She placed her hand lovingly on the mildly handsome face of the rather tall Nevin. Graciously, he knelt upon one knee, making himself just shorter than her in stature. Her hand moved from side to side on his face, over his high cheek-bones and square chin as if she were reading a scroll.
"Eight arrows have been stored away from the mighty hand of the Throne and soon shall be united with others. They shall be fused together, and underneath them a haven shall be made for your children."
Nevin looked into the face of Logan. The last thing he wanted was to be viewed as weak in the eyes of his sworn enemy. But sensing his uneasiness, Eunice began to put his fears to rest.
"Your heart is weighed down with conflict. Like so many, your eyes are open, but you cannot see beyond sight. When the heart and mind are unburdened, one can think and feel beyond reason and emotion. This is what it means to "know." The 'Knowing.' It is the bridge between the known and the unknown. The 'Knowing' is that which simply gives birth to the thought and breath. It does not exist, until it has existed."
He felt at peace. Her youthful beauty belied her great mystical wisdom. "However, you still have many questions, do you not? You question if your compliance will be interpreted as weakness among your brothers. And wonder will those who have aligned themselves with you will see any act of submission as betrayal?"
Nevin slowly placed his head down. "In either case, what shall be my fate?" he asked. Placing her hands on either side of his face, she slowly lifted his head as her eyes searched his.
"Fate is an anomaly of time, Nevin. One can be accepting in stillness or agitated to do everything to avoid an unpleasant certainty. Whether one is still or moves makes no difference, fate is the catalyst. The wind only blows, it does not decide the fate of the leaves, it simply exposes it. Do you understand?" she asked him as he slowly rose to his feet before her. She placed her hand over his heart.
“The fate of your people rests well in your hands. Whatever is in your heart to do, do!” But as she slowly turned to walk away, Logan and the others secretly took issue with Eunice's show of favoritism towards Nevin, but they were too afraid to make their displeasure known.
Soon after, Nevin decided to do what was in the best interest of the Nation of Krethans as a whole. Deciding, in the end, to allow his people to have rest from fighting against Logan and sharing the land that had been disputed about. But fearing that his deeply held hatred for Logan could one day send the people into turmoil once again, he decided to separate himself from them all, forming a small remnant with about two hundred forty from his clan. Never again would Eunice be seen or heard from among the Krethans.
CHAPTER SIX: “A very peculiar fellow”
The year was eighteen eighty-nine, and Darben had now existed as a vampire for five hundred and forty years. He had witnessed the crumble and destruction of entire civilizations. After the overthrow of Twells by the Krethans, Twellers were just as rare as he was, which meant that he no longer lived underneath the threat of being discovered by them. The Krethans had grown in size and strength and were now the dominant species of vampires. They basically ruled the old world now, incorporating it into a province of the Dark nation. They prided themselves on being the greatest Stellars to ever walk the earth. Darben found it funny. He had come to deeply detest them and everything they represented. He always felt that they stood in the very seat of power that was destined for the Lucians.
Centuries earlier, he tried all, be it in vain, to tie together a set of loosely ran nest of vampires under the guidance of the principles of the Lucians, but to no avail. He had grown wealthy, but in order to be spared his life after being discovered by Krethans, he was forced to surrender it all to them. They had learned of his identity as the assassin who killed the Queen of Twells in such a cowardly fashion.
He had a mate name Ludhiana, she was known as a Brio, half Krethan and half mortal. A Day-walker. It was a bond forged mostly for protection. When they discovered who she was, they took the life of the woman who had been his mate for almost eighty years. He swore vengeance, but it would be nothing more than an idle threat at the most. He had become a marked man; he could never conceal the fact that he was a Lucian, which was spread across the other nest of Krethan vampires. He was forever branded as a 'coward'. After regaining a small measure of wealth, he then set his eyes upon the new world, where Krethans weren’t welcomed. Living in the deep south of Mississippi. For Darben, the wide open south was reminiscent of Frales; he found it all exciting, even falling in love.
She was a young, half White, half Negro girl just nineteen years of age; Natalia. He first saw her while she and her master rode home late one night returning from the small goods store he owned. As they rode by in the open carriage, holding a lantern, their eyes met. While in his was a look of adoration, hers held the open curiosity caused by the sight of a strange man wearing a partial leather face mask. No doubt many would assume it was due to an injury from the Civil War. She was beautiful! But he could tell by the way her master spoke to her, that he was, indeed, a harsh man.
Darben could never understand it; how mortals were so content with the enslavement of other mortals, based solely on the color of one’s skin. Then a passing stare one night, morphed into a smile at Darben, much to her master’s embarrassment. He became rough with her inside the carriage; becoming openly verbally abusive, all the while reminding her of her place in the white man’s world. But one night, something stirred inside Darben as he watched her master carefully placing a dog inside the carriage, covering him so that he wouldn’t get wet from the rain; while Natalia sat in the front, holding a lantern, totally drenched; soaking wet. He felt ill at the sight of it. Secretly, he followed the carriage, waiting for the opportunity to ambush the master. He didn’t have to wait long. Climbing atop a tree, Darben waited patiently for the carriage to make its way by, and at first sight, he pounced upon it. Knocking the rather heavyset man out onto the ground, as Natalia stood up clenching the lantern, stunned. He didn’t waste any time. The man screamed like a woman as Darben’s fangs sank deeply into his throat.
He stood, feeding upon the blood of the slave master in full view of the beautiful slave girl, who didn’t seem to be the least bit frightened. Covered in her master’s blood, Darben slowly approached the girl.
She removed the wild strands of wet hair from her face to get a better look at him through the rain. With lantern raised high in hand, she slowly sat down, not sure of the mysterious man’s intentions.
“I won’t hurt you,” he told her, standing in the rain. “If you want, you can run,” he said as rain continued falling upon her. She sat there with a blank stare upon her young face. He had turned to leave when he heard the young girl mumble something underneath the sound of the rain. “What did you say?” he asked.
“I’s come, with you?!” she said, pleading with her eyes, with the lantern raised high above her head. But as far as that was concerned, it was out of the question.
“No, you’re free now to go wherever you want to go.”
She was almost pouting from the thought of it, appearing insulted by Darben's naivety. Eying the podgy body of her stern master on the rain soaked grass, she said:
"I's not free! Dead mas-ta, don’t mean I’s free.”
He was speechless. She was right! Unfortunately, freedom wasn’t that easy. She placed the reins of the horses aside, carefully stepping down out of the carriage, walking through the mud to stand in front of him. She placed the lantern to his leather covered face. “I’s come with you!”
Gently, he reached out his hand to touch the smooth, wet, tan skin of her face. How could he say no?! Slowly, he nodded yes. She smiled up at him as the two walked off together into the night.
