Rebellion

Chapter 8 ~ King

Chapter 8: King
~

The Vampire King.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. He was changing the subject and it rubbed me the wrong way. Why did he have to keep playing games with me, after all the honesty I had shown in revealing my past?

"They're just stories, Atanas. Vampire fairytales. The Vampire King is a myth, a legend, what's that got to do with anything that's going on now?"

"You asked for my story, Shylah, and when telling a story, it is always best to start from the beginning." He said, giving me a look.

His face was only partially clear to me, half shrouded by shadows that the candles light couldn't chase away. If he wanted to tell tales in the dark then I had all the time in the world.

"Weave your story then, Atanas." I muttered, waving a hand to let him know he'd get no further interruption from me.

Perhaps whatever fantastical thing he told me would distract me from how much he irritated me. I would be able to tell if what he said was all lies, at least I hoped so. Crossing my legs on the armchair, I propped my head on my hands like a child waiting for a bedtime story.

"I was born before the rise of the Roman Empire. I'm not entirely sure what the year was but I was a winter child. As a boy I remember the first tales of the twins Romulus and Remus, the supposed sons of the God Mars. They were my younger sister's favourite stories, she was a couple of years younger than me but she had the wisdom of one far beyond her years. My father traded in silks and spices from what is now known as Italy, all the way to the exotic cities of Asia. He took my sister, my mother and I with him on his travels, and as I grew I met people of all religion and colour.

"We weren't amongst the richest of nobles, but we never stooped to trade with the poorest either. We were invited to palaces of marble and fortresses of stone to dine and dance with the highest of society. I drank of the most expensive wines and flirted with the most desirable of women; princesses and queens. It was at one of these gatherings that I met her." He began, his eyes glazed over as if he too was lost to the memories he spoke of.

I was entranced already, eager to hear more. His sound was deep and musical, a voice meant to be listened to. I found myself leaning closer, drawn in by his truths. I wanted to know who the woman he had mentioned was, why he spoke so happily until her mention. He laughed to himself, shaking his head at some private joke before he carried on.

"She was beautiful, unlike any woman I had ever seen before. Her skin was as pale as if the moon herself had touched her with its light, yet her hair...her hair held the sun's glow like a halo around her, with pale blue eyes like the frozen lakes of the north. Immediately I was a slave to her and she played me as easily as an instrument to her will. She opened my eyes to the world, I left my family behind to follow her, and I fell in love with her. Maybe in her own twisted way she loved me too, but she didn't feel as we feel, not really. She wasn't just a Queen, but a goddess. The first of our kind. She had created hundreds of us, but it was me she kept by her side."

There was pain in the way he spoke now, his features contorted into a grimace. Had his maker controlled him like Airell had me in the beginning? Had she made him believe he was the only one in her eyes and played him the fool?

"What was her name?" I asked quietly, the words barely a whisper past my lips.

"Lelya," He breathed, his eyes closing, "Her name was Lelya."