19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Valda
“ Y es,” I begin slowly, trying to think of how to salvage this situation. “I am an estrie.”
Eloise slides farther away from me on our raft, one hand reaching as if to shield Sir Pigeon from me. “Why are you here?”
I raise an eyebrow as I continue to oar— alone. My gloves at least offer me some protection from the manual labour. “You and your father abducted me, remember?”
“No— why did you let us abduct you? Since you’re a vampiric estrie, you should have been able to fend us off and escape whenever you wanted.”
Sighing, I try to lose my body to the rhythm of oaring. Unfortunately, with the awkward shape of the raft too large for me to sit in the middle with the oars, it is difficult to do. Especially with no help from a wary elfling. “Because it served my purpose.”
Eloise gasps and glances around. She seems to be considering jumping in. “Were you hunting us ?”
Yes . “I was fleeing from my father. Did you not think it strange that I was a noblewoman traveling alone? ”
She wrinkles her nose and studies me. “That’s a good point . . .” Eloise looks off into the distance.
“What is it? You can ask me anything.” I smile sweetly.
“What is your father’s given name? It’s not just Baron, is it?”
I laugh, surprised. “I actually don’t know. He’s been around so long that I think he has even forgotten.”
Eloise’s eyes widen. “Oh! My aba’s first name was Matthias.”
The oars nearly fall from my hands. “I thought your father’s name was Konrad?”
“No, that’s my abi ‘s name. Konrad took me in.”
“Konrad didn’t take you, did he?“ I thought I was Konrad’s first abduction, but mayhap he is a serial kidnapper? If that’s the case, I really need to reconsider my taste in men and not let myself get so distracted by the sweetness of their blood.
I won’t have to feel much guilt over Konrad’s fate, though.
“Oh, no.” Eloise shakes her head like the thought of Konrad kidnapping anyone other than me is ridiculous. “Konrad was my ‘cousin’— really my cousin and not just cousin like we kinfolk call each other. But when our family was killed . . .”
My mind goes back to the dream Konrad woke me from. Eloise’s father must have been one of the men Konrad came upon. And the woman he found dead wasn’t his wife, but his sister-in-law.
“I know I need to remember them more,” Eloise says suddenly, her voice barely a breath. “Remembrance is the seventh and greatest of the Kinfolk Tenants. But it just hurts so much . . .”
If I weren’t holding the oars, I’d be tempted to offer a gloved hand in comfort. “You won’t forget your family. And if they can see you from the Third Heaven, I think they would understand if you have to wait until days to come when you are stronger to let yourself remember them. ”
“Like how I can’t be a kinsman avenger until I’m older? So, Konrad is?” She wiggles her nose.
“Uh, yes. Exactly that. About that . . . I’m not familiar with the concept of a kinsman avenger. I mean, I’ve heard of it before you and Konrad, but I’m not an elf, so . . .”
“Oh. Well, I’m not sure if it’s actually legal in Constantinium though it once was in Haya. But since the Emperor legalized a night of our slaughter, even after we have been loyal citizens for centuries, I don’t really care.” Eloise gives a decisive shrug with a sniffle.
I lean back with the oars. “I don’t care about legality. But what all goes into being a kinsman avenger?”
“Per the Fourth Scroll of the Elder, if someone slaughters an elf in cold blood, it falls on the closest kinsman of age to bring about vengeance.”
“And what are the parameters of this vengeance?”
Eloise pets Sir Pigeon like a nervous tick. “It does not please the Creator for innocent blood to be shed. The only way to purge the land of its guilt is to wash it with the blood of the guilty.”
Speaking of blood makes me salivate, but I control myself like the mortal like I’ve been pretending to be for so long— even if it’s no longer necessary. “Further killing is makes it right? But didn’t the mortals determine killing one fashioned in the Emperor-God’s— or Creator’s image was wrong after we discovered your elvish texts along with the Second Revelation?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Didn’t stop your kind on the Night of the Broken Walls.”
I hold up my hands as much as I can while holding the oar. “Hey, I’m an estrie, remember?”
“Which are removed from the Creator’s image after their blood is tainted, whether elf or mortal.”
“Same as werw?lves.” I arch an eyebrow .
Eloise drops her gaze. “Well, Konrad’s different. And anyway, the reason it’s wrong to kill someone made in the Creator’s image is because only the One Who gave life has the right to take it away. To take innocent life is to forfeit your own in the Creator’s sight. So, whoever takes the guilty life that has polluted the land does His will and purifies the nation again.”
“Which is what Konrad believes he did to the monsters who . . .” I let the words dangle since it seems so wrong to speak of things to a child, even if she’s experienced them.
“He did what was right, even though it was hard.” Eloise crosses her arms. “You know, estries are accused of taking their own lives when they allow themselves to be re-created by an estrie sire out of the image of their Creator. That’s why they are supposed to be killed on sight.”
“Will Konrad kill me, since he’s such a rule follower?”
“No.” Eloise huffs. “He’s burdened as it is by killing those who destroyed everyone he loved. He’d never hurt someone he has tried so hard to protect as penance for his perceived sins. Especially someone he’s been kissing.” She gives me a pointed look.
I pucker my lips, making her giggle despite herself. “And my father? How does he factor in this vengeance plan? Konrad doesn’t seem to want him dead.”
“No, that would be against the code of the kinsman avenger. Only those directly involved with the slaughter, either by commanding it or carrying it out, must die. Those who turned a blind eye when could have helped must repay in coin.”
“And my father is no elf, so he wouldn’t comply with such a request. I see now what is going on here.”
Eloise nods. “ Abi isn’t in the habit of kidnapping women. Or kissing them. You seem to be the exception to every rule. Especially now that I know you’re an estrie.“ She looks past me, and her eyes widen .
I follow her gaze. Somehow, despite the awkward and strenuous nature of this labor, I’ve rowed us far enough away from the island that it is a silhouette in front of the slowly setting sun. Several figures dot the shoreline, watching us and probably yelling obscenities I cannot hear.
And one form swims in the ocean between us, pushing a piece of bark before him as he awkwardly doggy paddles. Konrad.
I turn quickly back to Eloise. We have only moments before Konrad catches up to us, and Eloise is back to the estrie topic despite all my attempts at distraction. “My father is not kind like yours. Don’t misunderstand— he loves me dearly— but he is willing to slaughter everyone but me. It just became too much for me, and I fled. But that left me unprotected, and an estrie found me . . .” I sniffle and touch my chest, like the Dark Ritual doesn’t demand a willing victim.
A willing victim . . . unless the person carving out the victim’s heart is their blood relative. Of course, that wasn’t the case with Vater and me. I trusted my father enough to allow him to become my sire. It was my choice to become his thrall as well as his daughter at the appointed time.
Thankfully, Eloise does not seem to be aware of these factors, likely because the Dark Ritual isn’t something people often tell children about except in vague whispered warning. Her eyes warm in comparison, becoming a deeper shade of green.
Dropping her hand from shielding Sir Pigeon, she studies me intently. “And you’re frightened of your father learning you became an estrie while you were rebelling?”
“Yes. Not that he would hurt me. But I am so ashamed . . .” Chewing my bottom lip, I keep rowing to buy just a few moments. “I’ve been careful to only drink blood from my enemies, and not enough to hurt them. So, there is no reason to report me— “
“You’re okay.” Eloise smiles brightly and winks about our secret. “I knew there was something off about you, and I’m glad it’s just that you’re a blood-sucking monster. I feared it was something worse . . .” She shakes her head. “But I’ll keep your secret. Won’t tell a single soul— if you help us get that ransom without incurring your father’s rage.”
I nod. “I was going to do that anyway. My father owes your family the money, and I’ll see that you get it.”
If only Konrad could live long enough to spend it.
“What are you girls on about?”
“ Abi ! ” Eloise cries, trying to crawl over to my side of the raft and nearly toppling us.
I hold up a hand to halt her. Then I set down my oars and turn back to Konrad.
His shoulders bear his coat and shirt, which he transfers to the raft. “If you ladies will look away for a moment . . .”
Eloise quickly turns her back. I twist away, too . . . for a moment.
I turn back in time to watch the view of Konrad’s muscles pulled taut as he lifts himself up onto the raft. Water droplets skim down his naked chest, disappearing into his ragged pants.
“Valda says she’s going to help us get the ransom from her father!” Eloise calls merrily from where she’s still turned away and is shielding Sir Pigeon’s innocent eyes.
Konrad turns to me in surprise, his shirt in his hands.
“He would never pay a ransom,” I begin.
He narrows his eyes.
“But he’ll pay a reward to anyone who rescue his daughter from her abductors and saves him the effort of slaughtering them himself.”
Konrad’s eyes stay narrowed and focused on me as he tugs on his shirt. “And how do we know that you won’t betray us to your father the moment we return you to him? ”
“Because I swore by all the saints that I wouldn’t snitch if you let me go. And because I like you . . .” My words slur as I realize we are in the last strains of sunset. I have mere moments before my spirit leaves my body. I need my next words to be completely convincing.
Pulling on his coat, Konrad continues to study me. “Oh, you do, do you?”
I nod, so glad that the coat survived. “I think you’re pretty.”
With that brilliant explanation, my body collapses onto the raft.