River Black
River held the candelabra in her hand, holding it aloft, looking around the huge room. It was so big, it dwarfed her living room back at her parents’ house. Everything was draped in white cloth and for a moment, she felt lost in that room too. It had no windwos and seemed to be below ground, in a basement level, though she wasn’t entirely sure. It had been a disorientating walk in the dark mansion. River hoped it was nicer during the day. Less confusing. In truth, she hoped that when she woke up, she’d be inside her tent, safe and sound and all this would be a strange dream.
Finally, she found the bed. It too, like the room, was a huge, down stuffed four-poster monstrosity. It looked like the bed a queen would sleep in. It smelled regrettably musty, but it was soft and dry and better than any other option she had.
She set the candles on a shrouded dresser and tugged off her dirty, wet socks. Her jeans were torn and filthy too. That left just her underthings and her t shirt. River didn’t feel wholly comfortable -just- wearing that to bed, but she didn’t want to be a bad guest either. She didn’t want to make the bed dirty.
Sliding under the musty blankets after shaking most of the dust off, she lay in the dark and quiet, watching the shadows from the candlelight play on the walls. Even the mirrors and paintings were covered. It looked like a room of ghosts.
She felt pity for Tamsin. Was he alone in this great, big house? He’d mentioned a brother, but didn’t say said brother lived there. It seemed to be just him. How lonely, she thought. It was like she’d stumbled into a sad fairy tale complete with an evil queen.
River felt so overwhelmed. Her parents would be worried sick. They’d look for her. Missing posters would go up. Search and rescue. They’d only find her shoe and her cell phone. Otherwise she’d be gone without a trace.
She couldn’t help but think of all the missing persons’ stories she’d heard where it seemed the person had just been swallowed up by the earth, never to be seen again. Had this, or something similar, happened to them too? It chilled her, and she pulled the blankets up under her chin. The room had a fireplace big enough to walk in but it didn’t have any wood, and she didn’t have anything other than the candles to light it besides. Besides, while chilly, it wasn’t dangerously cold.
It took far less time to fall asleep than she thought it would. The moment she was on the soft, down mattress her eyes grew heavy. It had been a really long night and time seemed strange here besides. Maybe it had been a full day. River couldn’t be sure. Before she knew it, she fell asleep and never heard the door to her room creak open.
#
Aelnith Eventide
He stood over her bed and watched her sleep, her dark hair across her cheek, her brow pinched. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep. River whimpered and turned. When she moved, he could smell her perfume, her sweat. Her blood.
Carefully, he slid the blanket down her body a little, just to get a better look at her up close. To see if she was worth risking House Eventide as Tamsin had invariably done. He sucked a breath in between his teeth as his knuckles brushed against her collar bone. Her skin was soft, like silk. And so warm.
He knew her blood would be sweeter than the finest wine. Closing his eyes, he could almost taste it on his tongue. It sent a shudder through him.
The curse was far more insidious than just dooming him to being a monster for the rest of eternity. It came with prophecy as well. He was doomed to love a woman he would murder. And that would drive him mad. He’d lose his mind and become a revenant forever, a ghoul with no thought or control over himself. Tamsin would only learn to control the beast inside him if he sought a mate. The prophecy never said it would be the -same- woman for them both. But Aelnith wouldn’t put it past Carmun. She was as clever as she was beautiful.
This, he decided, standing over the girl, wasn’t love. It was lust. For her body. For her blood. He shouldn’t linger lest he be too tempted. Though his brother had betrayed him, betrayed their house, he wouldn’t act just yet. He wanted to give Tamsin a chance to explain himself. It wasn’t prudent to act without all the facts.
For a brief moment, he wanted River to wake. And see him, his skin unnaturally pale, like the marble of the floor, his impressive height and muscular build, his pale eyes and dark auburn spill of hair. He knew that his dark gifts would weave around her, and she’d willingly give herself, both body and blood, to him.
Forcibly, he turned away from the sleeping girl. Not yet, he warned himself. Besides, River was a tithe and belonged to the Dain. No sense getting attached in any fashion. The tithe was a promise between this world and the world of the humans and the Witch Queen. It wasn’t their promise to break, not without dire consequences and House Eventide could not afford another war with Carmun. They’d already lost so much.
Dawn approached. He could feel it weaken him. Aelnith had let the girl distract him and now he doubted he could make it back to the family crypt before it rose. The moment the sun’s rays touched the sky and pinked the horizon, he would collapse, immobile, frozen in a dreamless sleep until it set again. Vulnerable.
He knew better than to panic. There were other, empty rooms none ventured into. He was sure he had enough time to make it to those.
But just as he was about to leave to find a safe place to slumber, he heard River stir and gasp. He looked over his shoulder to see her sitting up, eyes bleary from sleep.
“Who are you?” she asked, voice tinged with alarm. He could -hear- her pulse accelerate. Taste her fear.
He drew in a slow, steadying breath. “Aelnith Eventide. I came to see the face of the doom of my house.”
She frowned, clearly confused. “Doom?”
“Yes. Tamsin’s little escapade won’t go unpunished. And you will still die.” He said it coldly because he had to be. He couldn’t warm towards her. She was his brother’s prize and the property of the Dain.
Aelnith knew he should leave, but something about her held him in place, turned his limbs to stone more effectively than the rays of the sun. He turned and faced her, glowering down at her, knowing how otherwordly and terrifying he must look. He hungered for her so profoundly, he knew his eyes must be tinged red.
River shrank back against the pillows, clutching the blanket under her chin. “I’m sorry...I still don’t know what’s happening.”
He smirked, clicking his tongue at her. “Your innocence is irrelevant. It won’t change the outcome. Nor will begging or tears...though I find both quite sweet.”
Aelnith watched the blood drain from her face, her eyes widen. He could see the pulse point in her neck jump. A wave of weakness came over him so powerful it nearly drove him to his knees.
The sun, he thought with actual panic. He’d lingered too long, become distracted, ensnared by the temptation of her blood and beauty. He groaned and did sink to his knees.
Dimly, he heard her ask him what was wrong. He could just barely feel the press of her soft fingers against his shoulders as the world was snuffed out and all fell to blackness.
River BlackThe man just collapsed. She’d been asleep only to wake to someone standing over her, threatening her. Scaring her. His surname was Eventide, just like Tamsin’s. It was likely his older brother he’d kept mentioning.She didn’t really see the family resemblence. Where Tamsin was lithe and athletic, this man was taller, broader, more muscular. Despite his masculine frame, his face held the same delicate beauty that Tamsin’s did. He had an aquiline nose, high cheekbones and eyes fringed with dark, sooty lashes. His hair was a bloody auburn, like polished mahogany.He’d cut a powerful figure but now, crumpled to the floor, seemingly lifeless, he looked ill at best. River feared he was dead. She tugged on her filthy jeans and knelt beside him, brushing his long, silky hair from his throat to feel for a pulse.There wasn’t one.With great effort because of his muscular bulk, River grun
Tamsin EventideHe’d left her far away from him for a reason. He felt the change coming. It was the wrong time and he didn’t understand it but he wanted her far enough away from him in case it happened anyway.Tamsin stripped out of clothes hurriedly, not wanting to ruin them if he were to change. He stood, bare, in the bathing room of his personal chambers in the manor. It was a dark night, no moonlight and dawn was still a few hours away. He looked at himself in the polished silver mirror. His taut, muscular body was slick with sweat. Tamsin trembled, his eyes fully silver.He closed them. He had to control himself. He’d been around beautiful women before and hadn’t lost control of himself like this. It fully set in what he’d done. Damned his House to war. Over what? A pretty face?But even as he thought this, he knew it was something more. Something beyond words and time. He had felt so lost, trying to pus
River BlackTamsin didn’t give her a chance to respond to his proclamation, he just took her by the hand, leading her up several flights of stairs and down winding hallways. River felt dizzy. Everything happened so fast. She didn’t know what he meant by mate. Did he mean...wife? She wasn’t ready to be married and besides, she didn’t even -know- him. Sure, he was handsome and charming and a prince, but it didn’t seem like she was being given a choice.Maybe things worked differently here, she thought, though that was no consolation at all. She did notice how perfectly her small hand fit in his much larger one and the way he looked at her with his beautiful, sea green eyes did make her heart skip a beat or two, but no, she would have her say and her choice.River stubbornly stopped walking, forcing him to accidentally pull on her arm. Frowning, Tamsin turned around.“Something wrong?” he asked. &ldq
Tamsin EventideHe hadn’t expected any resistance at all. No woman had ever refused an invitation to his bed. He was a prince, perhaps one day a king. Whispers of his prowess of a lover spread beyond his forest. So, when River had balked at the very idea of being his mate, it had angered him. The beast inside him wouldn’t be denied. He didn’t know how to explain it to her. It wasn’t that his Beast and himself were different entities, but they were of different minds.She excited the man and soothed the Beast. He had no way to express this. And if his experiment proved correct, it would turn his curse into a boon. The way the Witch Queen’s curses worked were simple but insidious. She couldn’t doom him with no way out. There had to be a counterbalance. As above so below. Black and white, Yin and Yang. All things equal. Carmun could make him transform into a monstrous wolf every full moon where he had no control over hi
Aelnith EventideJust that little drop of River’s blood on his tongue, her sweet body on top of him, pressed against him, told him much and empowered him more than he thought possible. Even with dawn pinking the horizon, the burning sun rising into the sky, he found he could move, he was awake.He was very weak, true, but he wondered how much he could move during the day if he’d had just a little more of her blood, or more, if he made her his queen. As with his brother, Tamsin, his curse had another side to its coin too. With a queen by his side, inflicted with the same curse as he, bound to him for all of forever, the sun would no longer immobilize him. It could still burn his flesh, true, but he could move indoors or underground. He also wouldn’t need to feed but once a month on the night of the full moon. As it stood now, he had to feed every night, or he would descend into madness, becoming a mindless ghoul that fed on whomever he
River BlackAs the servant said all the flames in the House went out, the kitchen went dark, the lanterns and candles snuffed out as though a hard, cold wind had blown through. It sent chills racing down her arms, prickling her skin, making every hair stand on end. She felt watched. It made her want to run and hide.The kitchen had no windows and it was pitch dark inside. Time moved strangely here and it had already been getting dark again when they’d gone into the kitchen. River felt panicked, stifled. Smothered. It felt like she couldn’t breathe. In the small room that lead to the kitchen, she remembered a window. She’d go there. Even the scant moonlight through the window would help quell her panic and racing heart.Tamsin and his servants chattered, wondering what had happened, why all the flame in the manor had disappeared. They said it was bad sorcery. A trick. Maybe worse. River had no idea, but she didn’t want to
Tamsin EventideFinally, the flint sparked and the tinder lit. He held the lantern aloft, but didn’t see anything amiss. At first.River was gone.He searched the kitchens, the rooms that lead to the kitchens. He scoured the entire manor in a rage, looking for her. He doubted she ran, but he supposed it was possible.No, he could feel the lingering magic in the air. Tamsin knew it couldn’t be a coincidence that the fires wouldn’t light.It struck him suddenly, the answer. Cinder. The Witch Queen’s consort. He was master of flame and hearth, a nasty little bastard from the Winter Court, betrayer of his own kind, former consort of Queen Mab. Slick and charming, clever and without scruples, Cinder was the one who brought human tithes to the Dain. If he had River, she was in very real danger.The more he frantically searched the manor, the less control he had over himself. If Cinder had spirited her away,
River Black She sat on a pile of cushions and fanned herself. It was stifling in the ‘room’. Cinder didn’t seem bothered, but he was wearing far less than she was. He grinned at her, like the cat who caught the canary, clearly proud of himself. “Something wrong, Princess?” he asked, tone sarcastic and sly. She wasn’t sure if he actually cared if she were upset or not. She guessed not. “Several things. When are we leaving?” she asked, trying to keep him on topic. She’d learned, in the short time she’d been in Cinder’s company, that he hopped from topic to topic like a bee flitting from flower to flower. And every topic was about -him- in some way or another. He pouted. “Suit yourself! Soon. When the sun rises. You should rest, you know.” He waved a hand, as though her question was a bad smell he was trying to get rid of. She snorted, though she reluctantly tried to get a little more comfortable. It was hard because it was so wa