— Emily Wisteria, “Emily’s Personal Journal.”
Karaline clicked her tongue and leaned her head on her fist. “A letter for Jonathan, aye?” She went quiet for a moment. “Damn.”
“How’d you know him?” Emily asked.
“Lass, that’s a long story. But I suppose ye’ve been ‘round long enough. Yer deservin’ to know.” She paused and glanced toward Violet. “Vi, ye mind if I tell her?”
Violet simply shook her head.
“Right.” Karaline leaned back. “I need a break anyway.”
Emily pulled out a chair and sat across from Karaline. Violet settled beside her.
“There’s a lotta history between me, Henrik, and Jonathan,” Karaline explained. “Only makes sense to start from the beginnin’.” She ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it out of her face. “When I was a wee lass, my mother an’ father sold me for drinkin’ money,” she then said in the most casual tone. It caught Emily off guard, and as soon as Karaline saw her surprised expression, she laughed. “Heh, knew that would get yer attention. But that’s a story for another time. Lived with the bastard they sold me too for a wee bit. Wasn’t long before I ran off.”
Emily shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say to that.
“Anyways, I made my way to the dwarven capital, Brozegr?d, where a proper man took me in, a dwarf named Kordwyn. Fine blacksmith he was. A right stubborn arse, but a good man. He raised me like his own, taught me the trade, gave me a roof over my head. I was maybe… twelve at the time? Still fresh-faced an’ scrawny.” She laughed. “Didn’t stay that way for long, though. About a year later we got some visitors. A man an’ a woman, lookin’ for shelter. Henrik Schwartz an’ a lass named Kasia. Lovers on the run. Kordwyn, being the saint that he is, let ‘em stay. Next thing ye know, we had ourselves a right ol’ family. Henrik an’ Kasia helped out ‘round the forge, an’ I was still an apprentice.”
Emily nodded along.
“Another year passes,” Karaline went on, “and an elven family comes through Brozegr?d on some business. Can’t remember what it was, somethin’ political, I think. Point is, Kordwyn, the sentimental fool, takes a liking to one of their daughters. A sweet lass, kind as spring rain an’ soft as fresh-baked bread. Can ya tell where this is goin’?”
“They fell in love?”
“Aye, an’ she chose tae stay with him. Another year goes by, and wouldn’t ye believe it? The house gets even more crowded. Kordwyn an’ his lass have themselves a daughter. A tiny, wrinkly, wailin’ little thing. Ye could hear her cryin’ from down the street.”
Emily slowly looked toward Violet, whose expression remained blank. Emily could feel her stare burrowing into her, though. It was funny to think there was a time Violet would make any kind of sound. aside from a near-silent giggle.
“I tell ye, I was this close tae smotherin’ her with a pillow. Could barely sleep for the first few months.”
Violet shot her an unamused look.
Karaline chuckled. “Aye, don’t look at me like that. Ye should be thankful I didn’t do it.” She then paused and took a breath. Her expression grimmed. “Wish it stayed like that though. Ye already know how elves feel about half-breeds, Emily.”
Emily’s stomach twisted. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”
“Word got out. The lass’s family found out about her child with Kordwyn, an’ they came for ‘em. It was ol’ Henrik who protected us, talked them down all civil like. Was ready to use force even, but he managed ta convince the family to spare Vi and her parents. Exception was they’d place an ol’ elven curse on the lass. It was the mother who did it, Rosaria Omaqirelle was her name. Bound Vi and her parents to silence so they could never taint their oh so sacred language.” Karaline rolled her eyes. That was the price for mercy.”
Emily’s eyes widened a little. She glanced back at Violet again, who still remained neutral. “It’s a curse though, right? Can’t it be broken?”
“Aye, only when the caster is deceased though. Makes that real complicated when their an elf.”
“Oh…”
“Anyway, we’re gettin’ off track. Some elves caught wind o’ what happened and didn’t take a likin’ to the idea of the family lettin’ any halfbreed roam free. So, they came in the night. Henrik an’ Kasia helped fend them off, but they took Vi’s parents with ‘em into the afterlife. We all fled soon after, and I took Vi under my care. Left Brozegr?d behind an’ made for a place called Serenity Gardens. It’s just south o’ Peccatum, deep in the woods. A sanctuary, place where elves an’ dwarves got along, where folk like Violet could live without fear. Didn’t have much housin’ at the time, but a soft-hearted bastard was willin’ to take us in.”
“Jonathan?”
“Aye. Lived with him for a few years. Settled in. Built a life. Then the bastard came. A vampire. You’ve met him already, lass.”
Emily paused. Her mouth formed a wide ‘O.’“You mean…?”
“The fuckin’ cunt himself. Ol’ Draven came into our home, slaughtered our friends. But he was there for Kasia.”
“Why?”
Karaline shrugged. “Don’t know. But we lost too many good people that day. Serenity Gardens was never the same. After that, I didn’t feel it was safe for Vi there anymore. Neither did Jonathan. Henrik… he couldn’t leave. He’d grown too attached. But me an’ Jonathan, we took Vi an’ ran. Kept runnin’ until we found this place.” She gestured around her workshop. “An’ here we stayed.”
Emily sat back in her chair, taking a moment to absorb everything Karaline had just told her. “So you guys have more of a connection to that place than I thought.”
“Aye. We sent Henrik some letters now an’ again, lettin’ him know where we ended up. How we were doin’. Never got many back. Haven’t seen each other since.” She shook her head. “I’ve always meant to go back, but I got my reasons for stayin’ in Cresthill.”
Emily tilted her head. “Don’t you want to go, though?”
Karaline gave a dry laugh. “’Course I do. Henrik’s an old friend. Would be good to see the stubborn bastard again. But I just can’t.” She gestured vaguely to her workshop, and to Violet. “Hell, Jonathan always talked about goin’ back one day. But after he met Mina, he didn’t want to risk puttin’ her in harm’s way.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Emily frowned. “Because she’s a vampire.”
“Aye. Serenity Gardens ain’t too keen on havin’ another bloodsucker walkin’ their streets.”
Emily pursed her lips. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“It’s a fuckin’ mess, it is,” Karaline muttered. “Henrik don’t even know Jonathan’s passed.”
“Why not?”
“Never felt right deliverin’ that news in a letter. It always seemed like the kinda thing ye say in person. But… time passed, an’ then more time passed, an’ we never went. He knows Jonathan got married, but he don’t know about…” She hesitated. “He don’t know about Luna.”
Emily gulped. It was a name she didn’t like hearing. Not that she didn’t want to know more about her, but because every mention of her put Mina in a bad mood. “She’s hardly told me anything about her,” Emily admitted.
“I don’t blame her. After she lost ‘em both, she nearly lost herself. Never seen rage consume someone so fast.”
Violet signed something to Karaline.
Karaline shook her head. “No, no. She was never gonna hurt ye, Vi. She just lashed out.” Karaline turned back to Emily. “I can tell ye a wee bit about Mina an’ Jonathan. But ye can’t say a word about it.”
“I won’t,” Emily said after a pause.
Karaline studied her for a moment before sighing deeply. “Gods, it’s another long fuckin’ story, but I’ll try to keep it short.” She paused. “Nah, I need a drink first. Wet my whistle, ye know.” She stood, retrieved a bottle of wine from the kitchen cupboard, and sat back down. After a long swig, she continued. “After livin’ here in Cresthill for a while, Jonathan found Mina on the road not far outside the valley. Said she was bleedin’ out. Surrounded by bodies. Monster hunters, they were.”
“They were hunting her?”
Karaline nodded. “Aye. She did her best to hide what she was, but it ain’t easy to fool other hunters. They hurt her real bad, too. Drove a silver dagger dipped in holy water straight into her chest.”
“I didn’t think Mina would ever be hunted.”
“She’s had her fair share of run-ins. Anyway, for the life of me, I don’t know what came over Jonathan that day. But he helped her. He was too pure a soul for his own damn good. Brought a damn vampire home for fucks sake, put ‘er up in me and Vi’s old room.” She shook her head, still smiling. “Hell, maybe he didn’t even know she was a vampire at first. Or maybe he did, an’ he just didn’t care. Either way, he took her in.”
Emily kept quiet.
“We was still livin’ with him at the time,” Karaline continued. “An’ from what he told me, the moment she woke up, she tried to kill him.” Karaline laughed again. “Nearly tore his throat out. But she was too injured to get outta bed.”
Emily wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or impressed.
“The next thing I know, the two of ‘em are in love.” Karaline scoffed. “Jonathan’d tell ye that she fell for him while he cared for her, but if ye ask me? He was gone for her first. Completely, utterly smitten.” Karaline fell silent, tapping a finger against the wooden table. “Maybe I should just write the damn letter this year,” she muttered.
Emily hesitated, then glanced at Violet before looking back at Karaline. “Or…” she started slowly, “you could tell him yourself.”
Karaline raised an eyebrow.
Emily pressed on. “You could help us convince Mina. Maybe things will be different. Maybe Henrik wouldn’t be so against Mina if he knew Jonathan married her.”
Karaline scoffed. “Henrik ain’t exactly the forgivin’ type.”
“But people change,” Emily insisted. “You said you haven’t seen him in years. He could be different now. He might not be the same stubborn ass he used to be. The stagecoach is already in Peccatum’s region. We aren’t too far from Serenity Gardens. We just gotta convince her to go there.”
Karaline glanced down at the table and took a long swig of her drink. “Alright, lass,” she said during her exhale. “I’ll talk to her. Only if it means I get to see my friend again.”
Mina stared absentmindedly at the wall of colorful bottles behind the bar.
The light from the chandelier was reflecting off them, casting colorful rays everywhere. She took a swig of her Silverleaf Ale and turned back to Karaline.
“—fuckin’ ridiculous, I tell ye,” Karaline grumbled. “It worked before, so why the hell does it not work now?” She gestured vaguely with her missing prosthetic arm. She hadn’t finished repairing it yet, and had to instead tie off the sleeve of her jacket.
“Couldn’t tell you,” she said, taking a sip of her ale. “Not my area of expertise.”
Karaline scoffed. “Aye, but if my arm started growin’ fangs, I bet ye’d know how to fix it, wouldn’t ye? Runes are too fuckin’ complicated. I’m tellin’ ya though, I almost got it figured out. Ye can use bones as the support and build the framework ‘round it. Carve the runes into the bone and ye get a stronger connection.” She shook her head, then took another long drink. “Sorry, I’m talkin’ too much. Just needed to rant a bit. How about you? How’s yer week been? Things still goin’ well with Emily?”
Mina set her bottle down. “She’s getting there.”
“Still sneakin’ out at night?”
“Mhm.” Mina sipped her ale, unfazed.
“I don’t get it,” Karaline said, tilting her head. “Ye don’t seem to actually mind her sneakin’ out, so why keep enforcin’ the rule?”
Mina smirked slightly, turning the mug in her hands. “It’s training.”
Karaline blinked. “Pardon?”
“She’s using the stealth techniques I taught her,” Mina explained. “She’s learned which floorboards creak when stepped on, how to mask her footsteps, how to move through the shadows without being seen. She’s not good at it yet, her tells are still too obvious, but she’s improving.”
Karaline let out a short laugh. “So yer tellin’ me, ye’ve been lettin’ her think she’s bein’ rebellious just to test her skills?”
Mina smirked into her drink.
Karaline shook her head, grinning. “Ye sneaky bastard. She still hasn’t caught on tae ye followin’ her everywhere?”
“No,” Mina said simply.
Karaline laughed again, shaking her head. “Ah, the lass is somethin’, eh?” She took another sip of her drink, then set it down with a dull clink. “Oh, ye know what landed in my mailbox today?”
Mina sighed, already knowing. “You got one too?”
“Aye,” Karaline said. “And I wanna talk to ye about it.”
Mina took another slow drink before answering. “Emily asked you, didn’t she?”
Karaline hesitated. “No—”
Mina raised an eyebrow at her.
“Alright, aye. She stopped by. Both her an’ Vi were askin’ about it. They wanna go. An’ ye know what? So do I.”
Mina stayed silent. She knew where this was going.
“It’d be nice to see that place again, personally speakin’. Emily mentioned that yer stagecoach wasn’t far from it. Yer stagecoach is in Nanroux, aye?”
“It’s not that close.”
“It’s hell of a lot closer than Cresthill,” Karaline countered. “All I’m askin’ is for ye to take a little detour. We use yer stagecoach, spend a few days there, an’ ye can leave. Simple as that.”
Mina let out a long sigh. She tapped her glass bottle absentmindedly. “I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted finally.
Karaline raised an eyebrow. “What’s there to weigh? Ye can’t just avoid the place forever ‘cause it’s where Jonathan’s from.”
“That’s not the reason.”
“Aye, ye got a point there. They invited ye, they ain’t gonna kill ya.”
“They invited me without knowing what I am.”
“Still invited ye,” Karaline said stubbornly. “Think of it this way, Jonathan was close to the people there. Close to Henrik. And ye were his wife. If I’m there too, I can vouch for ye. Talk to ‘em.”
Mina scoffed. “After everything I’ve heard, you really think they’ll let a vampire into their town?”
Karaline took a slow sip of her ale. “Only one way to know for certain.”
Mina shook her head. It had been a year since her last encounter with Draven, and he had yet to make another move. With each passing day, her speculation only grew stronger. He was going to attack one day, and it was only a matter of when. She took a risk going to Nanroux. It was close to Peccatum, but she had heard of the ghouls and knew it would be the perfect test for Emily. If anything, she shouldn’t have spent the day sleeping. She should have taken the stagecoach far from town and to somewhere more secluded. Somewhere, Draven’s forces wouldn’t think to search. She knew they were out there, and it was only a matter of time until they found her. There was no way he wasn’t planning something. Draven’s wounds would have healed by now, though how deformed he looked now, she had no idea. Perhaps the damage had weakened him. Maybe he hadn’t fully recovered. Maybe he was dead.
She could only hope.
But hope wasn’t enough to live off of. If he wasn’t coming, someone else would. She needed to be prepared. At the same time, a break from the constant stress didn’t seem so bad. Emily had come a long way. She had improved. Perhaps she did deserve something in return. And if Karaline was there, maybe things wouldn’t go as badly as she feared.
Mina chugged the rest of her ale in one go, then slid the empty bottle away. “Fuck,” she muttered. “Alright. Fine.”
Karaline blinked. “Aye?”
Mina slowly turned to glare at her. “We’ll go.”
Karaline grinned. “Now that’s the spirit.”
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