Black Blood

Chapter 28

'Let's go back to the girl over there. Is she all right? Is she a night rider?' By now the booze has found its way into my veins, to the point that the world is starting to get a little blurrier.

'Yes,' I answer. When she asked about the dragon, I knew enough. I had always imagined strong men, not a wounded lady younger than me. We know very little about night riders, we hardly ever see them. The lady will be stronger than she pretends to be, she must be.

I take the tin of cigarettes out of my pocket, flip off the black lid and take out a cigarette. I put the tip between my lips and hold the can out to Timon.

'Gross men.' I roll my eyes and push the lid back on. I slide the can back into my pocket and light the cigarette between my lips. I take a deep breath, blow out the smoke and close my eyes.

'That doesn't smell like tobacco, what is it?' I grin, take another puff and blow the smoke in Timon's face.

'Damiana'. A sweet smell, which can be compared to figs, hangs along the burning cigarette.

'What is Damiana? A kind of weed?' Sometimes Timon's ignorance irritates me to no end, sometimes I forget he hasn't travelled half the world.

'A plant from the green lake forest.' Timon's eyes almost seem to fall out of his sockets. I grin and take another puff from my cigarette.

'You've been to the elves?' I have seen and spoken to almost all the peoples, lived with some and been part of their society. As fast as I could get out of here I grabbed a horse unannounced and disappeared among the trees. Myles and my parents were certainly not amused when I returned after two months, at seventeen.

In the meantime, I sort of announced my departure. My return is always a surprise, sometimes in a few weeks, sometimes after months. There are places I prefer to stay far away from, the royal family for instance. My knowledge of peoples, plants, roads and much more is endless.

'I lived there for three weeks.' I answer honestly. Timon is ignorant and always seems to be surprised by my stories. Myles calls me crazy and thinks it's useless. My father has no opinion about it although he keeps trying to give me a position.

They don't hear much about it as I don't tell much, especially the bad things. Travelling is not always easy or fun. I leave out the parts about starving, fighting and being trapped.

'And?' Timon's curious brown eyes twinkle in the moonlight.

'I'm not telling you anything, you should come with me'.' After these words, I throw the smoked cigarette butt away in the grass. I let my eyes go back to Maria, who is still being occupied by the three ladies. Her eyes are tired and it is clear that she no longer feels at ease. She bounces back and forth on her legs, her bare feet in the grass. Only then do I realise that I haven't fed her yet, she must be starving.

I give Timon a friendly pat on the shoulder with the proclamation

'See you tomorrow'. I walk towards the crate where the drinks bottle was. Next to the crate with drinks is a crate with plates and cutlery. I take a plate and a fork from the crate, before making my way towards one of those pins with food. There are three hooks on the high iron peg; on one hangs a bunch of carrots, on the other a piece of meat and on the last one corn cobs. Everything has been hanging there for more than a few hours and is slowly turning black.

With the tongs hanging off the pin, I remove three carrots, a piece of meat and half a corncob from the pin. I hope this will be enough for her.

I walk towards the ladies without being noticed. The first one who seems to notice me entering their direction is the blonde lady. Her blue eyes look at me amusedly, maybe even a little flirtatiously. I roll my eyes as I stop in front of the group of ladies.

'You didn't have to do that,' she smiles a little too broadly and blinks uncontrollably. She wants to take the plate from my hands. Without saying a word, I lift the plate over her hands and hold it out to Maria.

Her light-brown eyes look at me in surprise. With a grateful smile, she takes the plate from me. The lady, who wanted to take the plate, has an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. She seems uncomfortable and I am not going to do my best to change that. A very uncomfortable silence ensues that I can't deal with.

'Nice talking to you Maria. I'm sure we'll see you tomorrow.' The black-haired lady smiles kindly at Maria and me. The three ladies give a smile and leave in the direction of the tents.

'Thanks,' she mumbles. She puts the fork in a carrot and takes a bite of it.

'Come on, it's late. Take your plate with you.' With my head slightly inebriated, we walk towards the main building. This will be the first night in years that I will lie in my old bedroom. It must be almost morning already and although vampires don't necessarily need much sleep, I am tired. I can hear Maria behind me wolfing down her plate with unprecedented speed, I didn't realise she was so hungry.

'I can get you more.' Her cheeks turn a light pink as soon as I turn my face in her direction. She just pushes the last bite into herself. Her cheeks look like hamster cheeks from the amount of food she has put in. She shakes her head quickly and swallows a bite.

'That's not necessary,' she mutters with her mouth half full. I keep wondering what they have done to this, innocent looking, lady. She gives no reason to deserve the mistreatment she must have endured.

I push open the door of the main building and let her walk in first. I close the heavy door behind me and walk up the stairs behind her. I begin to wonder what to do next.

She doesn't seem to appreciate physical contact and strangers, not that I was planning on doing anything with her. She doesn't seem comfortable with being alone with strangers at all. I wonder if I should go with her into the bedroom to explain or ask her some more questions.

The main building is dead quiet and dark, the birds cannot even be heard. The only bit of light comes from the moon shining through the windows. It is difficult to be where you are walking, so I am surprised at how easily Maria seems to be climbing the stairs.

At the top of the stairs I am in doubt as to whether I should go with her. I decide that I believe she is articulate enough to ask me for something if she needs it, yet I insist.

'If you need anything, I'll be at the end of the corridor, third door on the right.' She stares at me in silence for a moment and then nods uncomfortably, her eyes fixed on the floor. I just nod and then turn around towards my old room.

A sigh rolls over my lips before I slide my shoes across the wooden floor. I hope to get out of here as soon as possible, this camp thing is anything but my thing. I hate the positions, the search for the perfect partner and the complicated hierarchy. In addition, I try to avoid my father's new attempt.

I have to count the doors to my right to see where my old room is. I hope it still looks like it did before, that there is still a bed there at all. I stop in front of my old bedroom door. It's not that I have bad memories of this room, it's that I never really felt at home there. I want to put my hand on the door handle, push it down and go in.

'Uuhm Novak.'