wrist in his large hand. He examines the skin of my inner wrist as I whimper from the tightness of his hold.
A ruby the size of my palm dangles from an ornate silver chain around his neck, and it begins to glow a brighter shade of red and hum softly. When it stops, I feel a sting at my wrist and jerk my hand free from his grasp. I clutch it to my chest as the pain subsides and then examine the area.
A small, red, eight-pointed star now mars the delicate milky skin of my wrist.
“What is this?”
I ask in a panic. “What have you done to me?”
“If you want music, make your own, Adelasia.”
“What?”
“It’s magic,”
he growls, frustrated. “You want music? Light? Warmth? Make it yourself. I’m not your servant.”
“You’re right, you’re my warden.”
“You have two minutes to dance, or I’ll rip out your throat.”
“Then do it!”
I shout. “Stop filling my head with empty threats. You’ve already taken me away from everything I loved.”
I don’t mean to, but my voice begins to quiver. “If you’re going to kill me or feed on me then just be the monster you want me to believe you are, and do it.”
He stares down at me with a completely blank expression on his face, but something in those bright red eyes seems…disappointed.
“What do you know about vampires?”
he asks again, carefully enunciating each word as if he believes I’m slow. My silence displeases him, and he shakes me. “Tell me!”
The anger in his voice combined with the way he shouted it has my resolve cracking. I know I shouldn’t be testing his patience. I know that I’m stuck in a valley surrounded by other vampires, and possibly more demons. I have no way out.
“I know vampires were the first demons. At least, that’s what we’ve come to believe,”
I begin, swallowing the fear in my throat. My eyes flicker down to the ruby hanging heavy around his neck before I meet his eyes again.
“Is that truly all you know?”
he asks quietly, his grip on me loosening a bit. “That we were the first?”
“That, and vampires were created shortly after the Tenth Priestess disappeared. We…we assume the events are related, but we have no proof.”
I gulp. “Are they related?”
“What makes you think I would know?”
“Why else would you care about what knowledge I have? I thought I was just a stupid little human girl?”
Kaius lets me go and turns his back to me, stepping a few paces forward before turning again. “Yes. They’re related.”
It’s silent between us. I stare up at him as he stares back down at me. The tension in his shoulders is on full display as if that’s a truth he himself hasn’t come to terms with.
And then I begin to wonder how many vampires there are out there who were turned unwillingly. How many people were silly, inconsequential humans like me once, only to be forcefully turned into a monster?
I begin to wonder if Kaius is one of them. In the intimidating crimson of his eyes, there’s a sadness there too. Maybe if I oblige him, I can take advantage of that sadness and earn enough sympathy to gain my freedom.
Quietly, I ask, “Will you watch me dance?”
I see shock in his face, in the way the muscles in his jaw fall before returning to their usual stoic expression. He stands up a bit straighter, his shoulders poised more elegantly instead of turned in and tight. His chin is tilted more upward in a regal sort of way. His presence dominates the room, even between just the two of us. The way he holds himself makes me feel…small.
In a world that has always made me feel too big, he’s made me feel small. Fragile.
And it’s as unsettling as the stillness in the air.
Instead of saying a word, Kaius walks to his chair, heavily sits down, and waits for me with his fingers pressed together in front of his face as if deep in contemplation.
I move to a more open spot in the room, between the end of the bed and the door, and feel the imprint on my wrist.
“How does it work?”
I ask quietly.
“You have to let the magic flow through you. Don’t try to control it. Be…harmonious with it, and it will bend to your will.”
“Bend to my will?”
I repeat. “You just told me not to control it.”
“Yes, well if it’s as stubborn as you, perhaps it won’t work at all.”
He gives me a condescending sneer. “I think I’d like that better. If it left you in the cold and the dark as I have.”
Annoyance races through me and I glare at him before focusing on the mark again. I think first of what I want to dance to. Something light and airy doesn’t seem like something he’d enjoy watching. Maybe something darker and melancholy like this palace would be a better fit.
I close my eyes and concentrate–but not too hard–on conjuring a piano. I take a deep breath and imagine it. Black stained wood, pristine white keys, a soft bench to match.
I gasp when a tune plays from behind me and turn around to find a piano has appeared in the corner of my room, and the keys play a haunting tune of their own volition. Like a ghost is performing just for me.
Triumphant, I turn around and cross my arms at Kaius, who’s sitting with an amused expression on his face. Dare I say it–he’s smiling. That smile disappears as quickly as it came, and I find myself missing it. He’s very…human when he smiles. It's comforting and warm in a way he isn’t.
I turn my back to ground myself before I begin dancing. My movements are slow, delicate, and technically precise.
Whenever I improvise a dance, I always bring myself to a setting. Tell a story. Play a part. I decide that the tune the piano is playing tells the story of someone who feels isolated and lonely in the world. In a way, I can relate.
My facial expressions turn sorrowful and lamenting. My arms reach for a salvation that isn’t there. I imagine I’m in a field of flowers that wilt with each step I take, my pain stealing their life essence. I make them decay as I feel I have.
When I finish my final turn and melt into my end pose, I finally focus on the room around me. Kaius is staring at my feet in what I can only describe as awe. Fascination. Maybe even pride. When I look down to see what he’s staring at so intently, my own mouth falls open.
Decaying flowers have sprouted under my feet from the lifeless marble floor.
Kaius stands slowly, sauntering towards me with his icy grace.
“I’m sorry!”
I say frantically, seeing the displeasure in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to–”
He interrupts me with a gentle touch of the knuckle on his forefinger, tilting my chin up so I have to meet his eyes.
A very small hint of a sly smile touches the corner of his lip.
“It seems you’re not as useless as you appear.”
With that backhanded attempt at a compliment, I frown and pull my face away from his touch. He raises an eyebrow in challenge, as if to silently ask me if I was truly foolish enough to expect genuine flattery from him. “This was very entertaining. Shall we do it again tomorrow?”
He disappears into the dark hallway with a chuckle, and I purposefully slam the door behind him.