A New Beginning
Rain pelted softly against the carriage windows as Night Falls rolled past. Matilda sat across from Luka in the dim interior, and Denalia slept against her chest beneath a thick fur blanket as the carriage wheels groaned steadily over the uneven road.
The motion should’ve been soothing, but all Matilda could focus on was everything confined within the small space.
Luka’s scent overpowered the scent of leather and rainwater like a constant reminder she couldn’t escape him, even when she hated him.
Especially when she hated him….
After she turned, quiet tension lived between them. She loved him but didn’t trust him. He loved her but knew he needed to give her space to come back to him.
They fought, fucked, and fed from each other, as to be expected, but the silence between them during the quiet moments felt cataclysmic.
Some nights she lay in bed with him thinking she still might kill him; other nights she just wanted to be held.
It was a never-ending cycle that she couldn’t break.
Denalia stirred in her sleep, grabbing her mother’s attention. Matilda’s attention dropped to her daughter, and the anxiousness she felt stilled inside of her.
“If only she would slumber like this at night,” Luka commented, observing from across the carriage.
Matilda glanced up briefly. “The movement calms her.”
“So does your heartbeat.”
Luka’s yearning gaze lingered on Matilda for a brief moment before shifting toward the rain-streaked window beside him. Matilda envied him. He looked more composed than she felt. She smirked when he rolled his shoulder.
Luka returned her smirk. “Do you take joy in my agony?”
“Slightly,” Matilda answered honestly.
“You nearly severed my wing.”
“I was there.”
His smirk slipped into a solemn frown. “When will you forgive me, my beloved?”
Matilda peered into their sleeping child’s face and sighed. “Perhaps when she sprouts her wings.”
He snorted. “That is impossible. She is not a true ancient. Matilda,” he said softly. “I’m begging you.”
“You are not begging. Begging requires you on your knees.”
Luka laughed and leaned back against the seat. He watched the landscape change from dense forests to rolling hills and farmlands.
“I will leave the begging on knees to your pet then.”
“It is your ancient blood that runs through him. Dare I say he is your pet.”
“Nay. I wanted to kill him when we captured him. But, of course, you had other plans.”
“Plans that may free us from the wolves.”
“If the gods shall see to it.”
Matilda gasped and pointed at the spattering of homes in the distance. “Luka… they are building.”
Luka’s mouth tugged at the corner. “They have made far more progress than I anticipated.”
The interspecies community had grown rapidly, and families from neighboring territories and villages began arriving almost immediately after he announced sanctuary protections for interspecies families.
Some had come willingly, and others had arrived with trauma and scars from being expelled from their homes.
Some of the stories were brutal. Matilda had heard reports of intimidation, looting, and burned houses as the vampires’ way of sending a message to the families who only wanted to live in peace.
In a small number of cases, deaths occurred and were met by swift punishment.
Matilda made an example of them and had the violent vampires defanged in front of the citizens before they were left in the stocks to rot.
Luka knew gifting the territories to the interspecies families was a dangerous political move; however, he had to right his family’s wrongs, and he had to create a world that was safe for his daughter.
“They will be safe here, right?” Matilda asked, throwing a cautious glance at Luka.
“They will be safer here,” he corrected. “Nothing is for certain; however, I allocated their tax revenue towards foot patrol and protection for the foreseeable future. Look there,” he said, pointing at the beginning of the structure on the perimeter of the village.
“What is it?”
“It will be a watchtower.”
“Oh, Luka.”
“The watchtower will serve dual purposes—protect the citizens from vampires who wish them harm and an early-warning system for werewolves.”
Matilda’s heart filled with joy as the rain eased into a soft mist once the settlement came into full view. Small stone homes dotted the hillsides. Many were still under construction but would soon be inhabited.
Workers moved between the homes carrying lumber and supplies while smoke curled from newly built chimneys. Children ran through the muddy pathways despite the cold weather, and their laughter carried faintly on the wind. One child had golden eyes, and another had fangs.
Matilda felt Luka’s gloved hand on hers. He was relieved when she didn’t snatch her hand away, and he melted when she wrapped her fingers around his.
“They are not abominations out here,” she whispered.
“No. They’re children.”
Matilda’s shiny eyes met Luka’s firm gaze. “They don’t have to hide any longer.”
“No, they don’t.”
Matilda choked on a sob, holding Denalia closer.
“What ails you, my Queen?”
“Had my child survived, I think we would’ve liked a home like this.”
Luka’s chest clenched as he was reminded of the horrors that befell her at the hands of two vagrant vampires. He could’ve coddled her with sweet words, but his wife deserved the truth.
“This community wouldn’t have existed… not without you, not without her,” he admitted, nudging his chin at the bundle in her arms.
Matilda laughed sharply. “I would’ve still come for you, my King. We would’ve been here eventually.”
Before he could respond, the carriage slowed as it approached the settlement gates. A knock sounded against the carriage door. “Are you decent?” a royal guard asked.
Luka rolled his eyes, and Matilda cackled as they recalled the guard’s bug-eyed expression when he once opened the carriage door and found them indisposed.
“Aye,” Luka sighed, rising to open the door.
Matilda watched him closely. His movements were graceful despite the lingering injury to his wing. He stepped down and reached for Denalia. Matilda passed her off, and Denalia acted accordingly, squirming and fussing in her father’s arms.
“Silence, my darling. You are only doing this because there is an audience,” Luka gently fussed. Matilda laughed and accepted his outstretched hand. Her boots met the ground, and guards immediately flanked their sides.
The settlement quieted, and the energy changed as soon as they realized who had arrived. Heads turned in their direction, conversations hushed, and one by one, they began to bow.
A woman standing near a half-finished cottage lowered herself into a curtsy so quickly she nearly spilled the basket of bread in her hands.
“Your Majesty,” she whispered.
Others followed.
A blacksmith removed his gloves and bowed his head deeply as they passed. A couple stepped aside, offering quiet greetings while trying not to stare too openly at the infant bundled in Luka’s arms.
Matilda glanced briefly toward Luka as they began walking through the settlement. “You didn’t tell me they would do this.”
“Despite the leather britches, you are royalty, my beloved,” he huffed.
She grinned. “You fancy my leather britches.”
“No.”
Matilda leaned in and inhaled deeply. “Would you like to know the scent of your lust?”
“I’d rather not.”
“Another time then.”
The pathways between homes were still uneven from recent rain, though progress stood everywhere she looked.
A small group approached cautiously from near the well, and Matilda immediately noticed the hesitation in their movements. There were four of them altogether: a human woman, a vampire male, and two young boys lingering behind them.
Hybrid children.
The woman curtsied awkwardly. “Your Majesties.”
Luka offered a small nod, but it was Matilda the woman kept looking at.
“Would you…” The woman hesitated, suddenly nervous. “Would you allow us to see her?”
Luka pushed back the fur covering and lowered her slightly. Denalia stirred, as though sensing the attention, then blinked awake slowly. Her brown eyes wandered sleepily before fixing on the strangers nearby.
The younger boy gasped softly.
“She’s pretty,” he whispered.
Matilda’s chest tightened unexpectedly.
“They’ve never seen another child like themselves before,” the woman admitted quietly.
For a moment, Matilda said nothing. Then adjusted the blanket back for the children to see Denalia properly.
“She looks strong,” the older boy admitted. Luka made a quiet sound that sounded suspiciously like amusement.
The woman’s eyes began to water, and she quickly wiped away her tears. “You have no idea what this place means to families like ours,” she whispered.
The woman gasped when Matilda grabbed her hand. “And may you and your family prosper.”
Drawn by curiosity, others had begun to gather quietly. Several lowered their heads respectfully as she met their eyes.
“Queen Matilda,” someone murmured nearby. Soon, several voices echoed her name reverently.
Matilda stood frozen beneath the weight of their admiration. Luka remained silent by her side, and when she finally glanced toward him, she caught the prideful look in his eyes.
But their moment of serenity was disturbed when a guard rushed to Luka’s side and whispered in his ear. A warning bell sounded, and the settlers’ frightened faces would forever live with her.
“We must leave. Now!” Luka said sharply.
“What’s going on, Luka?” she asked in a daze as he dragged her to the carriage.
“Wolves.”