Chapter One

I absently swung my legs through the clear waters of the river, my skirts hoisted above my knees. Taking a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, I closed my eyes.

"Gingery!" a voice called from the opposite side of the river. "Gingery!"

My eyes snapped open just in time to see the water flying in my direction. I threw my hands in front of my face. "Goldie! What was that for?"

"Mother's calling for you." The girl in front of me flipped her blonde braid over her shoulder. The freckles speckling her face glowed in the sunlight, and her blonde hair seemed more golden than usual-hence her nickname. Even though we were five years apart in age, everyone in the village liked to say that my younger sister, Veronika, and I could pass for twins. Goldie and Gingery-that's what Mother called us, and it didn't take long for all the villagers to adopt those names as well.

"Gingery?" Veronika called again, this time with a touch of exasperation in her voice. "Let's go, Jammie is waiting for you too."

"Jammie?" My entire face must have lit up, as Veronika stifled a laugh. "But he said he wouldn't be back until this weekend."

"Come on"-Veronika splashed through the water to grab me by the hand-"let's not keep your future husband waiting."

"Slow down, Goldie!" I laughed as we flew barefoot through the grass. Loose strands of my hair whipped across my vision, the orange bright against the clear blue sky. "Don't trip!"

Veronika just flashed me a smile over her shoulder before running even faster. When we arrived at the front steps of our house, our feet were caked with dirt, and our hair was in tangles.

"Girls . . ." Mother opened the door for us, and a crease formed between her brows as her eyes fell on our disheveled figures.

"I told Goldie to slow down, but she didn't listen," I said brightly. The hem of my dress was still wet from wading through the river.

Mother shook her head in exasperation as she stepped aside to let us enter the house. "Honestly now, the two of you are supposed to be ladies. Ladies. Goldie, at this rate, you'll never find yourself a husband. I would tell you to be more like your sister, but it seems like she isn't much better than you are."

"I think she's perfect," a voice said. My heart nearly skipped a beat as I turned toward the sound.

"Jammie!" I exclaimed as I rushed into his awaiting arms. I found myself laughing as he scooped me up and twirled me around. Finally, he set me down and pressed his forehead against mine.

Jammie smiled as he held me in a warm embrace. "I've missed you."

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I've missed you too."

"How have you been?" Jammie asked as he looked down at me. His sandy-blond bangs fell into his eyes, and I reached a slender hand to brush them out of his face.

"I've been fine. I think I can go a day or two without you around. When you're away, I can always visit you in my dreams, and that's enough."

Behind me, I could hear Veronika make a sound somewhere between a cough and a gag, but I didn't pay her any mind. Veronika didn't understand. Just spending time with Jammie was enough to brighten my day. Jammie and I had grown up together, and it had been a year since he finally proposed to me.

He beamed at me. "I've got everything that we need to hold a wedding. Decorations, food, clothes."

"You didn't have to do all of that!" I protested. "When you proposed, I told you that I'd marry you right then and there. But you were the one who said you wanted to throw us a proper wedding. And look how long it took you to scrape together enough money. Jammie, we don't need all of this."

Jammie buried his head in my hair. "I know we don't need it. But I wanted to give you something special. I'm sorry I made you wait."

"I can wait for you. I will always wait for you."

Jammie finally drew away to hold my gaze. "Next week, we'll get married for real. The two of us can live the life we've always talked about. We can grow old together right here in this village."

I beamed.

Jammie gently took my hands in his. "Let's go visit our soon-to-be house." Then he paused. "Unless you've already gone to see it."

"I haven't gone in yet," I reassured him. "I was waiting for you to return so we could see it for the first time together."

"Goodbye," Veronika called after us as we stepped over the threshold. Mother seemed to have disappeared entirely, either to give us space or to prepare a bath to scrub Veronika and me raw.

Jammie and I walked hand in hand along the dirt paths of the village. The green weeds and autumn leaves added specks of bright color against the brown.

It didn't take long before the two of us stopped in front of a small house. Jammie looked up at the house for a long moment. "Let's just hope we don't have too much to tidy up."

"Don't worry-I can clean it." I eagerly tugged on his sleeve. "Let's go inside."

The two of us pushed open the door and stepped over the threshold. The house was empty, and every surface was coated in a thick layer of dust. I sneezed as I scanned the space. There were two rooms: a living room and a single bedroom. Dust scattered as I took another step into the house. I sneezed again.

"Well?" Jammie asked after we finished looking around. "What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect. I'll get to work cleaning it right away." I rolled up my sleeves and brushed dirt from my fraying skirts. "You shouldn't have told me to wait for you, you know. I could have had this place cleaned up before you got back from the town."

"What are you talking about?" Jammie flashed me a smile as he walked over to push the windows open. "I'm happy that we got to see this place together."

I smiled back as I twisted my hair into a bun. "How was your trip to the town?"

"It went well. There were lots of merchants, and I easily sold all of the grain we harvested."

"Good." I let out a breath only to inhale a mouthful of dust. I coughed. "Jammie, one day you'll have to take me to the town. I want to see all of the sights you've told me about in your stories. I want to see the taverns and vendors and horses for myself."

"We have horses here at our village, Gingery." Jammie's eyes danced with laughter as he took a seat on the wooden floor, completely oblivious to the dust that now coated his trousers.

I walked over to him. "You know what I mean. I know the world is a much bigger place than our village."

"Then one day I'll take you to travel the world." Jammie smiled as he took my hands. "How does that sound?"

I shook my head. "We don't need to travel the world. All I want is to be with you. Just going to see the town would be enough."

"Jammie?" a voice called, and then a head appeared in one of the windows. "Gingery? Is that you two?"

I blinked as I looked up. "Ms. Cook! What are you doing here?"

The woman outside smiled knowingly. "I heard that the two of you decided to finally move in together. The other ladies and I thought we'd come by and help out."

"Yeah!" a chorus of voices piped up from behind Ms. Cook. "Let us help."

Stunned, I turned to Jammie with wide eyes.

Jammie just burst out laughing. "If they're offering, it would be quite rude of us to turn them down."

With the help of the older ladies from the village, the house was spotless in a matter of hours. By nightfall, we moved all the furniture Jammie had bought into the house, and a warm fire crackled in the hearth.

"Gingery!" a voice called from behind the women gathered by door, and I looked up to see a blonde figure rush over.

"Goldie." I smiled at my sister.

"Mother and Father are coming over," Veronika informed me. "Jammie's parents are coming over too, and all of us are going to have dinner at your place tonight."

"What? We are?"

Veronika frowned at the dust in my hair. "You should get yourself cleaned up. Otherwise, you'll never hear the end of it from Mother."

I let out a sigh as I stroked Veronika's hair. "I see that Mother cleaned you up."

Veronika took me by the hand. "Quickly now. Let's get your nice dress too. You've already brought that here, right? I thought I heard you running around at our house while Mother was scrubbing me clean."

"I'll leave the two of you to it, then." Jammie gave me a smile as Veronika dragged me toward the bedroom to change.

Veronika helped me change out of my fraying dress and into the only other dress I owned-the one Mother had made me for special occasions.

I winced as Veronika got to work detangling my hair.

"A little bit of pain won't hurt you," Veronika mumbled at my reaction, but she slowed down all the same. "That's what Mother keeps telling me at least." Then her fingers stilled. "Gingery, after you get married, will you not play with me anymore? If Jammie suddenly turns evil one day, just let me know, and I'll come save you."

I swiveled around in my seat. "Of course I'll still play with you. And what was that about Jammie? You know what kind of person Jammie is. He isn't like that."

"Gingery," Veronika sniffed as she finally met my gaze, "is what Mother keeps saying true? Am I really never going to be able to find a husband? The boy I liked . . . you know he had no choice but to leave the village-his father was drafted into the army. I nearly gave Mother a heart attack when I fought the knights who gave the order. Will people keep making fun of me if I end up waiting for him forever?"

I leaned forward to wrap my arms around my sister. "Look at you, worrying about stuff like this. I know you've always been sad that he left, but I thought you didn't care what people thought of you."

There was a knock on the door, and Jammie opened it a moment later. "Our guests have arrived," he informed us with a smile. "Let's not keep them waiting."

I straightened and rose to my feet. Then after taking one of Veronika's hands, I followed him into the living room.

"You look beautiful," Jammie said softly as we came to a stop. I practically glowed, smiling as I watched him open the front door.

"Mother, Father," I greeted my parents as they stepped over the threshold, then turned to bow my head respectfully to Jammie's parents. Suddenly, a flash of movement behind them caught my eye. I blinked. I could have sworn I saw a flash of glowing red against the night, but when I looked again, it was gone.

"Gingery, Goldie." Mother smiled, and there was something like satisfaction on her face as her eyes skimmed over our smooth hair and long skirts.

"Come sit," I invited, smiling as I turned away from the door.

"All the preparations have almost been completed," Jammie's mother informed us as she filled up plates with the meal she prepared for everyone. "The wedding will be held next weekend. It's going to be such a joyful event-just what we all need to take our minds off our problems."

Problems. I let out a sigh. We were suffering through yet another famine, and food from outside our village was becoming scarcer. We were almost completely dependent on our own crops now, and with winter right around the corner, things could very well take a turn for the worse. Multiple villagers had put in requests for assistance, but we were still waiting for anything to happen.

My father looked at Jammie. "Did you hear the rumors while you were in town?"

"Rumors?" My eyes were wide I turned to Jammie.

"There have been rumors that a creature, neither man nor monster, is stealing young maidens to marry. They say he's a creature of blood and night." Jammie's brows knit together as he watched my expression. "Don't take it too seriously, though-how many of these rumors end up being true?"

I let out a shaky laugh.

"If a creature like that does show up," Veronika piped up, "I'll beat it up for you, Gingery!"

"You'll do no such thing, young lady!" Mother snapped. I let out a laugh-a real laugh this time-as my apprehension melted away.

After we finished dinner, we spent the rest of the evening chatting. The mood was light, and our new house was warm. When it was time to put Veronika to bed, Mother and Father bid their goodbyes and left us with good wishes. Jammie's parents left shortly after, and finally, Jammie and I were alone.

"How are you feeling?" Jammie asked as we lay next to each other on our bed. "We're finally getting married. Just one more week. And then our wedding day will be a day we'll always remember."

"A day we'll always remember," I echoed as I snuggled up against his side. "What about after that? Will we start a family?"

"Do you want to start a family?" Jammie looked at me through the dark. When I nodded my head, he just gave my forehead a gentle flick. "As it is now, there are already too many mouths to feed and not enough food."

"I didn't mean right now," I sighed tiredly as I picked at the fraying fabric of my sleeves. "In the future. When everything's gotten better."

"Alright, then." Jammie laughed. "In the future, we can be parents."

I smiled as Jammie wrapped his arms around me. Things would get better in the future. Even though our village was located near the kingdom's border, we were still subjects of the crown. I didn't believe those in the castle would be heartless enough not to help us eventually. And when they do-when things change for the better-I'll be able to watch the sun rise over a more beautiful world.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Have you finished changing?" Jammie called from the living room.

"Almost!" I was trying on my wedding dress for the first time, and the layers of fabric were more exquisite than anything I had ever worn before. Jammie's mother had just added the finishing touches with the beads and thread Jammie had brought back the previous week. Now, the sunlight streaming through the open window set the little glass beads glittering. "Okay!" I hurried over to the door. "I'm ready."

Jammie blinked at me in awe before his expression melted into a smile. "It's beautiful, Gingery. Tomorrow's the big day. What about today, though? What do you want to do today?"

I wrapped my arms around him. "What do you want to do today?"

Jammie's eyes danced with laughter. "Let's go to the river. It's a beautiful day. It would be a shame not to spend it relaxing."

"I like the sound of that."

After I changed back into my regular clothes, Jammie and I made our way to the river with a basket of bread for a picnic. It was noon, and the sun was high in the sky. The air was crisp, and autumn leaves dotted the otherwise flat, infinite fields.

Right now, Veronika was playing in the water a little distance away, drawing in the mud of the riverbank with a stick. I made my way over to her through the cattails swaying in the light breeze. "What are you drawing, Goldie?"

"This is me." Veronika pointed with her stick to one of the figures she had sketched in the mud. "And this is Mother and Father. This is you and Jammie. Oh, and this is my horse."

"Horse?" I squinted down at the shape Veronika pointed to. "I don't think-"

"No, no, no." Veronika flicked her long hair over her shoulder. "This will be my horse in the future. I'll have my own horse, and then we can all take turns going on rides."

I knelt down to more closely examine the drawing. "Does your horse have a name?"

"Josephina."

"Josephina?"

Veronika shrugged lightly. "I just like how it sounds. It's a good name."

I placed a reassuring hand on my sister's shoulder. "In the future, I'm sure you'll get your horse." Just then, I blinked as something over my sister's shoulder caught my eye. There was a blur of motion in the shadows of the trees.

Looking confused, Veronika turned to follow my gaze, narrowing her eyes as she tried to see what had caught my attention.

"Do you see something there?" I asked.

Veronika shook her head as she turned back to me. "Maybe a bird? Come on, let's go back to Jammie. He'll start to feel lonely if you just leave him there by himself."

✦ ✦ ✦

The following night, I was fast asleep next to Jammie when the sound of knocking drew me awake. It was the middle of the night, probably early morning, judging by the position of the moon outside the window.

"Jammie." I gently shook Jammie awake. "Someone's knocking on the door."

Jammie sat up before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His expression was troubled. "Maybe someone needs our help?"

I climbed to my feet. "Maybe someone's been injured?" But just as I stood up, a sense of unease washed over me. As Jammie took a step toward the door, I wrapped my arms around his back. "Jammie," I said fearfully, "something doesn't feel right." Maybe if we didn't answer, whoever was at the door would decide to leave. Their knocking didn't sound urgent; there was something almost lazy about it. But to my dismay, the knocking sounded again.

Jammie gently took me by the hand. "We should go check it out." I let him lead me into the living room and toward the front door. "Wait here." Jammie stopped and turned around to face me. "I don't want you to get a cold."

"Alright," I said quietly, but I refused to let go of his hand.

"Gingery." He smiled as he pressed his forehead against mine. This time, I reluctantly let go. The warmth from his fingers lingered on my skin as I watched him walk toward the door. "One moment," he called as he reached the door. There was a clicking sound as he unlatched the bolt. But just as his hand closed around the knob, there was a loud bang.

I let out a scream as the door was kicked in. It slammed into the back wall with such force that the entire house shook. Splinters and blood covered the floor, and my heart pounded in my chest as I scrambled over to where Jammie had fallen in a heap under the broken door.

"Jammie!" I sobbed as I dropped to my knees at his side. Even in the dark, I could see the blood dripping down the side of his head. His eyes were closed, and his body was limp and lifeless. "Jammie!" My voice broke as I cradled him to my chest. His head lolled like that of a ragdoll, and the warm blood seeping through his tunic made it impossible for me to convince myself I was having a nightmare. "Jammie! Please wake up! Please!"

"The dead won't wake," a voice said quietly.

My head snapped up, and my eyes widened in horror as they fell on the speaker.

There, standing in the doorway and outlined by the silvery moonlight beyond, was a young man with glowing red eyes. He smiled, and my blood turned to ice as I noticed the glinting fangs protruding over his lip.

My skin prickled as I hugged Jammie's body tighter.

Chapter Two

I was standing on a grassy hill. The sun was bright as it beat down over the land, and I closed my eyes, leaning into the warmth.

"Gingery." It was Jammie. "I've got something for you."

I turned to find him standing next to me. "Something for me?"

Jammie just gave me a wink before producing a flower from behind his back. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful!" I gently took the flower from him, smiling down at the colorful petals.

"Do you know who else is beautiful?" Jammie teased, and I looked back up at him. "You, of course! When I saw the flower, I immediately thought of you."

I flushed. But then my expression must have changed because Jammie's smile faded. "I-" I looked up at his concerned face. "I'm scared," I whispered.

Jammie took my hand. "What are you scared of? I promise the two of us can figure out how to solve any sort of problem together."

"I'm scared of losing you." I held Jammie's gaze, blinking against the sun hanging in the sky behind him.

Jammie's expression melted into a soft smile. "I won't leave you."

I let out a laugh as my tears began to sting my eyes. I was standing here with Jammie now . . . but I had already lost him.

✦ ✦ ✦

My head throbbed as if something heavy had struck it. Everything was muddled and dark. Through the haze, the sounds of whispers drifted to me from somewhere far away.

"She's moving!" a breathy female voice said, and I slowly cracked an eye open. I was lying on a bed in a windowless room. Fiery lamplight illuminated the walls, and I jolted as I realized that the wide-eyed faces of four young women were staring down at me.

I sat upright as everything rushed back to me. My heart clenched painfully in my chest. I couldn't breathe. My face was sticky with dried tears and blood. I just stared at the women for a long moment before I started screaming.

Panicked, the young women tried their best to calm me down. "Shh!"

"Don't cry!" one of them instructed hopelessly. "If you attract the guards' attention, you could end up getting yourself killed!"

At that, I stopped screaming. Instead, I just scooted as far away from the women as I could get. "Who are you?" I whispered through my silent tears.

"We're ordinary girls just like you." One of the women gave me a sad smile. She had fair skin, and her auburn hair fell around her waist in waves. "I'm called Twelve."

"Twelve?"

"You're Twenty-three," the young woman called Twelve explained. "And over here is Three, Fifteen, and Twenty."

"But my name's not Twenty-three." I blinked as I stared at the women. "My name's-"

"Shh." Twelve shook her head quickly and glanced over her shoulder as if the walls themselves were listening. "You're Twenty-three now. We can't use our real names here. The lord forbids it."

"Lord?" I looked back and forth between the women fearfully. "What lord?"

The women just exchanged a pitiful glance.

Twelve sighed as she sat next to me, her wavy hair cascading over her shoulders. "Now that we're all here, we need to take care of each other." But as I looked at the other women standing behind Twelve, I found that they refused to meet my questioning gaze.

"If I'm Twenty-three," I started slowly, "does that mean there's at least twenty-three of us in this place?"

"Last week there were only ten of us," the young woman called Three spoke up. There was something like sorrow in her voice as she twirled a strand of her deep-brown hair around a finger. "Every week His Lordship has been collecting more and more girls."

I fell silent, shaking as I stared unseeingly at the hands I was wringing in my lap. "I want to go home."

"We can't go home." Three's voice seemed to cut through the stillness in the room. "None of us can."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my panic rising. The room was spinning. I felt dizzy-I felt as if I was going to pass out.

"The lord is a monster," Twelve said grimly. "He's a vampire."

"A what?"

"A vampire. A monster with glowing red eyes and fangs. I don't know what's going to happen to us when he finishes collecting his young women. Right now, we've just been locked up in these rooms. I don't think he intends to kill us, though. If he did, he could have done so already."

"So what if he doesn't want to kill us?" Fifteen spoke up for the first time, and we all turned to look at her. Fifteen was a young woman with porcelain skin and hair the color of ink. "Do we just obediently do as he wishes and be his prisoners?"

My thoughts were spinning in my head. In one night, I had gone from a bride-to-be to a prisoner. What about Goldie? What about Mother and Father? What had happened to all of them? And was Jammie really . . . was Jammie really-?

"Here." Twelve stood up to bring me a plain dress. "We're taken out of our rooms twice a day for meals. Put this on, and let's get you cleaned up."

I shook my head.

"Come on." Twelve sighed as she helped me to my feet. "There will be consequences if you don't comply. I know you're in shock, but take my word for it when I tell you that you're better off not making it hard for yourself and the rest of us."

✦ ✦ ✦

I spent what could have been minutes or hours sitting on my bed, staring absently at the wall across from me. The other young women sat on their beds and talked quietly. Despite my state, one thing I had been quick to pick up on was that whoever owned this house was rich. Very rich. Even though my new dress was simple and plain, the quality of the fabric was like nothing I had ever seen before, let alone touched. The blankets and pillows on the bed were also of the highest quality, as were the crystalline lamps.

"Twenty-three," Twenty said quietly as she shuffled over to my bed. She couldn't have been any older than me and had short hair that swished around her collarbones. None of the young women could have been much older than me. "Where do you come from? Before I was kidnapped by His Lordship, I was a noble lady from a wealthy family. Our guards put up a fight, but I ended up here in the end."

I dropped my gaze. "I came from a village of farmers. We might be a poor village, but my family must be searching for me right now."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I nearly jumped out of my skin, and my heart rate accelerated so quickly I thought I was going to faint. There was a clicking sound as a lock opened, and then two men appeared in the doorway.

"It's time for us to be escorted to the dining hall for dinner," Twelve explained quietly as she took note of my petrified look.

I followed the other young women out of the room. Clenching my fists in my skirts, I busied myself with sneaking glances at the lavish halls we were walking down. Windowless, I realized with a jolt. This manor-this estate-is completely windowless.

"Look at the new girl," one of the escorts said to the other, and I felt their unpleasant gazes land on me. "This one's got some unusual red hair. No wonder His Lordship took an interest in her."

"She's kind of pretty," the other escort said. "I don't like her freckles, though. Without them, she'd be a lot prettier."

"Of course she's pretty. His Lordship wouldn't have chosen her otherwise."

"Do you think His Lordship will be kind enough to give us some girls too?" the second escort asked the first hopefully. "He's got thirty of them now-wouldn't he be able to spare a couple for us?"

The first escort chuckled. "If you ask him that, I'll consider you lucky if he doesn't tear out your throat on the spot."

A shiver ran down my spine at that.

"His Lordship wants to meet all of you tonight," the first escort addressed us as we stopped in front of a set of double doors. "Be good girls and behave. Don't talk unless you're addressed directly by His Lordship."

My blood chilled again as the escorts pushed open the doors and motioned for us to enter the dining hall beyond. A long rectangular table sat in the middle of the hall. There were fifteen chairs on one side and another fifteen on the other. When I looked closer, I found that each chair had a number carved onto the back of it. There were thirty chairs in total.

I took my seat at number twenty-three, and the young women who must have been Twenty-two and Twenty-four took their seats next to me. Twenty-two met my gaze for a brief moment before she dropped her gaze and stared at the table in front of us. When I snuck a glance at Twenty-four, I found that her eyes were swollen from crying, and her face was completely drained of color.

We sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity. With every passing moment, the overwhelming fear and sadness were twisting their thorns deeper and deeper into my heart. Jammie, Jammie, Jammie. It hadn't even been a full day since my husband-to-be had been murdered by the very monster I was waiting for to arrive.

"His Lordship has arrived," a voice called, and a moment later the double doors were thrown open. I inhaled sharply as a young man strode into the room. His blood-red eyes gleamed as he walked past all thirty of us and took a seat at a smaller table at the front of the room.

"Welcome," the dark-haired vampire called as he lifted a lazy hand. "Now that all of you girls have arrived, I think it's time that I properly introduced myself to you." When none of us spoke up, the vampire smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his hungry eyes. "Now, you might be wondering why I decided to bring all of you here. I am immortal. Why, I'm practically a god now!" He leaned back in his chair, and his fangs glinted in the candlelight. "Your lives belong to me. My immortality comes with a cost, you see. I need the blood of other living beings to survive."

"Does that mean we're going to die?" one of the young women across from me whispered to another as her face paled.

"No, no." The vampire was still smiling, and I looked at him in horror. "None of you will die if you behave." My head was spinning. How did he hear the woman's whisper from that far away? "All I want is your blood." The vampire's eyes slid over each one of us at the table in turn. "That's all . . ."

"No." One of the young women at the back of the table rose from her seat. Despite the defiance on her face, I could see the fear flickering in her eyes.

The dark-haired vampire's smile faded. "No?"

"No," the woman said again. Her voice was soft but not weak. "I want to go home. I don't want to have any part in this."

There was a flash of movement followed by a whoosh of wind. I barely had time to register what had happened as the young woman fell to the ground. Blood gushed from the gash across her throat.

The vampire glanced down at the woman's dead body in mild amusement. Crimson blood dripped from his fingers. He slowly raised his head to look at us, and his smile returned at our horror-stricken expressions. "The rest of you should take this as a warning."

My hands were clapped over my mouth, and my eyes filled with silent tears as I stared at the woman's lifeless body.

"I'd refrain from trying anything silly if I were you," he said silkily as he made his way back to his table. The sound of his boots echoed through my skull as they tapped over the tiles. "If any of you think about escaping"-his eyes blazed as they looked over each one of us in turn-"if any of you think of leaving me, you should think about the lives of your families first."

My family. I felt like I had been punched in the gut as the faces of my mother, father, and sister flashed across my mind.

The vampire smiled down at us. "Eat. None of you will starve on my watch." Even if the statement itself didn't sound like a threat on its own, the way the dark-haired vampire was watching us certainly made it seem as such.

I sat there, trembling in my seat as a group of servants appeared and set a number of dishes in front of us-all the while the dead woman's body remained on the floor. The food I forced down my throat was the fanciest meal I had ever eaten, but I couldn't taste any of it. It was nothing more than ash in my mouth as my spoon shook in my hands. I was all too aware of the blood still splattered on the floor.

I didn't know the woman who had just been killed. I didn't even know her name. Her bravery, though, would be something I'd always remember. Maybe it had been a foolish move, but something told me that she had done it despite already knowing her fate.

✦ ✦ ✦

I awoke the following morning to the sound of knocking. "It's time to wake up," a gruff voice called from the other side of the door. "You won't be late for breakfast."

I slowly sat up, and my eyes were puffy as I followed the other young women out into the hallway. But the moment we reached the dining hall, a scream sounded from somewhere inside. My blood chilled as I walked through the double doors with my group. A number of other young women were staring up at the ceiling in horror. Holding my breath, I slowly lifted my own head as well.

My eyes widened at the corpse swinging from the beams high above us. Her long hair was unbound, and her closed eyes were unmoving.

"I see you've found your friend," a voice said, and a shiver ran down my spine. It was the vampire-the lord. "She tried to run away this morning," he continued lightly. "But she didn't get very far."

I wrapped my arms around myself in horror. My eyes were glued to the young woman hanging from the ceiling.

After breakfast, I was escorted back to my shared room with the other young women.

"What do we do?" Three whispered as she sat down on her bed. Her face was completely drained of all color. "What do we do?"

"You need to be careful," Twelve said grimly. "Don't do anything that will get you killed."

"I don't want to die!" Three shook her head violently. "I just want to go home."

"We all want to go home." Twenty sighed as she took a seat next to Three.

Three's head snapped up to look at Twenty. "How can I get home if I can't even get out of this room?"

I remained silent as I tuned out their exchange. Jammie. I found my thoughts wandering. Has Jammie been buried in the earth by now? If I really try to join him on the other side, will my remaining family suffer because of it? Jammie might have been gone, but my family was still there. My village and home were still there. And I had to protect what remained.

✦ ✦ ✦

The days slowly dragged into weeks, and before I knew it, a month had come and gone. Every day consisted of the same motions of going to the dining hall two times a day, then spending the rest of it locked up in our windowless rooms. The last time I had seen the sun was back when Jammie was still alive.

The dark-haired vampire-His Lordship, as we were supposed to address him-hadn't made an appearance since the morning when he made an exhibition of the dead woman's body. Occasionally, a woman would disappear from the table, and the number of empty seats grew to five. I shuddered to think what had become of them.

We were not allowed to speak to each other in the dining hall, but even if we couldn't verbally communicate, I could tell that something was horribly wrong by the looks on my tablemates' faces. Some of them were terrified, others cried softly to themselves, while others were like stone.

When I returned to my room, I would take note of all the doors we passed by in the hallway leading to the dining hall. Do any of these doors lead out? Could freedom be a mere door away?

I spent most of my time in the room either sleeping or sitting quietly, trying to gather my thoughts. Jammie's death haunted me in both.

I buried my head in my arms. I didn't know what to do.

At some point, there was the sound from the door. I exchanged a glance with the other young women in the room, and we looked on apprehensively as the door swung open. Our two escorts were standing in the doorway.

"Which one of you is Three?" the first escort asked as his eyes swooped over each of us in turn. His gaze lingered long enough to set my skin crawling unpleasantly.

"I'm Three," Three said quietly. The tremor in her voice was clear.

"Come here." The second escort waved her over. "His Lordship wants you tonight."

All the remaining color drained away from Three's face as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Quickly now," the second escort said impatiently. "If you're late, His Lordship will punish us right along with you."

With one final terrified look over her shoulder, Three followed the escorts out of the room, and the door swung shut behind them.

Twenty's face was pale. "Is she going to die?"

Twelve shook her head with a frown. "I've overheard the guards mention that the only ones who have died so far are the ones who either spoke back to the lord or tried to escape."

"Will she be okay?" Twenty tried again, her voice shaky.

I wrung my hands in my lap as the silence that filled the room answered all of our questions.

✦ ✦ ✦

We waited for hours. Finally, there was the sound of the lock unlatching, and suddenly the door was thrown open.

"Three!" Twelve and Twenty jumped to their feet as Three staggered into the room. She collapsed onto the floor in a heap a moment later. I was at her side in an instant, my hands pressed over my mouth in horror. She was naked, and her skin was covered in bite marks and bloody scratches. Her eyes were closed, and her deep-brown hair spilled out on the floor around her.

"What happened to her?" Fifteen demanded as her head snapped over to the escorts leering from the doorway. But before she could march over to the door to demand answers, the escorts slammed the door shut, and the lock clicked back into place. After tearing her gaze away from the door, Fifteen dropped to the floor to join the rest of us around Three.

Twenty held her hand. "Did he do this to you?"

Three's closed eyes just moved back and forth beneath their lids. "Dizzy," she whispered. "I'm so dizzy."

"She's short on blood," Fifteen said. Her own face was paler than usual. "Come on, let's get her cleaned up. Then she'll need to rest."

I was shaking as I helped the other young women half-drag, half-carry Three into our shared washroom. There was silence as we cleaned the blood away from the bites and scratches covering Three's body. "You're clean now," I said quietly.

"The lord is not the only one you have to be wary of," Three managed to get out. "Be careful around the escorts. The lord doesn't care what they do."

Once Three was dressed, all five of us made our way out of the washroom. Twenty and I sat next to Three, doing our best to comfort her as silent tears spilled down the sides of her face.

Chapter Three

Two days later, the escorts arrived to collect another woman for the lord. "We want Fifteen." The escorts sneered at us from the doorway.

Fifteen's expression was impassive as she rose to her feet. She left the room without a glance back over her shoulder, and her footsteps were silent as she glided away.

Hours later, the door was pushed open, and Fifteen was shoved inside. "Fifteen!" Twelve exclaimed. Her voice was high and terrified as her eyes went straight to the bloody nail marks around Fifteen's slender neck.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

Fifteen just shook her head, breathing heavily. "I will be, once our kidnappers are dead."

My heart clenched as we escorted Fifteen into the washroom to wash away the blood still trickling from her wounds.

✦ ✦ ✦

Before I knew it, it was my turn.

"Twenty-three," one of the escorts called from the doorway. I felt everyone's eyes on me as I stood up, my legs shaking as I walked toward them. As I passed through the doorway, I turned to meet Fifteen's gaze. Ever so slightly, she dipped her chin in a brief nod. She had told me what to expect and how I should act.

After what felt like an eternity of walking down the windowless hallways, we finally came to a stop, and I looked up at the door in front of us.

"Well?" The first escort said. "Go on."

I looked at him, my eyes glistening with frightened tears.

The escort rolled his eyes. "Open the door."

I slowly lifted a shaky hand and turned the knob.

"Get in." The second escort prodded me in the back with the pommel of his sword, and I staggered into the dark room beyond. My hair was plastered to my face from sweat.

The door swung shut behind me, latching with a click that echoed through the silence. For a long moment, all I could hear was the sound of my unsteady breathing as my heart raced.

"Twenty-three," a male voice purred from behind me. I turned to look straight into the gleaming red eyes of the Lord. I instinctively took a step away from him.

The vampire smiled, his fangs glinting as my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. "Don't worry-you look like a delicate one. I'll be gentle with you." As he spoke, he extended a pale hand and reached for the neckline of my dress. I flinched away, and he let out a low laugh. "Resisting will only make this harder on yourself. Good girl." He continued to smile as he brushed my hair away from my neck. My skin continued to crawl under his touch, and all I could do was stand there, petrified as he slowly unlaced my dress.

✦ ✦ ✦

I staggered back through the halls in silence. I could hear the escorts making comments about my naked body, but their voices echoed as if coming from somewhere far away. Everything was muddled as if I were deep underwater. Everything was dark and murky.

My head spun. I could smell my own blood. I was short on blood.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist, and my head rang as I was slammed against the wall. The wind knocked out of me, I gasped in shock as my vision swayed. The face of one of the escorts swam across my vision as he grinned at me. All I could do was let out a choked scream before I fainted.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Twenty-three." Twenty's worried voice drew me awake. "Twenty-three?"

"I'm awake." My head rang as I slowly sat up. Everything hurt, and I hissed softly. Somehow I had been brought back to my bed, and Twenty and Twelve's anxious faces hovered over me.

Twelve's face was a ghostly white as she helped me sit up. "We were really worried about you-you've been unconscious all day. You missed breakfast."

I just silently looked at my companions.

Twenty shuffled her feet. "You should lie back down. Rest."

"Do you want some time to yourself?" Twelve asked, glancing over her shoulder at Fifteen and Three across the way. "Are you . . . are you alright?"

I slowly raised my head and stared unseeingly at my hands. "I . . ." My voice was failing me. My fingers curled into fists, and my nails dug into my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut as I drew in one shuddering breath after another. Taking another deep breath, I wished that when I opened my eyes, I would find myself anywhere other than this manor.

✦ ✦ ✦

It didn't take long for Twenty and Twelve to be called. After the two of them had returned, shaken and covered in fang marks, something about their demeanors seemed to change. And as time went by, the auburn-haired Twelve, who had once been the most talkative out of all of us, had gone quiet. Twenty, formerly friendly and optimistic, was starting to grow hopeless.

"Why haven't my mother and father found me yet?" Twenty mused to no one in particular from where she lay on her bed. "It's been months now, and I want to go home to my pets and maids and sunlight."

"Stop complaining," Three hissed at her. "Don't you know that all of us want to go home?"

Fifteen cut Twenty off before she could respond. "Stop it. Both of you. Complaining won't help us."

Three swayed unsteadily as she rose to her feet. "I've had enough. How long do I have to continue to endure this?" Her voice was high, and the sound teetered on hysteria.

Fifteen closed her eyes briefly. "As long as we're alive, there's still hope that we can return home."

Three fell silent as she sat back down on her bed, her expression blank.

Fifteen met my gaze and motioned for me to follow her into the washroom, away from the other young women. Tonight was my turn to visit His Lordship, and I had felt sick all day.

"His meeting with me was different from all the times before, and it was probably the same with Three, even though she refuses to talk. This time, he wants to sit down and talk to all the girls individually. I couldn't get anything useful out of my conversation. Maybe you will be able to get him to talk."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Twenty-three." The vampire was sitting on the velvet couch in the middle of his windowless room. Glass lamps flickered in the corners, and the light painted the walls in shades of red and orange. "Come here."

I silently shuffled over to him and nearly cried out as he picked me up in one swift movement and set me on his lap.

"You're a pretty one," the lord purred as he ran his fingers through my hair. "Tell me, what do you think of my manor?"

"It's very fancy," I said quietly. My skin was crawling. I wanted to tear it off.

"But?" His blood-red eyes narrowed as he looked down at me. "I can tell there is something more you want to say. Say it."

"But"-I quickly dropped my gaze-"but I haven't seen the sun or moon in months."

"How dare you." The lord's voice was calm, but there was something cold behind it. "You ungrateful girl. I give you good food to eat, a roof over your head, and a bed to sleep in. Not even a hint of gratitude from you?"

"You've misunderstood me-that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Why are there no windows?" I slowly lifted my head. In the lamplight, I could see the delicately pointed ears peeking out from behind the vampire's hair. "Do you not like the moonlight?"

He let out a low chuckle. "Silly girl. It's part of my curse."

"Curse?"

"It's the price of my immortality. I wanted to be young and handsome forever. But magic comes with a price, you see. When I used it, I did become immortal, but now no one under the sun can see my face. And now I can only sustain myself on the blood of others."

So the vampire had once been a human.

"You know how to do magic?" I decided to ask.

"I did. But as I've risen above being human, I can no longer practice magic."

"Really? Why not?"

"Magic requires a lifeforce." Then he frowned. "You ask too many questions. Be silent for the rest of the night."

✦ ✦ ✦

Months passed, and all the days blended together in one long monotonous blur. It had to be at least a year since I had last seen the sun-a year since I had last seen my family. But somehow, it felt even longer than that. An eternity. Three more women had vanished from the long table in the dining hall, leaving a total of twenty-one of us.

"Twenty-three," the dark-haired vampire called to me lazily. I had just entered his room, and the lamps in the corners cast everything in flickering shadows.

"My Lord," I greeted him as he glided over to me.

"Twenty-three, Twenty-three." He smiled as he twirled a strand of my hair between his fingers. "You're a good girl, Twenty-three. The moment I saw you back at your village, I knew I needed to get you for myself. Tell me, what is your name?"

I dropped my gaze. "Twenty-three."

"No, no." His smile turned to a smirk as he caught my chin with a hand and turned my face back toward his. "I want to know your real name. What's your real name?"

"My real name . . ." I swallowed the lump in my throat with some difficulty. He did not deserve to know my real name.

Suddenly, I remembered a story Jammie had once told me. At the time, the two of us were sitting by the river. "I heard an interesting story the other day," he said as he twined his fingers through mine. "It's the story of a young girl who was the princess of a powerful kingdom. One day, she was forced to marry into the royal family of the enemy kingdom. Innocent on the outside, the girl took down the entire kingdom from the inside. No one saw it coming, and no one could have ever predicted the girl's power."

I shook my head, intrigued. "I've never heard this story before."

Jammie grinned. "I thought you might like it. I know you've always loved the stories from the far lands."

I tilted my head to the side curiously. "What was the girl's name?"

"If I remember correctly, the name of the girl in the story was Karmen."

Jammie's voice faded as I blinked back to reality. Taking a deep breath, I looked the vampire in the eyes.

"Karmen," I said. "My name is Karmen."

Chapter Four

The passage of time was immeasurable. At first, we tried to count the days. However, after scratching tally marks on the wall, we would find them gone when we returned from our meals. For all I knew, years could have gone by.

With the number of young women dwindling, Three had been moved out of our room and relocated to another group. At least we knew she was still alive because she appeared in the dining hall for meals with the rest of the women.

"I think we'll need to rethink our plan," Fifteen said to me in the doorway of the washroom. "It looks like the only way we're ever getting out of here is if we take matters into our own hands and kill His Lordship."

Kill him? I mouthed. I worriedly glanced over my shoulder as if I'd find him standing there. "Is that even possible?"

Fifteen just frowned, deep in thought. "You told me no one under the sun can see his face. Sunlight . . ."

"I don't want to die," a shaky voice drifted over to us, and I turned to look at Twelve. The auburn-haired woman sat on her bed, her hands clamped over her ears. Over the course of the past few months, Twelve had gone from optimistic to depressed to crazed. Her skin was pale and pasty, and her eyes were wide as they whirled back and forth in their sockets.

Twenty was sitting next to Twelve and wrapped a comforting arm around her. "You're not going to die."

"We're all going to die!" Twelve's hair flew as she shook off the other woman's arm. "I'm scared-I don't want to die. I don't want to die!"

My eyes stung with tears as I hurried over to them. "We're going to get out of here."

Twelve shook her head vigorously. "He's going to kill me."

"He's not going to-"

Twelve shook her head again as she placed a hand on her stomach. "If he finds out, he'll kill me."

Twenty pressed her hands over her mouth as she looked at Twelve. "You're pregnant?"

Twelve let out a hopeless sob. "The escorts . . . after visiting the lord, I've fainted in the hallway before from the lack of blood. It must have been one of them while I was unconscious." I wrapped my arms around her, and she clung to me tightly as tears spilled down her face. "I don't even remember," she whispered. "And the lord . . . he knows. The last time I was with him, he claimed I was unfaithful to him. I didn't even know what he meant until I began to feel it. He normally doesn't care what the escorts do as long as they hide it from him, but now . . . I think he's secretly jealous of them since he can't himself . . . I'm just so scared . . ."

I held her tightly as I blinked back my own tears. "I know."

✦ ✦ ✦

It was the middle of the night, and sleep would come and go. I had long passed the point of crying myself to sleep. Even though each day was just as painful and frightening as the first, the tears would no longer come.

It was even more difficult to sleep tonight. Fifteen had been taken to His Lordship at the start of the night, and I was left alone with Twenty and Twelve.

I wasn't sure when I actually fell asleep, but I awoke to the noise of shuffling coming from the washroom. My heart rate accelerating, I slowly slid out of bed and tiptoed through the room. My foot caught on something that felt like a pile of blankets, and I let out a quiet yelp as I stumbled.

"Twenty-three?" Twenty asked tiredly as she sat up in her own bed. "Is Fifteen back?"

I just shook my head, unable to look away from the scene in front of me. The door to the washroom was already open, and my eyes widened in horror as they adjusted to the dark. There was blood everywhere, and as I took in the sheets draped over the beams in the room, my blood chilled as a new wave of fear washed over me.

Twelve stood on top of the marble table against the back wall, the water basin kicked to the side. Her dress was stained with blood, and she held the ends of her white bed sheets in her hands. The cloth was wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Twelve!" I exclaimed in a panicked whisper. "What are you doing?" I took a shaky step forward as I held out my hands in a gesture of support. "What about your family?"

"My family will be fine. His Lordship is just bluffing-he has to be bluffing."

My eyes were wide as I shook my head. "Please, come down here."

"I just want the pain to stop." Twelve's voice was nothing more than a whisper. "I'm sorry."

I let out a scream as Twelve fell forward. The sheets around her neck tightened as she swung into open air.

Or maybe I wasn't the one who screamed. I couldn't tell anymore. Someone screamed behind me, and the sound rang in my ears. I couldn't make sense of anything anymore. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

"Help!" I sobbed as I darted forward. Twelve was too high in the air for me to reach the sheets tied around her neck, choking her, strangling her.

"Help!" I cried again as I clambered onto the marble table. I reached for the sheets-reached for the knot. I glanced over my shoulder, and the absolute hopelessness I felt at that moment was overwhelming. Twenty . . . where is Twenty? She had just been standing in the doorway moments ago. Except she was no longer there. I glanced down and saw that she had collapsed, fainted.

"Hold on!" I was choking on my own tears as I fumbled at the knot. But the knot was too tight, and my fingers were shaking.

Finally, the knot came undone in my bruised fingers, and Twelve crashed to the tiled floor.

"Twelve!" I nearly lost my footing as I leaped down from the table. I fell to my knees at her side. "Twelve!" Twelve's head lifelessly lolled back and forth as I shook her. The tears sliding down my face shattered on the tiles in front of me.

Trembling from head to toe, I slowly pressed a finger against her wrist, feeling for her pulse.

My hand fell away. She was dead. And suddenly, it was Jammie all over again. Dead. Right in front of my eyes. The silence roared in my ears as I stared at Twelve's body. Her skirts were soaked with blood now, and I let out another sob. The bleeding was what had killed her.

I shakily untied the sheets wrapped around her neck. And then, with unsteady hands, I covered her with the white fabric.

✦ ✦ ✦

The following day, when I returned to the room from breakfast, I found that Twelve's body had vanished. I spent the next couple of days curled under my blankets. The dull aching of my heart was the only thing I was still aware of.

A knock on the door drew me out of my stupor, and my blood turned to ice. "Twenty-three," a voice called from the other side. The escorts. I rose to my feet and shuffled over to the door. I could feel Fifteen and Twenty's eyes on the back of my head, but I couldn't bring myself to meet either of their gazes.

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the door to the lord's room.

Inside, the dark-haired vampire emerged from the darkness, and his eyes gleamed out of the shadows.

"Karmen," he purred as he glided over to me.

I flinched as the vampire reached out to wipe a tear from my cheek with a cold finger.

"Sad that the other girl decided to kill herself?"

I nodded as I dropped my gaze. Then I froze as I spotted the splatters of blood streaking the lord's clothing.

"What have you done?" I whispered. The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

"She was unfaithful to me. I had to kill her family."

I took a step backward. My eyes were glued to the blood.

"Come, now." The lord was still smiling as he took a step forward. "I know you won't be like her."

I continued to shake my head as I took another step backward. But then suddenly, I felt my foot collide with the base of the lamp behind me. My arms flailed as I hit the ground with a thud, and my heart nearly jumped from my chest as the lamp crashed to the ground next to me. Glass shattered across the floor, and now flames from the candle within burned on the floor.

"I'm sorry!" I scrambled to my knees. The glass tore into my flesh as I brushed the shards into my skirts and off the carpet. "This is my fault, I-"

"It was a simple mistake." I looked on as the lord bent down and reached out toward the embers glowing on the carpet. Suddenly, he hissed and drew his hand back.

I stared at him with wide eyes. "Are you alright?" I asked as timidly as I could.

"Of course." His smile was back as he unfastened his cloak. He dropped it on top of the embers to stifle them. "It will take more than a little fire to hurt me."

✦ ✦ ✦

"My dear Karmen." The lord turned my chin toward him, and the smell of coppery blood lingered in the air as he drew his face closer to mine. "I've been doing some thinking lately. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the two of us could stay together forever?"

I froze, not sure what to make of his words. "What do you mean, My Lord?"

"Look at you now." The dark-haired vampire ran a strand of my hair between his fingers. "You're at the peak of your beauty. It would be a shame for you to lose it. It would be a shame to lose all of you girls. I've been thinking-what if I turned you into an immortal like me? Young forever-beautiful forever."

"You want to turn us into vampires?" I asked softly.

The vampire's grip tightened on me. His nails dug into my skin, and there was a stinging as they drew blood. I flinched as he spoke again. "Who wouldn't want to live forever? Who wouldn't be tempted by eternal youth? Don't tell me you'd betray your family like that, Karmen. You know what happens if you try to escape."

I sat there like a statue as the vampire leaned forward until his lips met mine. Inside my head, my own voice was screaming, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.

✦ ✦ ✦

I sat at the long table in the dining hall, the empty seats more prominent than ever. Today, the atmosphere was especially uneasy because the vampire himself had joined the dinner. He gazed out at us with a lazy smirk on his face.

Dinner today was the tensest it had been since the first couple of weeks at the manor, and the wine in our goblets tasted more bitter than ever.

"My beautiful girls." The lord rose from his seat. "You've been with me for a little over two years now. And I've realized that I don't want to let go of any of you. Now, who would like to accompany me forever? Who would like to be young and beautiful forever?"

"No." Fifteen rose to her feet to glare at the vampire. "Who would want to live forever with you?"

The dark-haired vampire let out a laugh. "Admit that you've lost, girl. It's too late-you're mine forever now."

Fifteen inhaled sharply. "What do you mean?"

"You're too late." The lord laughed again at the look on Fifteen's face. "I've already slipped some of my blood into your wine."

"I'll never become a vampire," Fifteen hissed. "I'll never become a monster like you."

The vampire was smiling. "Just sit back down and accept your fate."

Fifteen just shook her head. As she whirled around, her eyes met mine. The bed, she mouthed, her lips barely moving. Finish it. And before I could make sense of what was happening, Fifteen grabbed her wine goblet in one hand. Crimson liquid flew as she smashed the glass against the table and, in one swift movement, slit her throat with the jagged shards.

I wasn't sure whether I was screaming in horror or pain or both. I leaped to my feet only to collapse to the floor. White-hot flames were consuming my body from the inside out as their fiery tongues seared the flesh from my bones.

Someone else was screaming too; the vampire was screaming in rage.

Tears stung my eyes. I need to get to Fifteen. I let out a sob as I struggled to reach a burning arm toward her. Her body was in a heap, and her blood mingled with what remained of the wine. The shards of glass glittered like crystals as my vision blurred in and out of focus.

My limbs were being ripped from my body, and my nerves were being severed one by one. I was dying . . . dying . . .

✦ ✦ ✦

Water bubbled in the distance, and the sunlight was warm. I slowly opened my eyes.

"You're awake." Jammie smiled at me as I groggily sat up.

"Jammie," I whispered, not trusting myself to speak.

"Gingery." Jammie gave my forehead a gentle flick. "Look, the sun's setting. We can't stay out here forever. Your mother wants us home before dinner, remember?"

"Jammie." Tears spilled down the sides of my face.

"Gingery?" Jammie blinked at me. His expression was concerned as he wiped my tears away. "Are you alright?"

I just shook my head. New tears threatened as I gazed into Jammie's eyes. His outline was wavering. He was fading.

As the sun dropped beneath the horizon, the night swept over the land. My vision went black, and suddenly I was left alone in the darkness.

"Jammie!" I fumbled blindly through the grass. I desperately reached out for him, but my fingers closed around open air. And then my body was on fire again. Unable to see, I lay there in the darkness for an eternity as I waited for the pain to end.

✦ ✦ ✦

Everything was silent.

I blinked and opened my eyes. The room I had been sharing with the other young women came into view around me. Everything was so sharp-it was like someone had removed some sort of gritty film from my senses.

I sat up slowly. My body was numb.

Quiet. Why is everything so quiet?

Then it hit me; I was no longer breathing. My heart was no longer beating. I lifted my hands to my face. My nails had grown into claws, their tips sharp and wicked, like blades.

I slid out of bed and made my way to the washroom in a daze. I stopped in front of the mirror.

The girl in the mirror looked just like me, except her eyes were blood-red in color, and delicately pointed ears poked through her hair. I opened my mouth to find that my canines had been replaced with fangs. All of the bite marks that peppered my body were gone-gone as if they had never existed.

I just stared at myself. There was no shock, no fear. Only numbness.

Chapter Five

Bed. Fifteen's words came back to me in a hazy rush. I hurried toward her bed, but then I froze when it struck me that the other beds in the room had vanished. Mine was the only one left.

Bed, bed. Fifteen couldn't have meant my bed, could she?

I quickly made my way to my own bed and began feeling around the mattress. There was a soft clinking sound as a small blade landed on the floor alongside a handheld lighter.

I shakily picked up the blade in one hand and the lighter in the other. I was too numb to even question where she had obtained them. Fifteen had hidden them in my bed. Had she known from the start that she was going to die? Maybe she had no one outside-nothing to return to and nothing to lose.

I buried my head in my skirts. My shoulders shook, but I couldn't cry. I couldn't let out a single tear. After hiding the blade and lighter in the folds of my skirts, I curled into a trembling ball on the floor.

The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway outside snapped me back to reality. There was the sound of the lock unlatching, and one of the escorts stepped into the room. I watched him look around the room almost fearfully. The smell of the nervous sweat on his forehead shoved its way up my nose, and I almost gagged.

It didn't take long for his gaze to fall on me lying on the floor. As the escort moved closer, I sat bolt upright. My body moved at a speed I hadn't thought was even possible.

The escort let out a yelp as he leaped backward.

My lips curled back from my teeth in a smile. "Where's Twenty?" I demanded as I slowly rose to my feet. "Where's the other woman who shared this room with me?"

"She died a month ago." The escort took a step back, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm talking about Twenty. Not Fifteen, the woman who killed herself in the dining hall."

"I am talking about the girl called Twenty." The escort glanced over his shoulder, clearly anxious to get as far away from me as quickly as possible. "I already told you-she died last month! She was too weak and died halfway through her transformation."

"Last month? How many months has it been since what happened in the dining hall?"

"It's been over two months now." As he spoke, I could hear the slight tremor in his voice.

"You're afraid." I smiled even though my soul shattered at the reality of Twenty's death.

The escort sneered. "No, I'm not."

My smile grew. "You're at my mercy now." My fingers closed around the knife I had hidden in my skirts, and in one swift movement, I plunged it into the escort's chest.

He just stared at me in shock as I twisted the knife deeper. The despair and resentment I felt was overwhelming. I finally withdrew the knife, and the escort collapsed to the floor before going still.

After dragging his body out of the room, I walked back inside and closed the door.

I let out a laugh as I sat there alone in the empty room. Twelve, Twenty, and Fifteen were dead. I had never killed anyone until now. But the hatred and sorrow threatening to consume me wasn't something I had felt before either.

✦ ✦ ✦

After what could have been months, weeks, or a couple of days since I had woken up, I was led to the dining hall. The long table that once seated thirty had vanished and was now replaced by a shorter table with only eight chairs.

I recognized the seven other girls at the table and quickly spotted Three among them. Instead of the usual food normally on the table in front of us, all the plates had been replaced with goblets of blood. My stomach churned.

Suddenly, there was a crash, and everyone looked over to where a young woman at the end of the table had knocked her goblet onto the floor. "I won't drink," she said shrilly as the blood pooled on the floor at her feet.

The next day, it didn't take us long to realize that a seat at the table had become unoccupied.

As the months passed, I realized that I had to start drinking the blood if I didn't want my mind and body to feel awful. If I went many days without it, my immortal strength and speed would decrease as well. The blood was disgusting, and the coppery taste lingered in my mouth for hours.

Since I had been turned into a vampire, I had visited the lord's room twice. The first time, he confronted me about the killing of the escort. I told him that I had momentarily gone crazed from my transformation and used the escort's own knife against him. He seemed to accept my explanation, as I was called a second time. Tonight would be the third time, and I was determined to make it the last.

As I walked down the hallway toward the lord's room, I didn't have time to linger on my fear. My skirts fluttered around my legs, and my bare feet were silent over the carpet. The escorts kept their distance behind me.

When we arrived at the door to the lord's room, I pushed it open myself and stepped inside. The lamps glowed in the corners as usual, and the lord was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. "Karmen," he greeted me.

I dropped into a curtsy. "My Lord."

The dark-haired vampire smiled. "You've gotten quite polite recently."

"My Lord," I said again as I let him scoop me onto his lap. Lifting one hand, I caressed his face. As he leaned into my touch, I reached my other hand behind my back. My fingers closed around the lighter I kept with me at all times.

But before I could move, I felt the lord's hands close around my arm as he buried his face in my neck. And then he had snatched the lighter from my grasp.

I just sat there in alarm as the lord held up the lighter. "What's this?"

"I-" All I could do was stammer.

"Ungrateful bitch." I watched as the lord rose to his feet. "Stand," he commanded.

I slowly stood up.

"Turn around."

I was shaking as I turned on the spot. My back was to the lord now. Once he attacked me, I would make my move and fight until one of us died. But I continued to stand there. The lord wasn't advancing. Instead, I could hear his footsteps retreating.

Too afraid to move, I remained rooted. The lord was behind me in an instant. "It's a shame I have to kill you," he whispered. "But you were the one who brought this upon yourself."

The vampire stepped away, and a moment later, I let out a startled cry as I was doused in clear liquor. The smell of alcohol dizzyingly shoved its way up my nose. Just as I made to turn around, a spark flared in the corner of my vision as the lord set fire to my soaking hair.

My blood seemed to recoil as the flames raced up my hair and began to lick at my flesh. Something within me flailed, trying to escape the flames. I was in agony.

The lord was smiling as I tried desperately to claw out the flames. But just as he opened his mouth to say something, I rushed forward. I jumped on him, holding tight as the liquor dripped from my burning body onto him. The lord seemed to freeze in shock as we crashed to the floor. He stared up at me, and I screamed as I clawed my hands into his neck, strangling him as we burned together.

"You-!" The vampire's face contorted in rage as I struggled to keep him pinned down. And in one swift movement, I tore the vampire's right arm from his body. Half horrified, half impressed by my strength, I tore off the other. The fire roared around us as his blood splattered my dress, my hair, my face, my eyes.

The lord continued to scream at me as I tore at him with my clawed hands. Finally, I stumbled backward. I rolled over the carpet until the fire burning away my flesh was finally snuffed out. My stomach churned as I finally saw what I had done to the vampire. He had stopped screaming, and where there had once been a body was now nothing but a pile of blood and ash.

I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't. I wanted to scream, to cry, to laugh. But I couldn't function properly at all. I wrapped my arms around myself and nearly choked as my eyes lingered on my charred and bloodied hands.

"Twenty-three," a familiar voice said quietly from the doorway. My head snapped up, and my gaze fell on Three. "When we heard the lord screaming, the other women and I rushed out to take care of the escorts. They didn't stand a chance. This is our chance to escape. Let's go."

I nodded silently. Ash spiraled lazily in the air, and the smell of burning flesh lingered in the room. I followed Three out into the hallway, and we joined the other young women waiting for us by the entrance to the dining hall. Once we were all there, we walked out of the manor together.

The moment we threw the door open, the night sky greeted us, and a gentle breeze ruffled my blood-stained skirts. High above, the stars glittered among the waves of inky darkness.

It had been over two years since I had last seen the sky. It had been two years since I had last been outside.

"What do we do now?" one of the young women asked in a whisper. "Where do we go?"

Realizing that they were all looking at me, I finally tore my gaze away from the stars. "You can go anywhere you want now. You can go home."

"But how do we get home?" another woman asked. "We don't even know where we are right now."

"Maybe it's best if we don't go home," someone else said quietly. "Look at us. Would our families even want us back? Would they even let us return?"

"I'm going to go home," I said with more determination than I felt. "I'm going back to my family. I don't know how long it will take me to find my way back, but we've made it this far."

"We'll find our way home too," one of the young women said confidently. "Thank you, Twenty-three. No, it's Karmen, isn't it?"

"Actually," I started, but then I trailed off. It was fine if they didn't know my real name. Karmen was the one who helped them out of the manor. My real self had always been back home. It was time to see my family again.

✦ ✦ ✦

I spent the night aimlessly wandering through the grass and trees. The moon glowed above me as it made its way across the sky. Sunrise wasn't far off. I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, despite not feeling the cold. My damaged skin was already beginning to heal.

I looked around at the grassy field stretching for miles around me. I blinked, and the night came into sharper focus. Back at the manor, it hadn't taken me long to figure out how to extend and retract the special membrane over my eyes that allowed me to see in the dark.

As I walked, the sky got brighter and brighter, and I had to draw my eyes away so as not to be blinded by its brilliance. Then the sun rose, and I nearly cried out as my skin began to crawl. Something beneath my skin was writhing, thrashing, and clawing in the light. Even as my exposed skin began to flake and peel, I couldn't feel the physical pain. It was all under my skin. It was as if my very soul was trying to get away from the light-the same way it had been with the fire.

I dropped to my knees in the grass. The light was causing my head to spin, and the state of my raw skin didn't help the feeling of nausea that slammed into me.

I stifled a sob as I curled into a ball. The tall grass shielded me from the sun and sky. I had thought that once I left the manor, I'd finally be able to see the sky again. But instead of the blue I remembered, it was a blinding white.

✦ ✦ ✦

Over the next couple of weeks, I managed to get a change of clothes and ask for directions. The moment I found out where my village was, I raced toward it.

It was night now, and a few hours after the sun dropped from the sky, the familiar buildings came into view. The bubbling of the stream in the distance welcomed me back. I pulled my cloak tighter and slowed to a stop.

After collecting myself as well as I could, I quietly made my way along the dirt paths toward my family's house. I stopped in front of the door. The smell of food wafted through the air, and utensils clinked softly. I could hear my mother's voice. The light from within glowed behind the curtain-drawn windows and spilled out from under the door. Everything was just as I remembered it.

I just stood there, unsure of what I should do. Do I dare knock? I bit my lip. My fangs drew blood, and I paused.

I took a step back, but as I did so, the wooden porch let out a creak. I froze. The talking inside the house stopped, and then suddenly the door swung open.

I stood there in the light as a blonde-haired girl stared at me with wide eyes.

"Goldie." My voice was nothing more than a whisper. I dropped to my knees. The hood of my cloak slipped off, and my wavy hair spilled out around me. I squeezed my eyes shut as I pressed my head to the ground. I heard my sister inhale sharply. It was too late to run now.

Chapter Six

"Gingery!" Veronika's voice was weak as she dropped to her knees in front of me, staring at me as if I were a ghost. "Gingery!" My sister threw her arms around me and held me tightly. "Mother! Father! It's Gingery! She's back! Gingery"-Veronika tried to lift me to my feet-"let's go inside."

I didn't budge.

"Gingery?" I could hear the concern in my sister's voice.

"Goldie." I let out a dry sob. "I was taken away by a monster, and now I've even become one myself."

Veronika tried and failed again to pull me to my feet. "There are many monsters in this world, and as your sister, I know better than anyone that you aren't one of them."

I shook my head. "I'm serious, Veronika."

Mother let out a gasp from the doorway, and I curled in on myself even more as Veronika let out a similar noise. The two of them must have spotted the delicately pointed ears peeking out from my hair.

"I'm so sorry." My shoulders shook as my hands curled into fists. "I should have never come here."

Veronika frantically grabbed my hands. "What are you talking about? You're back. Please, don't leave us again."

"Gingery," Father said weakly from the doorway. "Come. We've missed you."

I've missed you too, I wanted to say, but my voice wasn't working.

"Gingery." It was Mother this time. "Ever since you were kidnapped, Goldie was adamant that you would return-that you were still alive."

"Please, Gingery," Veronika said softly, and I could hear the tears in her voice. "Lift your head."

Slowly, I raised my head from the ground.

Veronika was sitting in front of me, wide-eyed. Her blonde hair glowed from the light spilling out from the open doorway, and I watched as she took in my blood-red irises. Mother gasped as she grabbed onto Father's arm.

I dropped my gaze. "It's a long story."

Veronika gently tugged on my arm. "All that matters right now is that you're back." This time, I let her lead me over the threshold and into the house. She sat me down in my old seat at the round dining room table.

Veronika's eyes glistened with tears as she smiled. "You're back."

I returned the smile. My muscles felt weak, as if they had long forgotten the gesture.

Veronika blinked, and her mouth fell open as she gestured at my teeth.

My smile faded, but it seemed that the damage had already been done. Mother let out a strangled sound and began to weep. "Mother," I tried as my voice broke.

She just shook her head as she hurried out of the room. Father flashed a sad and yet sympathetic look in my direction before heading off to console her.

Now alone in the room with Veronika, a silence fell between us until my sister finally spoke up. "When you said you were turned into a monster, you were being serious?"

"I'm not human anymore, Goldie."

Veronika knitted her brows together. Then her voice dropped. "What happened to you?"

"It was like a nightmare," I whispered. "A vampire showed up. He took me to his manor. I only just escaped."

Veronika didn't push for a longer explanation. She stood up from the table, and I let her take me by the arm and lead me back into our room. My side of the room was exactly as I remembered, down to the flowers I kept in a small vase next to my bed.

"Goldie, I-" I started, but my voice failed me.

"I know, I know." Veronika flopped onto her own bed on the opposite side of the room. "I've kept all of your things here. I was supposed to get the room to myself anyway when you moved in with . . . You don't need to thank me, though. I did it out of the goodness of my own heart, or whatever Mother likes to call it."

"You've changed, Goldie." In the years I hadn't seen her, she had grown from a girl into a young woman.

"Changed?" Veronika let out a laugh. "Between the two of us, I think you're the one who's changed the most."

The candle flickering on the table next to my sister's bed slowly burned out, and the room fell into darkness.

"Should I go check on Mother?" Veronika asked after a while.

I shook my head. "She's in shock, and I don't blame her. I think it's best if we give her some time. If she doesn't want me in the house, I'm prepared to leave."

"If you really have to leave," Veronika said quietly, "don't go far. I'll come visit you. Father will visit you too. During the first year that you were gone, he went off to search for you. He was gone for an entire year."

"I think I'm immortal now," I said quietly. "I died, in a way. My body died, and yet my mind is still alive. But I don't want this. I want to keep moving forward with you and Mother and Father."

"I'm sorry." I could see the tears in my sister's eyes.

I was back home. The nightmare had ended, but as I listened to Veronika's steady breathing while she slept, I knew with a sinking feeling that this might be the beginning of a new one.

✦ ✦ ✦

It took some time for me to adjust to my new lifestyle. During the day, I stayed in the house, helping Mother with cooking and sewing, while Father and Veronika joined the rest of the villagers to work the farms. Even though several weeks had passed, at least once a day I would catch Mother looking at me, and when our eyes met, she would burst into tears and hug me tightly.

During the night, I would step outside and visit the river where Jammie had been buried. My parents had informed our fellow villagers that I had returned, but they had claimed I had fallen ill and couldn't be visited.

After the first month passed, my family began to worry about my blood problem when they noticed my complexion becoming even paler than it already was. Veronika offered her blood, but I hastily declined. Even when my sister insisted she didn't mind, I had to make it painstakingly clear that I had no intention of feeding off any of them.

"How about this," Veronika said one evening. "I just had an idea. You don't want to drink directly from any of us, so what if we gave blood to you some other way? You don't have to only drink human blood, do you? Maybe we could make do with the blood of some of our livestock. Follow me."

I followed my sister to the small barn on the far side of our village. The sun had only just dipped below the horizon, and the sky was still brushed in shades of deep orange and purple.

"Are you sure we should be out here?" I asked under my breath. "What if people see me?"

"Everyone's eating dinner at this time. We don't have anything to worry about."

I tugged on my sister's sleeve. "I'm serious."

Veronika pushed open the doors to the barn and beckoned me inside. "Look, Gingery, there are lots of them in here."

I tugged on her sleeve again. "Let's go back, Goldie."

"Wait." Veronika hurried over to one of the sheep. She scooped it up in her arms before carrying it over to me. "What do you think of this one?"

For a long moment, I stared at the sheep, and the sheep stared back at me. My blood-red gaze was reflected in its large eyes. I buried my face in my hands. "I can't."

My sister set the sheep down. "Are you really just going to let yourself starve?"

I walked over to the back of the barn and took a seat on the straw covering the dirt floor. "I looked into its eyes, and it looked into mine. And-and I can't drink its blood."

"Well, I'm sure the sheep is relieved." Veronika looked up at the ceiling and the dust swirling between the rafters. "I'm glad to see this part of you hasn't changed. But you need to think about yourself too."

"I know, I know." I let out a laugh as I clasped my hands together behind my back. "Look at you-even though you still refuse to listen to Mother, you're sounding more and more like her."

"I think you're hearing things incorrectly," Veronika said silkily.

I smiled, and then suddenly the two of us burst into a fit of giggles. And as we sat there in the barn chatting quietly, it was almost as if nothing had changed at all.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Are you sure you want to go to the town with me?" Veronika looked over her shoulder as she packed away what she needed for the trip.

I nodded my head. "Jammie was going to take me after we got married, but then . . ." I trailed off as the emptiness hit me like a punch to the gut.

Sensing my change in mood, Veronika grabbed my hand. "You wanted to come to the town with me, right? It's time to go."

After Jammie's death, Veronika was given the job of traveling to town at the end of the harvest season to sell our crops. I let my sister lead me out of the bedroom, past the dining room table where Mother and Father were finishing their breakfast, and over to the front door.

"We're leaving," Veronika called. She unlocked the door before hoisting her skirts and kicking it open.

Mother made a strangled noise that sounded like a cross between "unladylike" and "this child" but nevertheless lifted a hand in farewell.

Father lifted his hand. "It's a long road. Stay safe."

"We'll be back before you know it," I reassured them before hurrying to catch up with my sister.

Autumn was coming to an end, and even in the day, the sun was hidden behind a thick layer of gray clouds. This is how I had realized I could stay outside without having to worry about my skin flaking off.

"I don't think I've introduced you to the horses yet." Veronika gestured to the two mares fastened to the front of our wooden cart. "They're both Mr. Flynn's horses-the dark brown one is called Oats, and the slightly lighter one is Sunshine. I don't think the name Sunshine suits her very well, though. 'Nightmare' would be more fitting. That horse has got a mind of her own, but she's grown to like me."

"Still don't have a horse of your own?"

"Not yet, but one day I most certainly will!"

✦ ✦ ✦

Before long, we reached the town. Cobblestone streets snaked among rows of houses, shops, and other buildings. The streets were packed with people, and all the voices rang in my head as if amplified a hundred times.

I followed my sister into the crowds as she pushed through them with our horses and cart. As we walked, I pulled my cloak tighter around myself and dropped my head to make sure my eyes were completely hidden in the shadows of my hood. It was odd being around so many people. Their voices mingled into one inaudible cacophony. I could hear their heartbeats.

"This is the spot." Veronika stepped over to the side of the road and began setting up her stand.

At the end of the day, we had only made a total of ten sales, and when we packed up for the night, I could tell that Veronika was slightly discouraged.

"I never got many customers the previous years," she informed me with a frown, "but this year there seem to be even fewer people than before."

I found myself frowning as well. "No wonder Jammie would be away for weeks at a time."

Veronika shook her head tiredly as she finished packing up our stand. "Let's go rest. We'll have better luck tomorrow."

And as luck would have it, our second day in the town proved to be even more unfruitful than the first.

"At this rate, we'll be here for months," I commented.

"Don't say that." Veronika tugged at her golden hair, but she was losing patience as well. "I don't get it. Just what exactly changed in the past year?"

I sighed. "Whenever something happens in the inner kingdom, the news takes months to reach us."

"Look," Veronika said suddenly, "I think we've got another customer." We scrambled to sit upright, quickly fixing our hair and skirts as a young man made his way toward us from out of the crowd.

There was an easy smile on Veronika's face. "Would you like to buy-"

"I don't care about your wheat," the man leered. "How much for you?"

"I'm sorry, sir." Veronika's smile changed to a frown. "If you're not here to make a purchase, please leave."

There was a crash as the man kicked over our stand. Bundles of wheat flew everywhere. I quickly jumped to my feet, but Veronika was faster. The young man staggered backward as my sister punched him in the face.

I hurried to place myself between the two of them, but the man leaped forward and forcefully shoved me aside. I hit the cobblestones with a thud, and I blinked as I suddenly noticed the crowd of onlookers that had gathered around our stand.

I turned just in time to see the man running at Veronika with a sharp blade glinting in his hand. I scrambled to my feet, but the crowd of onlookers had surged forward.

The young man cursed and thrashed as the crowd dragged him away. "No one will ever want you now!" The man laughed as he pointed wildly at Veronika.

"Goldie!" I rushed over to my sister's side. Veronika gave me a grim smile, and I clapped my hands to my mouth at the blood dripping from the slash across her cheek.

The moment that young man vanished from sight, the onlookers stepped forward. They got to work collecting the scattered wheat and setting our stand upright.

"That man was awful." An older woman gave Veronika a sympathetic pat on the arm. "A young lady like yourself doesn't deserve such treatment. Farmers, you said you were? Selling wheat? I'll buy two bundles."

"I'll buy a bundle!" another voice added.

"And me!" And suddenly we had a long line at our stand. Before we knew it, we had sold a little over half our stock.

As the day slowly faded into night, I finally turned to my sister. "Don't worry-I won't tell Mother what happened today. I fear she'll scold you for being unladylike."

Veronika sighed. "I tried to act the way Mother wanted me to. I really did. But I didn't get people's respect. The first time I came here, my crops were stolen. The second time, I fought back. I ended up with a busted lip, but the failed thief ran away crying for his mother."

"Did you tell Mother and Father about this?" I asked worriedly.

"I told Father," she said as she finished packing up what remained of our wheat. "He said he was proud of me, and if anyone ever tried to bully me, I should do exactly what I did and beat them up. Neither of us thought that would go well with Mother, though, so she knows a different version of the story."

I let out a laugh. "I can never tell whose side Father is on. Whenever Mother's around, he'll try and get us to behave, but whenever Mother isn't there, he'll always encourage us to stand up for ourselves."

Veronika grinned. "Father even showed me a few moves. I'll teach you later!"

Chapter Seven

By the time we returned home, the first snow had already fallen, and our village was dusted in white flakes.

"What did you think of the town?" Father asked me.

"It was a very lively place." I took a seat next to the window, gazing out at the piles of snow beyond.

In the reflection of the glass, I watched Father take a seat at the dining room table. "Your sister didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"

I laughed as I turned to meet his gaze. "Of course not."

"You're telling the truth? When I asked about the gash on her cheek, she told me she fell down."

"Was someone talking about me?" Veronika marched into the room as if on cue.

I exchanged a glance with Father. "We were talking about how great you were to take me to town with you."

"That's right." Veronika laughed as she flipped her long golden hair over a shoulder. "I'm great, and all of you know it."

"Of course, of course." Father smiled faintly. "I'd just advise you not to tell Mother about your fight."

"I know." Veronika let out an exaggerated sigh. Then she looked up at Father. "How did you know?"

"I know my daughters well," Father said with a chuckle. "It's the two of you who don't give me enough credit."

✦ ✦ ✦

The days seemed to blur and drag all at the same time. I had lost track of how long I'd gone without blood, but it had to be at least a couple of months already. Even though I was immortal, my body was starting to feel sluggish and heavy. My mind was cloudy and my thoughts muddled. I couldn't make sense of them and was too exhausted to try.

"Gingery." There was the shuffling of feet, followed by the warmth of a human body as Mother took a seat next to me from where I lay listlessly on my bed.

"Mother."

Mother sighed again as she stroked my hair. "You've been lying here for days."

I rested my head on her lap the way I used to when I was younger. There was something calming about her heartbeat.

"You can't go on like this, Gingery." Mother's voice was soft and gentle as it floated to me from somewhere far away.

"I know," I whispered.

"I'm sorry, Gingery." There was something heartbroken in Mother's voice.

I raised my head to try and read her face. There was something she wasn't saying. "What is it?"

"Jammie's family is moving," Mother said solemnly. "They're leaving our village."

"Where are they going? Is it . . ."

"It's not because of you." Mother shook her head. The gray streaks in her blonde hair were becoming more and more prominent by the day. "They claim that they're heading to the capital city."

"The capital city?"

"Jammie's father knows how to work with iron. He's hoping to find work there."

"I see." I fell silent. But then I felt Mother's hand leave my head, and suddenly the smell of fresh blood filled the air.

"Mother!" My head snapped up. "What are you doing?"

"You can't go on like this." Mother's eyes were sad as she held her hand over a glass. Her blood slowly dripped into the cup. "As your mother, it pains me to see you like this. Here." She held the cup out to me. When I shook my head, she gently took my head in one hand to coax me into drinking.

"I can't." I tried and failed to turn my head away.

Mother sighed as I refused to open my mouth. "You need strength. You've got a long road ahead of you. You'll need to be strong. And how can you walk that road if you can't even get out of bed?"

"But I don't want to be strong," I protested as I wrapped my arms around her and held tightly. "I just want to live together with Mother and Father and Goldie."

"Silly girl," Mother scolded me half-heartedly. "How did you get this way? Are you just going to lie here and let the world get the better of you?"

I pouted. "Yes."

"Come on." Mother helped me sit up, and this time when she lifted the glass of blood to my lips, I didn't resist as she tipped the contents down my throat.

I coughed. Once, twice, three times.

"Drinking your blood still doesn't feel right." I drew my knees to my chest as Mother set down the now-empty glass. "None of this feels right."

"My blood has always flowed through your veins. Don't think too much about it."

I dropped my gaze. I could feel my strength returning rapidly, and the clouds in my head vanished almost immediately.

Mother shook her head sadly, and her eyes were unreadable. "I'm sorry, Gingery. I'm so sorry." A single tear slid down the side of her face.

"Mother." I started, but I trailed off as she suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice shook. "Gingery, we can only accompany you for so long. Eventually, you'll be on your own, and when that time comes, you'll have to decide for yourself what you want to do. No matter what happens, I want you to know that we'll always love you."

"What are you talking about?" That feeling of emptiness deep inside me resurfaced. "You're scaring me."

"I'm so sorry," Mother repeated. "I'm so sorry."

✦ ✦ ✦

It was summer, and as the days went by, the sun took longer and longer to drop from the sky. "Gingery." Father tapped on my window. I pushed it open, and the evening wind rushed in to set my hair waving. "Come out here for a moment, will you? Maybe you could give me a hand with something."

I set down the dress I had been sewing and skillfully leaped out the window.

"Gingery!" Veronika beamed up at me from a short distance away. "Look, look, Father's building a new horse cart. He asked me to help him out, but then the two of us quickly came to the conclusion that you're the strongest in the village."

"You want me to help build the cart?"

"I've been hammering nails for hours." Veronika showed me her rough and scraped hands. I followed my sister to the shed, and the space inside was already illuminated with softly glowing lamps. Father was there too, and he smiled at us.

I rolled up my sleeves. "What do I have to do?"

"Here"-Father passed me a beam of wood-"we need to attach this to the frame here, see?"

The three of us spent the next few hours finishing the cart, and when we finished, Veronika leaped onto it and was now jumping around energetically.

Father laughed as he watched Veronika jump around. "What are you doing, Goldie? We just finished the cart-don't tell me you're trying to break it."

"I'm just testing how strong it is." Veronika hopped down before brushing off her skirts.

Father just shook his head in exasperation. "If you have so much energy, how about you go run laps around the shed outside? If you break something, I'll have to carry you home like this." Father bent down and motioned for me to climb onto his back.

"Aren't you getting a little old for this?" I asked, worriedly.

Father smiled. "Nonsense. I'm not that old yet."

"If you insist." I let him pull me onto his back, then wrapped my arms around his shoulders just like I used to when he carried me as a child.

After Father set me down, Veronika waved him over. "Carry me too!"

"Alright." Father lifted a laughing Veronika onto his back. "But after this, we need to go home. Your mother is going to want to give both of you a bath."

After returning to the house and letting Mother take turns scrubbing us clean, Veronika and I retired to our rooms for the night. We were lying in bed in silence before my sister started a quiet conversation. "Hey," she said from across the room. "Do you remember the boy who used to live a few houses away from the barn?"

"Little Henry?"

"Yeah . . . Henry." Veronika let out a sigh. "Whenever I was sad about how you had gone missing, Henry would be the one to comfort me. When I ventured out to look for you, Henry was the one who came with me. The two of us spent months looking for you together. But during all that time, I still had the boy from my childhood on my mind. I still foolishly wanted to wait for him. Anyway, I didn't realize how important the one in front of me was to me until he had to leave."

"What happened?"

"You know what happened. The king issued another draft. Henry had to go. Henry . . . he was a kind boy with a good heart. Before he left, I was starting to think that maybe we'd actually get married in the future. I think I finally understood how you felt being together with Jammie. I just never had the chance to tell Henry how I felt."

"Goldie-"

"I'm just glad you're back, Gingery." Her voice was tired. "Falling in love is too tiring, you know. Too painful. The fact that you were able to return to us has given me hope."

✦ ✦ ✦

The next year when Veronika and I went to town together, we practically looked like twins. I looked exactly the same as I did the previous year, but Veronika was still growing. She had finally caught up with me in height, and soon she'd be an adult as well.

But Veronika's age wasn't the only thing that had noticeably changed: there had been an increase in knights from the capital patrolling the streets of the town.

That year, when the two of us were sitting at our stand, an older man walked over to examine our goods. "Whatever happened to that young lad selling wheat?" the man inquired. "Is he here somewhere?"

I exchanged a glance with Veronika. "He's not here."

The man sighed. "That's a shame. He was a kind boy. Years ago, when I last passed through here, I stopped by his stand to talk to him. All he would talk about was the amazing girl back home he was going to marry. He told me he was working hard to save enough money for the two of them to live together. Tell me, did that boy have a happy wedding? Is that why he isn't here today? Did he make it?"

"He made it," Veronika answered with a smile. "The two of them got married and got to live happily ever after."

"I'm glad, then." The man smiled faintly. "Here, I'll buy a bundle."

As the man walked away, I turned to Veronika. "Why didn't you tell him the truth?"

Veronika just gave me a knowing look. "You weren't going to tell him the truth either. I could see it in your eyes."

I nodded silently. I still thought about Jammie every day, but the memories of him were starting to feel more and more like a sweet dream I could only reminisce about but never relive.

The following year, Veronika and I came to the town, I was no longer the older sister-Veronika was. It was unsettling to see my younger sister surpass me in age. There was something so wrong about the way I never changed. And as time continued to slip by, Veronika became old enough to be my mother.

Our parents were getting up there in age as well. Mother's hair had gone completely white, and during one particularly long winter, Father had caught a cold that had ultimately left him bedridden. I had hopelessly gone from town to town in my search for medicine, but the overseeing knights stationed there just sneered and informed me that all valuable medicines were being saved for soldiers.

Father was the first to pass away, and his absence cut into my heart in a way I had never known before. He wasn't the only one; the population of our village continued to shrink as many of the villagers, whom I regarded as relatives, slowly passed on as well. Each of their passings was like another twist of the blade already lodged deep in my heart.

The winter was always the harshest and most deadly time of the year. And each year it took more and more lives with it. But even in the dead of winter, the help we requested from the town's officials never arrived.

Father's funeral was held outside with what remained of the villagers. Because of the sunlight, I had to stay inside. My insides felt empty, and my mind was just as dead as I felt. Only after the sun had fallen beneath the horizon was I finally able to to pay my respects to Father. Alone, I sat silently in front of the small tombstone they had erected in his honor.

Mother passed a year after Father, and then it was only Veronika and me left. For a while, the three of us had done the best we could. But since there was no longer a male head of the household, the town knights came to harass us every week. They threatened that if we couldn't pay our taxes one day, they had the right to take our house. The stress had gotten to Mother despite all that Veronika and I did.

There were even fewer villagers left to attend Mother's funeral. Most had either left or were being driven away by the knights, who seemed to think it was a pain to manage our small village and would rather drive everyone away than help us out.

I was going to lose everything, and it scared me so much that sometimes I couldn't even function properly.

"You don't need to follow me everywhere, Gingery." Veronika let out a tired sigh as I helped her hobble toward the river. The white strands racing through her blonde hair glowed in the dying light.

"You're not as young as you used to be," I said as I worriedly tugged at her sleeve. "What if you fall and hurt yourself? Then what am I supposed to do?"

She gave me a look. "I'm not ancient yet. And look at me-I'm just as healthy as ever." Both of us fell silent for a moment before my sister spoke again. "Hey, do you remember how I used to want my own horse?"

"Oh? When are you going to get your own horse, Goldie?"

She let out a laugh. "Come on, do you really think I need my own horse now? At my age, I'm not going anywhere."

The two of us took a seat on the grass, and I rested my head on my sister's shoulder. "You could have left this place. You could have gone out and made a life for yourself."

"But what about you? I couldn't just leave you behind. Besides, you can't blame me for not wanting to wander far from home. This place is my home."

"You're right." I looked around at the tall grass swaying in the breeze-looked at the river reflecting the sea of stars in the inky sky high above. "This is home."

Suddenly, a flash of movement on the other side of the river caught my attention. I stilled. The presence I sensed wasn't that of a human. It wasn't an ordinary animal either.

"Gingery?" Veronika asked, noticing my shift.

"Someone's here," I said quietly, rising to my feet to take a protective step in front of my sister. I frowned as I continued to scan the tall grass. "Come out. I know you're here."

There was rustling as a figure in a long dress emerged from the night. She had pale skin and hair so long it dragged on the ground behind her as she walked.

My eyes widened. Even though I had only seen this young woman during our mealtimes back at the manor, her face was distinct. "Help me," she whispered. "Help me, Karmen."

"Help?" Veronika asked in a low whisper "Who's Karmen? Do you know her, Gingery?"

"Help me," the vampire said again as her blood-red eyes glowed through the darkness.

I motioned for Veronika to stay put before slowly making my way toward the vampire. "How can I help?"

The young woman dropped to her knees. "Help me."

I hurried over to the woman and tried to help her to her feet, but she refused to rise. "How do I help you?"

"Give me a quick death," she whispered.

"You came all this way to ask me to-to kill you?"

The young woman bowed her head, pressing her forehead to the grass. "Please, I'm begging you. I've tried everything I could think of, but I was scared. I was too scared and would always stop when the fear became overwhelming. You set us free once, Karmen. I'm begging you, please set us free again."

My eyes were wide as I shook my head.

"My village refused to accept me a monster like me. My family didn't want me back. My husband didn't want me back either. I have no one left. I have nothing left." She slowly raised her head. "I've made some mistakes. I made mistakes, Karmen."

"What do you mean?" I asked quickly.

"I turned someone into a vampire," the young woman whispered. "He said he was willing to stay with me forever, but after I turned him, he vanished. I'm afraid he's already out there turning others."

"What?" I felt my voice sharpen as horror washed through me.

"I messed up! I was able to hunt down a few of them, but I couldn't kill them. If you don't stop them, the curse is going to keep spreading."

I didn't want to kill her. I didn't want to kill anyone. But I didn't want to see her suffer this way either. "Follow me," I whispered.

When I returned to Veronika alone, I was shaking. My skin crawled as I stared at the blood staining my hands.

"You killed her," Veronika said.

"I had to help her." I made to wring my hands together but then stopped when I remembered the blood coating them.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"But the body is still there-"

"Tomorrow we'll bury it together."

✦ ✦ ✦

According to Veronika, when she went out the following morning to check the woman's body, it had disintegrated into a pile of ashes and quickly scattered in the wind.

Over the next few years, I would listen to the stories Veronika would relay to me from our fellow villagers about the vampires appearing all over the kingdom to terrorize and kill.

And as the years went on, what I feared most began to occur: Veronika's health was slowly failing. The knights had also successfully driven everyone else out of the dying village, leaving Veronika and me as the only ones left.

Now I was sitting next to my sister's bed. Her skin was wrinkled, her eye sockets prominent, and her white hair thinning. "Goldie." I clasped her hands tightly in my own. "Goldie, don't leave me."

Veronika's breathing was labored as she smiled. "Silly Gingery. Look at me. I'm old now. I don't have the same energy I used to. I'm tired. It's time for me to rest. If there's a next life, let's be sisters again. We'll always be sisters."

"Please don't leave me," I repeated softly. My voice broke as I heard her heartbeat slowing down. But there was nothing I could do except hold her hand in despair as she drew her last breath.

Chapter Eight

I buried my sister next to Mother and Father.

Sitting there in front of their tombstones, I stared unseeingly into space. I should be lying beside them.

When I finally rose to my feet, I tipped my head back to look at the night sky. There was no one left in this ghost town. It was time for me to vanish as well. I had a new mission now; stories of monsters of blood and night were spreading throughout the kingdom, and I couldn't allow a repeat of what had happened to me and the other young women.

I swapped my dress for Father's tunic and trousers, and the only object I took with me was the sword he had kept from his years serving in the kingdom's army. Then after throwing my cloak over my shoulders, I stepped out of my family's house for the last time.

The last place I stopped before leaving the village was the riverbank where Jammie was buried. I placed my hand on the grass and closed my eyes. This was my final goodbye to the young man I had once loved with all my heart.

✦ ✦ ✦

I stood at the back of the tavern. My hood was pulled over my head, and my face was hidden in a mask of shadows. During my month of traveling, I experimented with cutting my hair short and found that it grew back in just a couple of days. I had to cut it every day now to maintain the look; it was easier to travel disguised as a man.

"Did you hear?" one waiter was telling a table of travelers, "A vampire was spotted not that far from here."

"Where?" one of the travelers asked eagerly. "What a coincidence! We've been hired to defend people from the vampires!"

"What a coincidence," I echoed. I stepped over to their table, and all their heads turned to look at me. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. I'm also here to slay vampires." I had been hanging around the tavern for the past few days, approaching every group of travelers that talked about the vampires and slowly collecting information. Today, I had struck gold.

"You?" The travelers looked me up and down, squinting to see my face under my hood.

Placing a lazy smile on my face, I raised my gloved hands and lowered my hood. I had spent the past few days figuring out how to make a lens out of a thin layer of glass to place over my eyes. This effectively hid their blood-red color. I had also created a set of fake teeth for myself, tore out my fangs, and jammed the false teeth into my gums.

"What do you know about vampires?" I asked as I placed a hand on the hilt of my sword.

The travelers looked to each other and then back at me. "How old are you, boy?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "Old enough."

The man who seemed to be the leader of the group sighed. "Look, kid, you might have a sword, but I can promise you that you don't know how to use it."

"Please, sir." I dropped to my knees. It looked like I needed to try another approach. "The vampires have taken my family from me. I need to avenge them! Please bring me with you!"

"I pity you, kid." The leader of the group gestured for me to rise. "How about this, you can come with us and we'll teach you some sword skills. While we haven't managed to kill a vampire yet, we've fought off a number of them."

"Really, sir? Thank you, sir!"

Another one of the travelers arched his brows at the leader. "You're really going to bring that boy with us?"

"The more the merrier." He shrugged good-naturedly as he raised his flagon of liquor. "Cheers."

The travelers invited me to join their table, and I sat silently, listening to their conversations. There were five of them in total: the leader, who also had to be the oldest, and three younger men.

"So, tell me"-the leader turned to me-"where do you come from? What exactly happened to your family?"

"I come from a farming village not too far from here," I explained. I caught myself before I could reach up and tug on a strand of my nonexistent hair. "A vampire attacked, and I lost my family."

"So you're an orphan." He raised his bushy gray brows. Judging by the wrinkles on his face, he had to be in his sixties, if not his seventies.

"You could say that."

He lifted his flagon in my direction. "You can call me Grandpa Graybeard. Or just Graybeard. That's what everyone calls me. And what's your name, young lad?"

"My name's Jo," I said quickly. "Where do all of you come from?"

Grandpa Graybeard set his drink down, and something wistful flashed behind his cloudy brown eyes. "All of us used to be knights. I worked at the castle for forty-something years until the king deemed that I was getting too old and kicked me out."

"That's not true!" One of the other travelers interjected. His blond hair appeared almost orange in the tavern's dim lighting. "Kicking you out because of your age was just that bastard's excuse to get rid of you!"

Grandpa Graybeard shushed him tiredly. "We may be far into the outer kingdom, but that doesn't mean you can say whatever you want."

"You knew the king?" I asked curiously.

Grandpa Graybeard smiled wryly. "I was the captain of the knights. I was an orphan myself, and when I first arrived at the castle at the age of eleven to be a page boy, the former captain of the knights took pity on me and adopted me as his son. He trained me, teaching me everything he knew about swords, strategy, and war. After his passing, I served as the captain of the knights for twenty years, and these fellows here were some of my most loyal warriors."

"I'm glad we're gone now," another one of the travelers huffed. "Just thinking about the king makes me sick."

"What happened?" I curiously looked back and forth between the travelers and Grandpa Graybeard.

"The king had a very questionable agenda, let's put it that way." A crease formed between Grandpa Graybeard's brows. "I ended up seeing something I wasn't supposed to see, and when I confronted the king about it, he told me that I was no longer needed at the castle."

"He was lucky to make it out alive," the first traveler piped up.

Grandpa Graybeard sighed. "I managed to take these four with me, and ever since then, we've been wandering travelers, making a living by doing dangerous jobs for others. If you want to call us mercenaries, you wouldn't be too far off."

"Grandpa Graybeard is practically our father," the blond-haired traveler added. "You want to travel with us? We'll be your older brothers!"

"Who wants brothers like you?" Grandpa Graybeard laughed good-naturedly. "Don't scare the young lad away."

"I'm Edan," the blond man said. "The two with the brown hair are Sig and Averi. Averi's the one with the scar on his face. Oh, and the one with the black hair is Mathew. Jo, you said your name was? You're lucky to have found us."

"Come on, you lot." Grandpa Graybeard slapped a handful of silver pieces onto our table before rising to his feet. "Let's head back to our camp."

✦ ✦ ✦

"I hope you don't mind sleeping outside, kid." Grandpa Graybeard took a seat on one of the bedrolls and pulled a very worn map from the sack hanging over his shoulder. At the same time, Edan crouched down to start a campfire. A tarp was strung from the trees and covered the bedrolls, which were placed on a second tarp below. Flames burst to life as the spark ignited, and I couldn't help but flinch.

Grandpa Graybeard looked up at my reaction. "Something wrong?"

"I've had some bad experiences with fire before." I stared at the flames as they crackled and danced. The curse inside me was beginning to writhe beneath my skin. "That's all."

Grandpa Graybeard just nodded his head, and I felt grateful he did not pry for any more information. "Let's have Sig start teaching you tonight," he said instead. "I'm sending Averi back into the town in about an hour or so, and Edan's going to be standing guard. Mathew's going to sleep, and I'll be here if any of you need anything."

Sig motioned for me to follow him away from the campsite. His sword rested over a shoulder, and its leather sheath glowed from the firelight. "Just try your best to keep up, farmer boy. You're lucky Grandpa Graybeard is a kind man. And you're lucky that I pity you enough to actually teach you a few things."

I just raised a silent brow.

"Draw your sword," Sig instructed. "You better learn well so as not to slow Grandpa Graybeard down. Watch me." He spun into motion, and his sword glinted. He was moving quickly, but even though my eyes were keeping up, my brain most certainly was not. When he finally came to a stop, he returned his sword to its sheath and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's your turn now."

I just stared at him. "Am I supposed to copy what you did?"

"What else?" Sig raised his brows.

I just frowned. I could sense a hostile energy radiating from the man, but I decided it wasn't worth commenting on. Out of all the former knights, only Grandpa Graybeard and Edan seemed to welcome my presence. Neither Sig, Averi, nor Mathew had seemed overly thrilled by my addition to the group. But that was fine. They didn't need to like me. I hadn't even asked them to train me-this was just a bonus.

I lifted my sword, trying to remember Sig's stance.

"No, no, no." Sig waved his hand agitatedly in my direction. "Not like that, kid. You just look ridiculous."

"Is this better?"

"That's better."

The two of us spent the next couple of hours practicing. Sig would first show me a series of moves, and then I'd have to copy them. Even though Sig would unapologetically shoot snarky remarks at me, I could tell he was trying to make things as clear as possible.

"Young people really do have too much energy," Sig remarked as he set his sword down. "It's been three hours, and you're still not tired?"

"What can I say?" I sheathed my own blade. "I'm young."

Sig shook his head. "Let's head back. I don't want Grandpa Graybeard to come after me for working you too hard. Besides, kids need their sleep."

I faked a yawn. I'd have to use the rest of the night hours to think of an excuse to hide my face from the sun. No matter how strong I was, if all five of my new companions attacked me at the same time, there was no doubt I'd lose. If it came down to that, my best bet was to run.

"Jo." Grandpa Graybeard waved me over when Sig and I returned to the campsite. "I've set up a spare bedroll for you."

"Thank you," I said gratefully.

"Averi returned from the town. He's found the whereabouts of one of those vampires."

I looked up. "Really?"

"We'll head out tomorrow morning. It should take us about a week to get there. Along the way, I'll teach you a few more tricks, sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful!" I beamed. Grandpa Graybeard reminded me of my father, and it was odd to know that the oldest one in this group was actually me.

"Get some sleep, kiddo. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

✦ ✦ ✦

In the morning, I was the first to "wake." Grandpa Graybeard noticed my movements, and I muttered something about having to go relieve myself.

After making sure no one had followed me into the forest, I made quick work of yanking out the fangs that had slowly begun to poke back through my gums. I chopped off a few inches of my hair and made sure that my contacts were still in place.

When I made my way back to the campsite, I climbed back into my bedroll and wrapped my cloak tightly around myself, as if the morning chill was starting to get to me. Pretending to go back to sleep, I waited for the sun to slowly rise.

Shortly, I began to hear the others shuffling around, and I could feel the heat of the sun as it caused the curse inside me to crawl.

"Yo, kid." It was Edan. "Rise and shine."

"I'm tired, though," I lied. "And everything hurts."

"You were training with Sig for hours," Edan sighed as he poked me in the back. "Looks like you don't know when to stop."

I slowly sat up, my face hidden in the shadows of my hood. I squinted through the blinding light, and my eyes burned.

"Something wrong?" Edan asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Look at my skin." I gestured to my face under my hood. "The last thing I want is for it to burn in the sun."

Edan let out a laugh. "Alright, pretty boy. Just keep the cloak. No one said you couldn't wear it. Besides, it's still freezing outside."

"You awake, Jo?" Grandpa Graybeard asked from somewhere behind me. "We'll be heading out in a few minutes."

I nodded as I roll up my bedroll.

"You want breakfast?" Edan asked me.

"Don't worry about it-I brought my own food."

We spent the day walking down the dirt path. The town had vanished into the horizon. There were no buildings; instead, there were rolling green fields and forests that stretched on for infinity.

When night fell, the six of us set up camp again, and this time it was Averi who took me aside to continue from where Sig had left off the previous night. Even after everyone else had gone to sleep, I stayed up practicing the moves I had been taught. And even though I could have gone on to practice for days on end without tiring, I made sure to retire to my bedroll in order not to draw any suspicion.

The following day, the six of us were trekking through the grassy plains. "Say, Jo." Grandpa Graybeard turned to me as I walked behind him. "What do you know about vampires? Since you've made it all the way here, I'm assuming you've done some amount of research."

"Vampires are vulnerable to fire," I recalled as Grandpa Graybeard slowed his pace to match mine. Our fellow travelers passed us up as they chatted among themselves. "Fire and beheading are the most effective methods to kill them."

"Is that so?" Grandpa Graybeard said thoughtfully, twirling his beard. "If that's the case, I guess stabbing one through the heart won't do anything."

"I'm not sure," I said with a frown. "I don't think so, at least. A friend of mine actually killed a vampire before. We weren't sure if he would stay dead, so we ended up cutting him into pieces and then burned what remained." Saying the words out loud, I didn't realize how bad it sounded until I looked at Grandpa Graybeard's expression. His mouth had fallen open, and he blinked as if he no longer knew what to make of me.

"Why, you're an expert then." He finally seemed to get over his momentary shock. "It looks like I didn't give you nearly enough credit, kid."

"Even if I managed to find one," I said quickly, "I need to find the others. They're still out there somewhere."

Sig had fallen back from the others to join our conversation. "How could someone who didn't even know how to hold his sword properly until a couple of days ago kill a vampire?"

"My friend was the one who killed him," I said shortly. "But now my friend is no more."

Sig clapped me on the shoulder. "He must have been a very brave man."

"Yeah. He was."

Grandpa Graybeard placed a hand on my other shoulder. "We're going to help you, Jo. We'll hunt down these vampires together."

I just nodded my head. The lord had created such an awful mess. And I was unfortunate enough to be left with the aftermath.

✦ ✦ ✦

It was about a week later that we arrived at the hideout of the first vampire. It was a cave on the side of a mountain, and the scent of blood hung heavily in the air.

"Remember what we've gone over," Grandpa Graybeard said quietly, drawing his blade from its sheath. "We can't let him escape."

Edan and I stood at the cave's entrance while Grandpa Graybeard, Sig, Averi, and Mathew slowly advanced into the shadows. And then suddenly, there was the sound of swords clashing from within the cave. Grandpa Graybeard's voice was shouting over the ruckus-shouting instructions and directions to his men.

There was a rush of wind as a long-haired figure shot out of the dark and flew toward us. Its fingers were curled, and its claw-like nails gleamed. I shared a glance with Edan, and then the two of us sprang into motion. But no matter how quick Edan was, he was still no match for a vampire. Edan let out a cry of pain as the vampire ruthlessly slashed out at him.

Panic shot through me as the smell of Edan's blood shoved its way up my nose. Swinging my sword, I struck the vampire's chest with its flat side. The vampire let out an earsplitting shriek as my inhuman strength sent her staggering past Grandpa Graybeard's group.

"You-" The vampire looked at me, and her mouth fell open to reveal her fangs. A blink was all the surprise I'd let myself show as I stared at her. Right here in front of me was another one of the young women from the estate.

"I've seen you somewhere before," the vampire whispered.

I watched as Grandpa Graybeard and the others hurried over to Edan. The four of them were covered in gashes as well.

"What have you done?" I asked in equal quiet.

"Me?" The young woman let out a crazed laugh. "I'm making them suffer! They deserve their fate!"

I continued to stare at her. The sadness in my eyes was reflected in hers. "You've gone crazy."

"What should we do with her?" Edan looked at the young woman with disgust.

"Kill her!" Sig said. "What else?"

I raised my sword as the others came to stand by my side. I needed to end this quickly before she could hurt them. Once the deed was done, Averi brought what was left of the vampire's body outside, but I was too late to warn him that it would disintegrate.

"Vampires turn to dust in the sun?" Averi said faintly as he stared at the flakes of dust covering his gloves.

"Dead ones do," I explained half-heartedly.

After dressing their wounds and leaving the cave, the six of us traveled until nightfall before setting up camp. According to Grandpa Graybeard's map, there was a small town only a couple of days' walk from here where we could look for information on our next target.

That night, it was Grandpa Graybeard who led me away from the others for a training session. "You're a brave young lad, Jo," Grandpa Graybeard told me.

"That's not true." I smiled faintly as I shook my head. "I think you're mistaken-I'm not brave at all. Actually, I'm afraid of everything."

Grandpa Graybeard chuckled. "And it's that that makes you brave, kiddo. Mustering the strength to face your fears is true bravery."

"I'm not brave, though," I repeated.

"Then why did you follow us all the way out here?" Grandpa Graybeard's eyes twinkled knowingly.

"I-" I dropped my gaze.

Grandpa Graybeard's eyes grew sad. "You've suffered, child."

I raised my head to the night sky. "Even though I didn't have much, it was everything I needed. It was everything I ever wanted. But I've lost it all to time."

Suddenly, my eyes widened as I pointed upward. A dark shape was moving across the sky, blotting out the stars as it glided on the wind.

"Well, I'll be damned." Grandpa Graybeard let out a low whistle as he followed my outstretched finger. "That's a dragon, Jo. A dragon."

Chapter Nine

I just stared as the dark shape shot across the sky. It was the opposite of a shooting star-it was a blurred streak of darkness against the glittering lights. "I've never seen a dragon before."

"Me neither." Grandpa Graybeard's tone was amazed. "Do you know what seeing a dragon means, Jo?"

I finally drew my gaze from the sky to look at him. "What does it mean?"

He clapped me on the back. "It means you have good eyes. An old thing like me would have certainly missed it."

I let out a laugh.

Grandpa Graybeard smiled. "Come, let's go train."

When the two of us returned to our campfire later, Mathew, Edan, and Sig were talking together in lowered voices.

"Jo!" Edan waved me over. "Come join us."

I hopped over to the fire and took a seat across from the three of them. Even though my curse repelled me from the flames, I didn't let it show.

"I'll admit that I was a little frightened going up against the vampire," Mathew was saying, "but it's a good thing that she was just a girl. Going up against her, I was suddenly less afraid. And look how easily we were able to defeat her."

Sig leaned forward to add, "I think we got lucky with our encounter."

"And did you see the state she was in?" Edan chipped in. "She was a complete mess!"

I folded my arms across my chest. "I thought she was quite pretty. Just because she looked like that then doesn't mean she hasn't seen better days."

Mathew clapped me on the shoulder. "Jo is a young lad. All young women will look attractive to you."

I just shook my head. There was no use in arguing with them.

"Let me tell you," Sig told us, "the women here in the towns aren't nearly as fine as the ones in the capital city. I think that's the only thing I miss from that wretched place."

✦ ✦ ✦

I spent the next few months traveling through the outskirts of the kingdom with Grandpa Graybeard and the others. We'd track down the vampires in the area and then work as a unit to take them down. Even though we found a large number of them, there was an equally large number still out there, their whereabouts completely unknown. They were multiplying quickly, and our methods were far too slow, especially since I was the one to secretly render the vampires immobile enough for my party members to take them down.

"Another village was completely wiped out by a vampire a week or so ago," Edan told us grimly as he joined us in the room we had rented at an inn.

I looked up from where I was sharpening my sword the way Grandpa Graybeard had taught me. My fingers stilled as I waited for him to go on.

"Does anyone know where the vampire went?" Averi asked with a frown.

"He couldn't have gone far," Sig mused. "Whenever a village is massacred, the vampires normally stay behind to feed off their prey."

"Do we know where this village is?" I asked, returning to sharpening my blade.

"That . . ." Edan shook his head tiredly. "That I'm still trying to find out."

"I'll help you tomorrow," I offered. "The more of us asking around, the faster we'll be able to collect information." Not long after the words left my mouth, I suddenly jumped to my feet and rushed to the grimy window. The sound of running footsteps outside had caught my attention.

"Hey!" Sig exclaimed as I elbowed him out of the way in my hurry. "What's going on?"

"Do you hear that?" I asked, scanning apprehensively around the empty streets outside.

"Hear what?" Mathew walked over to the window and squinted through the cloudy night beyond.

"There's a lot of people out there." I pulled the window open and stuck my head out in an attempt to try and find the source of the footsteps. "They're running in our direction. I can hear swords clinking as well."

"Oh no!" Averi jumped to his feet. There was panic painted across his features. "Graybeard, it's the knights from the palace!"

Sig swore loudly, and his sword was in his hand in an instant.

"What?" Grandpa Graybeard's expression turned grim as he climbed to his feet. He began shuffling around the room as he packed up as quickly as he could. "We need to get out of here now. I can't believe they're really still after us. It's been ten years. We were being very careful too, but it seems like it's no secret that we've been out hunting vampires."

"What do we do?" I felt my own panic rising. "Do we fight them off?"

He sighed heavily. "We can't fight them. All we can do is run."

"Why can't we fight them?" I pushed. "We could take them!"

Grandpa Graybeard just shook his head. "I might not like the king, but I'm still loyal to this kingdom."

"Then we just run?"

"I'm afraid this is where you'll have to leave us." His eyes were sad as he met my gaze. "They don't know you, Jo. They won't recognize your face the way they know us."

"But-" I protested, but Grandpa Graybeard cut me off.

"Maybe we'll meet again one day, kiddo." He offered me a faint smile. The footsteps were so loud now that I was certain everyone in the inn could hear them. "Go." Grandpa Graybeard pulled open the door and motioned for me to leave the room.

"But what about all of you?" I looked over my shoulder as Averi escorted me out into the hall.

Averi gave me a strained smile. "Don't worry about us. Just go."

"Thank you." I looked over Averi's shoulder at Grandpa Graybeard. "Thank you for everything."

Go, Grandpa Graybeard mouthed.

I nodded once before tugging the hood of my cloak over my head.

The door to the inn burst open before I even reached the bottom of the stairs. A flood of men rushed in, swords drawn. They ran right past me without a second glance as they bolted up the steps.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, wincing as the sound of fighting broke out from the level above. Metal clashed against metal. I could hear Edan and Grandpa Graybeard yelling to each other over the ruckus and shouting curses at their attackers.

Shaking my head in an attempt to block out the noises, I hurried toward the door, only to walk into another one of the guards. He roughly grabbed me by my collar, shoved off my hood, and glared into my face.

I flinched in surprise. The man released me after a moment. He sneered. "Get lost, boy."

I didn't need to be told twice. I drew my cloak tightly around myself and hurried down the street. The sounds of the fight faded the further I went, and it was only when I reached the town square that I slowed to a stop. It was the middle of the night, and the soft flickering of the streetlamps cast odd-looking shadows over the ground.

I ended up creeping into an empty alleyway as I waited for morning. But when morning came and I silently made my way back to the inn, it was completely empty. All the guards had vanished, and so had Grandpa Graybeard.

It looked like I would have to continue hunting down the vampires on my own.

✦ ✦ ✦

I ended up spending the next week in the town polishing shoes on the streets. When I made enough money, I bought a map. Then, when I determined that I had enough for the next stage of my journey, I let my hair grow out again and entered a small clothing shop.

When I first entered the shop, I saw the young woman behind the counter warily eyeing me and the sword at my side. "Excuse me," I said, lowering the hood of my cloak as I stopped in front of her. "Do you sell dresses here?"

"You're a girl!" the young woman exclaimed as she reached over the counter to grab my hands. "Let me tell you"-she led me over to the back of the shop-"all the customers I ever get here are those travelers who come and go. It's not every day I get a female customer. Come on, let's find you something nice."

Smiling at her energy, I watched the young woman hurry around the shop and pull different clothing items from the shelves.

"Here." She handed me what looked like a stack of fabric. "You put these on first-these are the undergarments."

"Your hair is so pretty!" The young woman let out an envious sigh after she helped me into the dress. "Do you have a husband? If you don't, I'm sure you will very soon."

I turned back to the mirror to brush my ginger hair over my shoulder. The strands glowed in the faint rays of light streaming through the stained-glass windows. "I'm not looking for a husband."

"Is that why you carry a sword with you? To scare potential suitors away?"

I let out a laugh as I took the woman's hands. "It's not like that. I've got a mission to complete, that's all."

After leaving the shop, I spent the day wandering around the town, asking for any knowledge of the whereabouts of vampires. It took me almost the entire day before someone was able to tell me where one of these vampires was camping out: an old manor in the middle of a dense forest.

Weeks later, I finally arrived at the manor. I spent another few days watching the property to get a sense of who exactly I was up against.

When night fell, I pushed back my hood and walked up to the front doors. After reaching out with a pale hand, I gently rapped against the wood with my knuckles. Footsteps sounded, and then the door was pulled open a crack. A pair of frightened eyes stared out at me. They were the eyes of a child.

"I'm not here to hurt you," I said quietly.

"Are you here to see our master?" the girl's voice whispered. I could hear the tremor in it. I could smell her fear.

I nodded my head before crouching down to her. "Can you take me to him?"

"You're someone like him, aren't you?" The girl continued to stare at me. "You're a monster just like him."

"Can you take me to him?"

"Follow me." The girl pulled the door open and beckoned me inside. I followed her down one long hallway after another. Dim lamps flickered in the corners and lit the way with their dull orange glow. We finally came to a stop in front of a different door.

This is it? I mouthed.

The girl silently nodded her head.

I pushed open the door to reveal the large room beyond. It had to be a great hall of some sort; the ceiling was high and arching, and the back walls were lined with large, curtain-drawn windows.

"What are you doing here in my manor, vampire?" a voice asked silkily. Someone had set up a table and chair in front of the windows, and a young man reclined there, holding a glass of what appeared to be blood.

"You haven't heard of me before?" I put on a smile as I slowly advanced.

The vampire rose from his seat and set his glass down on the table. "No."

"I've heard about you. You steal young children away from their homes to feed on."

The young man let out a careless laugh. "And what if I do? Are you here to join the fun? I wouldn't mind the company of a beautiful thing like you . . ."

Before he could even finish his sentence, I was moving. The room blurred around me, and the vampire only managed to dodge two of my swings before my sword was at his throat.

"You can't kill me," the vampire said quickly. His eyes were glued to my blade. "You aren't going to kill me, are you?"

There was the sound of metal tearing through flesh, and then the vampire's head toppled to the floor with a thud. His body followed shortly after. Grimacing at the blood staining my sword, I set it down on the ground before gliding back over to the entrance of the hall. The girl from before was still standing there, and she took a trembling step backward at my approach.

I looked down at the girl. "I want you to leave this place. I want all of you to leave this place. Tell everyone you see that Karmen is here. Tell them that Karmen is waiting. And here"-I rummaged in the pockets of my cloak and tossed my map to her-"you can go anywhere you want."

The girl didn't need to be told twice. She quickly took the map and dashed away. When she vanished from sight, I turned back into the hall. My eyes fell on the vampire's decapitated body, and my insides squirmed.

I made quick work of dragging the vampire's head and body over to the windows and tossing them outside. When the sun came up in just a few hours, his remains would turn to dust.

I spent those last few hours of the night sitting on the floor beneath the windows, cleaning the blood off the floor and my sword. All of the human presences I sensed in the manor earlier had vanished.

I needed the other young women who were turned into vampires to come here. I needed to talk to them-tell them to stop turning others into vampires. Maybe if they showed up, I could convince them to help hunt down those newly turned vampires with me. We could do it together.

I spent the first couple of days at the manor exploring and familiarizing myself with the different rooms. During my explorations, I found a variety of outfits, from ball gowns to servants' attire. I picked a few dresses to wear in case I ever met someone face to face. After that first week, I spent most of my time in the spacious great hall practicing the moves I had learned from Grandpa Graybeard and the others.

I left the front doors to the manor unlocked in the hope that one of the young women would show up, and to my surprise, the first person arrived at the end of the second week. Sitting in the great hall, dressed in a glittering dress the color of ink, I was even more surprised to find that a human had entered the manor, not a vampire.

I had an idea of how I expected the confrontation to go down. I had pleaded with him to leave and save himself from death as I dodged his attacks, but he had been stubborn.

When I stared down at the blood dripping from my sword, I suddenly felt sick. He had tried to kill me. One of us was bound to die, but it didn't stop me from feeling guilty. I buried the young man myself.

The next day, another man arrived. I had hoped he would leave when he couldn't find me, but after an entire night of chasing me through the manor, I discovered he had died from falling through a section of rotten floorboards. The third man who arrived wanted something different, though. Instead of wanting my life, he wanted me. He died as well.

As the days turned to months, and then those months to years, the guilt I had initially felt seemed to have numbed itself. I had become a monster. But somehow, I didn't mind as much anymore.

Chapter Ten

Over the next five years, fewer than twenty vampires found me. Each of them tried to take my life, but I was too fast for them. The women from the manor had yet to show up, and instead, I got nightly visitors led to me by the allure of my dangerous existence.

"Hello." I smiled over at the young man hesitating in the doorway to the great hall. My blood-red eyes glowed through the dark, and my fangs glinted.

"You're Karmen?" the young man asked.

I rose from my seat at the table and brushed my hair over my shoulder. "I am."

The man stared at me. "They tell the story that the most beautiful woman in all of the kingdom is here. Of course, I had to come and take a look."

"Is it worth it?"

The man took a step forward, and then another, until he was standing in front of me. I looked up at him expectantly as he reached out. As the young man drew me closer to him, I reached out with a hand. I brushed his hair to the side before sinking my fangs into his neck. He didn't even seem to realize what was happening before he collapsed to the stone floor, dead.

After I dragged his body outside, I returned to the great hall in a daze. I let myself drop to the hard stone floor. I laughed.

What am I even doing here?

I let out another laugh as I buried my face in my hands. I could still taste the blood in my mouth.

✦ ✦ ✦

Finally, the day came when the person I was waiting for arrived.

I was standing in the middle of the great hall, my nails stained red with blood. Bodies lay all around me, their swords and other weapons discarded. This wasn't the first group to try to take me down together.

That was when I sensed another presence approaching: a vampire.

A young woman appeared in the doorway. Her long hair was pulled back in a neat braid, and her crimson eyes blazed through the darkness.

"You finally came," I whispered through the stillness.

Three angled her head to the side. "Word reached me that Karmen is waiting in this very manor. They say she's ruthless, yet the most beautiful woman in all the land."

I smiled a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. "Well, they're too kind."

Three eyed the pile of bodies at my feet. "I don't remember you being this kind of person when we escaped the lord's manor together."

"And I don't remember you being the kind of person to turn countless others into vampires," I said quietly. "I need you to stop turning people into vampires. That's an order."

"Who do you think you are? Some kind of queen? Do you know that's what they've been calling you?"

"Exactly." I held her gaze, not letting my surprise show. "If that's what it takes for you to listen to me."

Three let out a sigh, and the harshness of her features faded. "The reason I came to you was that I wanted to see how you were doing. And I decided that I was ready to offer up my life. I don't want to go on like this. It's true that I did turn a few humans into vampires, but the number isn't as high as what I think you were led to believe. I also already hunted down a good number of the ones they turned. I feel safe leaving the rest to you."

"Three." I just stared at her. "No, what's your real name? You still haven't told me your name. Karmen isn't even my real name, I-"

Three just shook her head, cutting me off mid-sentence. "Don't tell me. If you tell me, I might want to get to know you better. I might want to continue to live. You should kill me quickly before I change my mind and run." She smiled faintly.

"I was going to offer up the idea of us hunting down the vampires together, but it seems you've made up your mind."

Three gingerly stepped over the bodies scattered across the floor as she made her way over to me. "You know . . ." she glanced around at the bodies. Her wry smile returned. "If you were a man, people would fear you."

I gave Three an exasperated look, even though there was the faintest trace of a smile on my face. "If I were a man, I wouldn't be here right now."

"You know, I think the two of us could have been good friends," she said with a laugh. "I think all of us could have been good friends."

"All of us will reunite someday. In another place. In another time."

"I'll be waiting for you on the other side." Three grinned before bending down to pick up one of the swords from the ground. "I'll let you do the honors."

"Are you sure?" I stared as she placed the weapon in my hands. "We could still do this together."

She just shook her head. "All I want is closure."

My unbeating heart fracturing yet again, I closed my fingers around the hilt of the blade. "I promise it will be quick."

Three let her eyes flutter shut. "Thank you."

✦ ✦ ✦

With no else around, I was left to take care of the manor myself. I didn't mind the work, though. It helped me stay sane-or at least as sane as I could be. By the time I had cleaned every room in the manor and trimmed every plant in the garden, they would need attention again, and I had no choice but to start over.

One day, I finally decided to take a trip to the outside world and disguised myself before leaving the manor. When I arrived at the closest town, my eyes quickly fell on the travel center. It looked like it was closing up for the night as I entered. I walked over to the counter to look up at the man behind it. "Hello, I'm looking for someone."

The man behind the counter came over to face me. "You're looking for someone? Then you've come to the right place. Just tell me which direction they went, and I can show you all the possible towns they could be at."

"Well," I said as I tapped my chin thoughtfully, "I'm not actually quite sure where they are. That's why I was wondering if you knew anything about them."

"Tell me, good lad, what's the name of this person you're looking for?"

"Karmen." I watched all the color drain from his face.

"Karmen?" he hissed before looking around worriedly as if someone was listening in on our conversation. "You must not go and find that vampire queen! All the men who I've supplied with maps to her manor never returned! At first, the business was great, but when my customers all died . . ."

"Do you think I could take her?" I asked, my tone casual.

"You?" The man eyed me up and down before letting out a guffaw. "Keep dreaming, boy. Go home. Don't go looking for death."

I sighed. "Thank you for your time."

When I returned to my manor, I went to one of the storage rooms to gather materials for a new project. It took me hours to finish, and it was night by the time I finally stepped back to admire my work. A self-made throne for a so-called queen sat in front of the large windows in the great hall.

✦ ✦ ✦

I stood in one of the bedrooms as I changed into an elegant gown. I'd have visitors any night now, and I wouldn't want to disappoint them by having them come all the way to my manor only to find me in a complete mess.

I gazed into the mirror on the far side of the room, and my reflection stared back at me. I had applied kohl to my eyes and painted my lips crimson. I could see that it was the same face as before, but I could barely recognize it.

I kept my father's sword stashed behind my throne as I waited silently. An hour or so passed before I heard footsteps echoing down the hallways. Judging from the sound, it was another hunting party. But as they crossed the threshold, my eyes widened and I quickly stood up. "Grandpa Graybeard?" The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

The figures froze in the doorway, silhouetted by the lamplight from the hallway behind them.

"Jo?" Averi said in disbelief as he squinted through the dark. "You're here too? It looks like we meet again!"

"You idiot," Sig hissed as the color drained from his face. "Jo is that vampire!"

All of them blinked up at me as their eyes finally adjusted to the dark.

Mathew's mouth fell open. "You're a vampire?"

"You're a girl?" Edan exclaimed, thunderstruck.

"It doesn't matter what you are." Grandpa Graybeard pushed past them to meet my gaze. "I'm glad that you're alright, kiddo."

I dropped to my knees. "I'm so sorry I lied to all of you. But at the time, I had no one to rely on, and I needed to stop those vampires before things got out of hand-"

Grandpa Graybeard lifted a hand. "You don't have to explain yourself to us. You've suffered."

I shook my head vigorously as Grandpa Graybeard walked over to me and offered a hand. "You should stay away from me."

He smiled faintly. "Come now, if you really wanted to hurt us, you could have done so while we were traveling together."

"You don't seem surprised." I looked up at Grandpa Graybeard before finally taking his hand. I let him help me to my feet. "How long did you know?"

Grandpa Graybeard's eyes twinkled knowingly as he gave my hand a pat. "I noticed these." He gestured to his ears. "It was the night you spotted the dragon."

"You knew?" Edan turned to Grandpa Graybeard in disbelief. "And you didn't tell us that we were traveling with a vampire?"

Grandpa Graybeard sighed. "It was Jo's story to tell, not mine."

"You could have died coming here," I said, looking at them hopelessly. "You shouldn't be here-I'll show you to the exit-"

Grandpa Graybeard lifted his hand again. "Sometimes you've just got to take the risk. We came here to try and slay the infamous vampire queen, and instead we met an old friend. I'd say that's worth the risk."

Mathew looked at me skeptically. "Are you really Jo?"

I offered him a weak smile as I nodded.

"Where'd you get this place from?" Averi looked around the great hall in awe.

"I took this place over from the vampire who was squatting here before me," I explained. "I'm really happy to see you all again, and I mean it. But you should go. Even I still don't know what exactly I'm capable of. I-I don't want to hurt any of you."

I didn't realize I was shaking until Grandpa Graybeard wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "It's okay, kid. I believe that you're a good person. You've shown all of us that you're a good person, and I'll defend that claim until the day I die."

My shoulders shook as I wrapped my arms around him. "You're too good to me. I don't deserve this."

Grandpa Graybread finally drew back to look at my face. "This hairstyle suits you. I'm reminded of a girl I once knew from my childhood. She was brave and a fighter too. Those were simpler times."

I looked over Grandpa Graybeard's shoulder at the other men. "Are those guards still looking for all of you?"

Averi nodded his head tiredly. "No matter how far we go, if the king wants us dead, he'll stop at nothing to hunt us down."

Grandpa Graybeard turned around to face his companions. "It's true that we could go anywhere, and the king's knights would still find us. But as long as those knights are chasing us and not pursuing innocents, I'd say it's worth it."

"You should go." My voice was no more than a whisper.

Still looking as if he'd seen a ghost, Edan swayed over to me, and I blinked again as he drew me into a tight embrace. "Grandpa Graybeard may think that everyone is good at heart," Edan said quietly, "but I don't."

I just stood there, frozen in shock, as Edan plunged a dagger into my back. The blade pierced right through my heart, and I staggered backward as he shoved me away from him.

I stared at him, opening and closing my mouth as my voice failed me. "Didn't you listen?" I finally said as the blood stained my dress crimson. "The only way to kill a vampire with a blade is by decapitating them!"

Edan just stared right back at me in horror as I shakily yanked the dagger out and tossed it to the floor at his feet. Even though I knew I couldn't feel the physical pain, it nonetheless felt like my heart shattered.

Getting over his momentary shock, Edan drew his sword and lunged at me with a cry. But he was stopped in his tracks as Sig and Averi grabbed him. They dragged him away from me as he flailed and thrashed, waving his sword wildly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sig yelled.

"This is our chance to kill the vampire queen!"

Mathew jumped over as well. He wrestled the sword out of Edan's hands and kicked it across the hall. "Are you mad?"

"Edan." Grandpa Graybeard stared at him. Disappointment flashed in his eyes. "You'd really kill an old friend?"

"This evil woman tricked us!" Edan hissed as he fought against the two restraining him. "We even taught her how to wield a sword!" He desperately looked at Grandpa Graybeard. "If we kill her, we'll be famous! We'll be the ones to have slain the queen of the vampires! The king will reward us! We won't have to run for our lives any longer!"

"Is that really what you think?" Grandpa Graybeard said sadly.

"Let's get him out of here." Mathew joined the other two in dragging Edan out of the great hall.

Grandpa Graybeard's eyes were regretful as he turned back to me. "I don't think we'll meet again."

I shook my head. "Go."

"Farewell, then. I'll make him come to his senses." Grandpa Graybeard gave me one last sorrowful look before he followed the others out of the hall. I watched his silhouette vanish into the flickering lights of the hallway beyond.

Once their presence had vanished from the manor, I dropped to my knees and let out a scream.

Chapter Eleven

I spent the next few weeks spreading the word that Queen Karmen was requesting an audience with her fellow vampires. I would be their queen and keep them in check.

When I got back to the manor, I dyed my hair with black dye I had purchased in town. The inky color reminded me of Fifteen. She would have made a better queen than me.

I couldn't make sense of time anymore. The years that went by were all the same. But over those years, I began to gain a following of my own-of vampires who pledged their loyalty to me. Maybe it was out of fear, or maybe it was because they genuinely agreed with what I had to say. I had made my stance on opposing the hunting of humans very clear.

"Milady." A vampire knelt down before my throne. "I found the vampire you were talking about. He was hiding out in the forest, and we caught him."

"Oh?" I leaned forward in my throne. "Bring him in."

Three vampires appeared in the doorway of the great hall. The vampire in the middle was being dragged by the other two.

"This is him?"

"Yes, milady."

The vampire glared up at me. "You and your following are crazy! Who do you think you are?"

I drew closer until I was face to face with him. My lips curled into a smile. "You turned too many humans into vampires. And you're dead too. You know that, right?" With that, my razor-sharp nails severed the vampire's head from his neck in a single sweep. His head hit the floor with a sick thud, and his limp body followed a moment later. I waved a bloody hand. "Take the body away."

One of the vampires looked up at me. "He got what he deserved. Anyone who doesn't listen to our queen must die."

I let out a sigh. "All of you can leave. Keep listening for any news of humans being turned into vampires. We can't let them keep multiplying."

"Yes, milady." The vampires bowed before turning on their heels and taking the dead body with them.

I sank back in my chair. The rules I had set and spread were quite simple: don't turn humans into vampires, don't take part in terrorizing them, and don't stray far from the kingdom. Even though I knew I couldn't reinforce the last rule, the vampires would be more manageable if they stayed in one location. Even if they left the kingdom, I knew they wouldn't leave the Northern Continent. The Northern Continent was cold-snowstorms constantly raged, and the skies were overcast for more than half the year. The Southern Continent, on the other hand, was a land of sunshine and blue skies-a vampire would never be able to survive there.

It was snowing now too. I gazed at the snow falling outside the large windows behind my throne. Veronika and I had loved playing in the snow together when we were younger. Jammie would be there too, and the three of us would spend our days building snow forts.

After standing up, I pressed a hand to the glass. Nothing scared me anymore. Everything had been lost to time, even myself.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Will milady be heading off again tomorrow?" one of my followers asked. "Or are you back for a while this time?"

The scent of blood was heavy in the air. Another group of vampires had been caught and brought to me to meet their fates. Now all their headless bodies lay in a heap on the floor.

I looked down at the blood on my hands. "As long as all of you behave, I don't see any reason to stick around here. I think you all know how to act without my guidance."

"Yes, milady."

I watched as my followers filed out of the throne room. When I could sense that all of them had either left the manor or gone to their respective rooms, I slumped in my chair. The scent of blood continued to shove its way up my nose as I drew my legs to my chest. My insides were crawling, and my head was spinning. The hatred and contempt from the vampires who had just died were still hanging in the air.

After snatching up my father's sword, I hurried from the throne room. My footsteps were silent as I sprinted down the halls, and the only sound came from the fabric of my skirts as they swished around my legs.

I didn't stop running until I had left the grounds of the mansion-until I was deep inside the dense pocket of trees surrounding it. The world seemed to sway before me, and I dropped to my knees.

Everything was red. My vision, the world, the blood coating my hands. I clasped my hands over my eyes, and everything finally went dark.

✦ ✦ ✦

I was sitting outside, the warmth of the sun beating down on the nape of my neck. There was someone sitting beside me: Jammie.

"Look, Gingery." His voice was like an echo. "We're going to get married soon. Are you sure you don't want me to buy you anything special when I go to town?"

I smiled faintly as I raised my head to the sky. "I don't need anything. I already got everything I need right here."

"Nothing?" Jammie's voice teased. "Nothing at all?"

I nodded determinedly as I relished the warmth of the sun on my face.

Jammie laughed. "I guess I'll have to buy something for Veronika, then. Come, Gingery." Jammie's fingers closed around mine. "We should go."

"Could we stay here?" I asked as I looked over at Jammie. His features were blurred and hazy; he was fading away.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with a faltering smile.

"No." I quickly shook my head and smiled through my tears. "Nothing at all."

✦ ✦ ✦

I slowly came to and found myself lying in a puddle of blood-my blood. I sat up and instinctively brushed my hair out of my eyes. I stopped when I noticed the dried blood caking my hands and nails.

I frowned slightly as I looked around the clearing I had ended up in. The trees were sprayed with blood, and so were the grass and the leaves. I looked down at myself to find that my clothes had been torn and now hung off me in shreds.

After observing a number of other vampires, I learned that if a vampire is seriously injured, they can phase into a sleep-like state as their body recovers. In those dreams, I could see Jammie. I could see my parents, my sister, my family.

I didn't want to forget them. I didn't want to move forward without them. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to leave this world forever. I wanted . . . well, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted anymore. Everything was starting to become hazy. My memories were fading. I could hear my sister calling for me, but I couldn't remember the name she was saying.

I knew I shouldn't continue to tear myself to pieces in case someone found me here in this sorry state and took the opportunity to finish me off. But I wanted to hear the voices one last time before I dragged myself back to the manor. And so my vision went red yet again before finally fading to black.

✦ ✦ ✦

When I returned to the manor, everything was silent. I needed to get out of this place. I couldn't just wait around for my followers to hunt down all the vampires in the kingdom. If I wanted to speed up the process, I'd have to go out there myself. So after dyeing my hair and hiding my sword under my skirts, I left the manor once again.

Locating other vampires proved to be much easier than I expected. The ones who refused to abide by my rules seemed to leave a trail of carnage behind, and I was able to catch up with them quickly.

But as I moved through the outer kingdom, one thing was becoming more and more clear to me: the people were suffering. Towns that had once prospered had shrunk, and some of them had vanished entirely after they ran out of the resources they needed to maintain them.

The people themselves were dying. It was the beginning of winter, and I couldn't help but worry about what the cold would mean for them. As the kingdom expanded and slowly absorbed all the surrounding land into its empire, those in charge became responsible for more and more people. Now I was beginning to hear whispers that the current king wanted to go to war and conquer the entirety of the Northern Continent once and for all.

As I continued hunting vampires on my own, I found myself growing closer and closer to the kingdom's eastern border. The closer I got to the border, the more dead and barren the lands became. Everything was white; the snow had deprived the world of color. This used to be the deadlands between the kingdoms, but now even this silent stretch of ice belonged to the king too.

I drew to a stop. The world was quiet, and there was no wind as I stood there under the gray sky. Where am I even going? I asked myself. How many vampires have crossed over the border? If they crossed and were turning the people in our neighboring kingdoms . . . as the queen of the vampires, I had to find out.

I hoped the rumors about a war breaking out were false. Not only would countless innocents lose their lives, but the larger the kingdom became, the more difficult it would be to keep tabs on all the vampires living in it.

I just couldn't stay here in this kingdom anymore. Devastation, hunger, and fear were everywhere. People were scared. They were scared about the fate of the kingdom, and with rumors of war spreading, there was nowhere for them to go. I wanted to help them, but at the same time, I was part of the problem. Maybe it was time for the queen of the vampires to disappear for a while.

I decided I wouldn't stay in the neighboring kingdoms for long-just long enough to gauge if any vampires had crossed the border.

A single snowflake drifting down from the sky drew me from my thoughts. I needed to choose which direction to travel now. Once the snow started coming down, it would be difficult even for me to get around.

Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at the snow extending into the horizon. I could still turn back, but maybe it was time to look forward. Yes. I nodded my head determinedly. I will walk forward.

And so, turning away from the kingdom and everything I knew, I squared my shoulders and stepped toward the cloudy horizon.

✦ ✦ ✦

I wasn't sure what to expect from our neighboring kingdom, and I couldn't help but look around in surprise. The village I had wandered into was almost exactly the same as the ones I traveled through on my way out of the kingdom. What once appeared to be flourishing farmland was now a bed of dead weeds and snow. Here, too, people were hungry.

"Miss," a voice said from behind me, and I turned to the source. "Are you lost? I've never seen you here before." I looked at an elderly woman with a scarf covering her head. Her face was hidden in shadows.

I smiled faintly. "I'm just a traveler. I've come to see the situation at the border with my own eyes."

The woman arched a brow. "You want to cross the border to the Western Kingdom? Dear girl, you can be killed if you're found. And that's if you don't die in the snow first."

"Killed?" It seemed that the woman had misinterpreted my words and thought I intended to cross into the Western Kingdom.

"They've got knights there standing guard." The woman lowered her voice. "You should go home. This place will become a war zone in a matter of days. Everyone's packing their things. Head east with us instead."

"Knights?" I hadn't noticed or sensed any knights during my trip.

The woman shook her head in exasperation. "Silly girl. You must be silly in the head-that's the only reason why anyone would try to cross into the Western Kingdom. Come with me." The woman took me by the wrist and led me into the village. I let her lead me through the snow and to a small shop. "You're lucky I found you." She pulled her scarves from her head as she shut the door behind us. "We're leaving tomorrow at noon."

I glanced around the shop as I wrung my hands together. "What time is it now?"

The woman leveled me a look that fell somewhere between amusement and pity. "I don't think I've ever met a girl as silly as you. Tell me, what's your name? Where do you come from? Judging by your clothes, you don't look like you're from around here."

"You can call me Josephina." I offered the woman what I hoped was a friendly smile. "Actually, I come from the Western Kingdom."

"Silly girl," the woman said again, shaking her head. I watched her pull up a chair in front of the fire crackling in the fireplace. "Just get some rest. With you all the way out here, your family must be worried sick."

I fell silent as I nodded. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was just a silly girl.

"Does your king not look over you?" I decided to inquire.

The woman let out a tired sigh. "Our king is doing his best. One person can only do so much. Now the king warns that we had better leave our homes, or else we'll be at the mercy of the army of the West. They've already taken the villages south of here. They'll be here soon. A storm's coming." She narrowed her eyes. "The army won't risk traveling through it, but for us, it's our chance to get out of here. You poor silly girl, how have you not frozen to death yet? I'll go get you something more suitable to wear."

"Thank you," I said quietly as I watched her rise from her seat.

In the morning, I followed the elderly woman outside. The moment we stepped out the door, the sorrow and defeat in the air hit me hard. All the people gathered were about to walk away from everything they ever knew.

It was snowing, and I pulled my scarf tighter around myself. I pulled it upward to cover my mouth and nose. At first glance, no one seemed to be paying much attention as the elderly woman and I joined the crowd at the edge of the village. But I could feel their eyes on me.

Then something dawned on me. "Where are all the young men?" I asked quietly. "Have they all been drafted to fight?"

"Do you need to ask?" The elderly woman sighed. "When the king announced that there weren't nearly enough soldiers to go up against the Western Kingdom's army, they all left. My sons left too. And their sons. They say they're going to fight to protect us-to keep us safe. But they're going to die. Look around you. Even though these women understand that their husbands, brothers, and fathers' duties are first and foremost to serve the kingdom, their hearts have been broken."

I followed the woman's gaze to the crowds huddling together. "They are heartbroken," I whispered. "But none of them are crying."

"Silly girl. We all need to conserve our energy. Our tears will turn to ice on our faces."

I tugged on a strand of my hair. "Is the chance of them winning against the West's empire really that impossible?"

"Our kingdom is small," she explained tiredly. "We don't have the same kind of numbers that the West does."

"What about the other kingdoms east of the border?"

"We don't know anything about the other kingdoms." The woman glanced around to make sure everyone was here. "We don't know whether or not our king has been able to work something out with them. Come, it looks like it's time to go."

I nodded silently as the group began to trudge through the snow. There was a silence in the frozen air as we walked. Our travel party consisted of women, children, and the elderly. I was certain it was far below freezing, and the snow was falling so heavily that even I was having a difficult time seeing in front of me.

We spent the next week on foot, and as time went by, I grew more and more concerned about the state of my new companions. Even if the cold didn't seem to be getting to them, I could tell the exhaustion was.

Some of the other young women and I took turns carrying the small children in our arms and on our backs. At the moment, I was carrying a toddler. Her arms were wrapped tightly around my shoulders as she clung to my back.

Unlike my human counterparts, I didn't need to rest. Whenever someone would quietly ask me whether I wanted to take a break, I would just smile and shake my head. This was the least I could do.

"The sun hasn't shown its face for ages," one of the young women walking beside me said, looking hopelessly up at the sky. "Maybe it's a sign."

"A sign?" the little girl on my back piped up. "A sign of what?"

The young woman shook her head sadly. "It's a sign that not even the mighty guardians can save us now. They've pretty much been hunted into extinction anyway."

"The mighty guardians?" I asked as I tilted my head to the side.

"The dragons," the woman said knowingly. "Legend has it that people used to live in peace with them. But one day, mankind got too greedy and wanted their power. They tried to take it for themselves. The dragons didn't want to hurt the humans, so they continued to fall at the humans' hands until they vanished entirely from our kingdoms." Then she turned to the child on my back. "Tell me, do you still believe in dragons?"

"Of course," the little girl replied confidently.

"Then do you think the dragons will come and help us?"

The child fell silent for a moment as she contemplated her answer. "No. We were mean to them. They won't come back now."

An elderly man hobbled over, the snow on his beard blending invisibly with his white hairs. "Maybe the dragons are still here protecting us. I've heard that the kingdom in the west has vampires. Maybe the dragons are keeping them away for us."

"Vampires?" the little girl on my back asked curiously. "What are vampires?"

"Look." The elderly man pointed out into the distance. "You see those rooftops there? We're getting close."

When we arrived at the city, we were greeted by a crowd that rushed us into an aid center. There, they gave us clean clothes and then beckoned us into another room to sit down at long tables and fill our stomachs.

As my companions ate, I rose from the table and silently slipped back into the changing rooms. I swapped my dress for a tunic and trousers, then cut my hair short with a slash of my razor-like nails. The elderly woman was right. I was a silly girl. But if there was anything I could do to help prevent more death and suffering, I was willing to give it a shot.

Chapter Twelve

"You want to enlist in our army?" The knight skeptically looked me up and down. "It's true that we're in need of able-bodied soldiers, but . . ."

I folded my arms over my chest. "I want to fight."

The knight sighed. "Fighting for the kingdom is honorable. But this isn't going to be much of a fight. It's going to be a one-sided slaughter. We're just one tiny kingdom, and if we can't get our neighbors on board, we're all done for. If our kingdom falls into the hands of the West, we're better off slitting our own throats than suffering under that crazy king. What's your name?" The knight dipped his feathered quill into the jar of ink. "Once your name is on the list, there's no going back."

"Jo."

"Alright, Jo. Just hang around here for the next few hours. Someone will arrive soon to lead you and the other recruits to your camps."

I nodded as the knight directed me to the barn being used as the town's recruit center. When I entered, there were already quite a lot of men packed inside, ranging in age from early teens to late fifties. None of them paid me any attention as I walked in and took a seat on a hay bale near the back.

I still had my father's sword with me, the blade tucked beneath my cloak. I wasn't the only one to arrive with their own sword; a number of others also bore swords at their sides or slung over their backs. I wrung my hands in my lap. The lowered voices of my new companions blended together in an inaudible murmur around me.

After a few hours of sitting around, the doors to the barn opened, and a knight in a heavy winter cloak walked in. "Come with me," he instructed.

✦ ✦ ✦

The camp was practically in the middle of nowhere. Snow blanketed the entire world, and the white tents were nearly invisible against it. It was a tent city surrounded by makeshift walls of pale wood. The canvas of the tents glowed against the dull night as we approached. The snowfall had thinned out by this point, and the tiny flakes drifted on what remained of the tired wind.

"We'll be getting more recruits tomorrow," the knight in charge informed us. "We've got about a hundred of you today-I'll split you into groups and show you to your tents. Training starts first thing tomorrow."

"Training?" one of the men behind me asked in an undertone. "The West could get here any day now!"

"The knights, castle guards, and other fighters are stationing themselves at the front lines as we speak," another man answered him in equal quiet. "They'll be able to hold them off long enough for us to learn how to fight."

"You men on the left"-the knight motioned to me and the two men behind me-"come join this group."

The knight beckoned us into one of the tents. There was a brazier in the middle of the rounded tent, and old mats and blankets were stacked along the back wall. It would be a tight fit, but maybe it was good that we'd all be packed together so we could conserve what little warmth there was lingering in the winter air.

The knight pointed to the pile of uniforms next to the blankets. "Make sure you're dressed for training tomorrow, got it?"

Echoes of "yessir" floated through the tent.

The knight's face softened. "Get some rest. It was a long journey here, and the journey ahead of us will be even longer."

✦ ✦ ✦

By the time morning rolled around, the snow had stopped falling. I got up before the others to gingerly pick up my uniform. After changing into it under my covers, I got to work sharpening my sword as I waited for the others to wake.

"Morning, everyone." The flap to our tent opened, and a knight I hadn't seen before walked in. "Food is in the main tent. Training starts in an hour, so make sure you're not late."

Everyone slowly woke up and groggily looked around the tent, first at each other and then at the knight.

The knight offered us an awkward smile. "It looks like I've forgotten to introduce myself." He was in his middle years, with gray streaks racing through his black hair. "My name's Branche, and I'm your commander. I used to work at the palace, and now I run this war camp. You can call me Commander or sir. Whatever floats your boat."

Murmurs of "yessir" and "yes, Commander" floated through the tent.

Commander Branche placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "It's my job to make sure you're all trained before we're summoned to the battlefield. The rules are simple: Everyone here is now like a second family to you. Treat each other well and with respect. Show up for training and listen to orders. If you fail to meet those standards, you'll have to answer to me. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yessir."

"Good." Commander Branche smiled faintly. There was something sad in his eyes as he looked at us. A moment later, he shook his head heavily. "Meet me at the training grounds in an hour." And with that, the commander turned on his heel and exited the tent.

I rose to my feet to follow my companions out of the tent. But instead of joining the others at the main tent for food, I wandered off to where I had spotted the training ground the previous night. There were already a number of people gathered around. Some of them were talking quietly among themselves, while others practiced with their swords.

I took a seat on the snow-covered ground before looking up to watch the clouds drift along in the dull sky. After a few minutes, I could sense someone approaching me. I felt myself tense up, but I remained where I was.

"The snow's cold." I recognized Commander Branche's voice. "Have you finished breakfast already?" I must have looked surprised because he smiled as I looked up at him. "Looks like I've interrupted an important thought of yours."

"It's nothing"-I jumped to my feet-"Commander."

"Homesick?" Commander Branche raised his head to look up at the sky. "I know I am. I've got a wife and children at home waiting for my return. It's been too long since I've last seen them."

"You couldn't see them while you were working at the palace?"

Commander Branche shook his head with a sad smile. "My wife didn't want me to go to the palace. Looking back, sometimes I regret my choice to leave. I shouldn't have left her and my kids like that. Knowing that I'm fighting to protect my family and everyone else is what makes me proud to hold the title of knight, but not knowing the family I've sworn to protect makes me question it."

I turned to look at him. "You could make this your last battle. Once the fighting is over, you could return to your family. You could start over with them-let your kids have the chance to get to know you."

Commander Branche's smile faded. "If the West really wants to take over, we don't stand a chance. All we can do is hope that we can hold them off long enough for our people to flee to the neighboring kingdoms."

"You can still go home. After we win this-"

"There's no going back," he said with a sigh. "Tell me, young soldier, what's your name?"

"Jo."

"I admire your determination, Jo," Commander Branche's sad smile returned. "But it hurts to see youths like you here in our army. It must have broken your parents' hearts to watch you go. That's what war does, after all. It eventually breaks everyone's hearts. Oh, look"-he glanced over his shoulder-"people are starting to emerge from the mess tent. My apologies, I must have talked your ears off. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to start setting things up."

I watched in silence as the commander walked off. His footsteps were heavy as he made his way across the thick snow blanketing the ground. Even though our conversation hadn't lasted for more than a few minutes, I knew I was ready to follow the commander to hell and back if it meant we had even a small chance of succeeding. It was worth it.

✦ ✦ ✦

By the end of the first week, I could tell that my tentmates were starting to feel the toll of the intensive training. Some were so sore they couldn't even rise from their bedrolls in the mornings. From the first day of training, it was clear there was a wide range of abilities among the group. Some were quite skilled in the art of blades, while others had clearly never touched a sword in their lives.

But even with that widespread range of abilities, Commander Branche taught all of us together, starting with the basics. We needed to all learn the same way-we needed to learn how to fight as a group. Later in the week, those who already knew how to fight would be transferred to intercept the enemy army.

Before I knew it, I had already been at the camp for a month. There were at least three thousand of us in the camp, and I could tell that people were starting to get restless. The news we received from the western borders was never good. A large number of the knights had been killed, and the rest were taken prisoner by the opposing army.

"The fighting's bad," one of my teenage tentmates was saying. "I heard that all of the highly skilled knights have fallen. There's no one to stop the West's army from advancing now. Who do you think they'll send out to stop them? Us?"

"They wouldn't send us," one of the other teens said, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "We've only had a month to train, and it shows."

"For some of you, it shows," yet another teens scoffed. "Others seem to be coming along just fine. If anything, they can just send them off to fight."

"But aren't we supposed to be a team?"

"Silence." One of the older men looked over at them in annoyance. "The commander won't be happy to see that you can't get along. If you want to survive out on the battlefield, you'll need to know how to trust each other."

Suddenly, the flap to our tent opened as a soldier stuck his head in. "Everyone needs to go to the training grounds," he announced breathlessly, "the commander has an important announcement."

The tent fell silent as the soldier's head disappeared. Within a matter of minutes, we had all gathered outside. It was snowing, and the skies seemed to be even darker than usual.

"We've gotten an update," Commander Branche announced. His impassive expression didn't give anything away. "All of us are being moved to the front lines. We're to try and stop the army in the west from advancing any further."

Even though no one spoke out, I could tell that everyone was thinking the same thing. Either someone had too much faith in us, or we had been deemed the expendable ones.

An hour later, we were standing in the snow outside the camp in our armor. None of us had gotten a full suit. We didn't have much of anything at all, for that matter. When horses, weapons, and armor had been distributed among all the camps, it became apparent that we severely lacked, well, everything.

"Ready?" Commander Branche asked from atop his horse. Even he didn't have a full suit of armor; he had distributed different pieces from his own set to those who didn't have anything. "We'll be setting up at one of the towns they're going to pass through. Little do they know that it's already been abandoned, and we'll be there waiting for them."

As we departed from the camp, I didn't look back as I marched alongside my fellow soldiers. We spent the next five long days walking and then trying to sleep as much as we could during the even longer nights. I could tell that my companions were restless. I was restless as well.

We arrived at the abandoned town on the morning of the sixth day. Everyone shuffled around with shovels, digging into the snow to set their traps. Everything was so flat we could see for miles in every direction. It was the perfect spot to see the enemy coming. But if we needed to flee, there wouldn't be anywhere to hide. We were practically sitting ducks here-all three thousand of us.

While our best archers were in the buildings, the rest of us dug holes in the ground, where we'd effectively be hiding from the eyes of the enemy.

I silently anticipated the enemy's approach as I crouched in the hole I had dug for myself. I had my father's sword at my side and a crossbow in my hands. We waited for at least half a day, and then there they were.

The army emerged from the horizon. Their dark-clothed figures were like a slow flood as their bodies turned the otherwise white scenery gray. They were like ants. They were a swarm that seemed to consume everything in their path, consuming the snow, the sky, everything.

I kept one eye on the approaching army in the distance and the other on Commander Branche. I could hear the footsteps and the sounds of armor clanking. Even though they were still so far away, sound traveled for miles in the roaring silence.

The next few minutes were some of the longest in my life. Time slowly and painfully dragged by. But before long, the army was right in front of us, and I could see the whites of their eyes gleaming from beneath their helmets. The snow, once been a flawless sheet, was now trampled beneath their boots, and with each step forward, I could hear the ice crushing. I grasped the handle of my sword tightly.

"Fire!" Commander Branche's voice cut through the air, and then suddenly the sky was full of flying projectiles.

There were cries from the Western army as the arrows rained down on them. Before they could draw their weapons, another volley of arrows flew from the windows of the houses, and they staggered backward as they hastily threw out their shields.

More cries rose up from the army as a new wave of arrows rained down on them again. And all at once, they surged forward-right into the traps we had set.

The soldiers at the front toppled over as their feet were caught by the snares. They were sent tumbling into the snow as they struggled to free themselves. And as their companions were momentarily confused, Commander Branche charged forward on his horse with the rest of our cavalry at his heels.

Blood sprayed as they hacked at the fallen soldiers. Some plowed straight through the enemy's ranks. They slashed and stabbed their way into the heart of the infantry before swiftly turning on their tail to make room for the next line of cavalry to take their place. Surprise the enemy, confuse the enemy, take down the enemy-that was how it was supposed to go.

"Go, go!" Commander Branche was yelling as he galloped past us. That was our cue. I leaped from my hole in the ground and sprinted alongside my companions toward the enemy soldiers. As we ran, we let our own arrows fly.

The men in our army who reached the enemy soldiers first whipped out their shields and stood close and strong like a wall as we continued to fire arrows over their heads. We seemed to be making headway until the enemy suddenly concentrated their attack on the middle of our barricade. They pounded away at the shields. Our shielded men were slowly sliding backward as the army continued to plow into them. There were just too many Western soldiers.

"Don't let them break the formation!" Commander Branche yelled from somewhere out of sight. But it was too late. The shields buckled and caved as the men were pushed out of the formation entirely. And then the enemy army gushed in through the hole they created in our wall with a deafening roar.

Chapter Thirteen

The more soldiers fell, the redder the snow became.

I only had time to fire one last arrow before I needed to toss my bow aside and draw my sword. I plunged it into the stomach of one of the charging soldiers and whirled as he fell to the snow. I was at the neck of another in seconds, and my sword split the soft flesh of his throat.

The roar had grown even louder, and the situation had turned to complete chaos. The sounds of blades clashing and people yelling rang in my ears as bodies fell all around me. Somewhere in the middle of the sea of soldiers, I could see Commander Branche and what remained of his cavalry plowing through the Western army as they slashed at heads from atop their horses.

Horror seeped into my bones. Commander Branche was too far away. All I could do was watch as his horse toppled over, and he was thrown into the crowd.

I needed to get to the commander. He had a family to return to-he couldn't die.

But as I tried to push my way through the wall of soldiers, it was almost as if nothing I did could make them budge. When one fell, two more were there to take his place. All I could do was watch as Commander Branche was engulfed and swept away by the flood.

As another soldier fell to my sword, I whirled around to where my companions had been standing moments ago. I froze. What had once looked like a formidable force had been cut in half. Bodies lay in the snow, among them numerous faces I recognized. Some had frozen entirely. My comrades' faces were stark, and their eyes wide with horror as they stood there staring at the carnage in front of them.

"Move!" I shouted, but I knew it wasn't any use. My voice was swept away by the screams and clashing of blades.

Whirling back around, I charged forward with the few soldiers who were still standing strong by my side. We were a dam holding back the ocean, but it was deteriorating far too quickly.

I could hear the screams in my ears. The smell of blood was in my nose, and my vision was as red as the bodies falling around us. Ice and bone crunched beneath my boots, and I couldn't help but grimace as I pulled my sword out of the gut of another soldier. Even if we had momentarily surprised our enemy, they still far outnumbered us.

Commander Branche had managed to fight his way back over to the rest of us, and with him fighting alongside us, we held strong. The archers who had been camping out in the buildings had stealthily changed their locations, and now arrows rained down over the opposing army.

As I continued to slash out at the soldiers pressing in around us, I began to realize that they weren't trying hard at all. They were just toying with us. I could tell that my companions were tiring. Their movements were becoming more and more sluggish as fatigue started to creep in.

Snow was flying, and as the wind began to pick up, the smell of death rose with it. I gagged.

"Alright." Someone's commanding voice drifted to me from somewhere in the crowd of Western soldiers. "That's enough playing around. Take all those who've managed to stay alive back to our camp."

All the soldiers rushed in at once. I could only fight off so many of them before there was a blade at my throat.

"Drop your weapon," the soldier in front of me hissed. His voice echoed from beneath his helmet.

I could feel eyes on me. Thousands of them.

I stilled as I let my sword fall from my hands. Blinking, I slowly turned and finally took a good look at the battlefield spreading out in front of me. I was the only one standing. Blood, dirt, and bodies stained the snow. The smell of death shoved its way up my nose as I looked in a daze at what was left of my companions. Their hair was matted with blood, and their faces were peppered with cuts and gashes. They were staring at me with wide eyes as I was forced to my knees.

"Take them away," the commanding voice rang out again, and then two men forced my arms behind my back before lifting me back up to my feet.

✦ ✦ ✦

I wasn't sure how long we were walking. Whether it was days or hours, the gray sky never changed. The Western army continued on its way, while a small portion stayed to take us back to their closest camp. We hadn't even managed to slow them down.

At first, I had eyed the soldiers, wondering how many I could take out before they could retaliate and harm any of my companions. My answer came to me quickly: not enough. Once we reached the camp, I was certain we wouldn't be able to escape. We had already been stripped of our weapons and armor. I kept my eyes glued on the soldier walking in front of me. He had my father's sword hanging at his side next to a number of other blades.

The soldiers marched us into a large camp surrounded by a tall makeshift fence. There were guards stationed at all the exits and even more guards all around the fence. We passed by rows of tents, and I hissed as I was shoved into a wooden cage with five others.

"We'd rather die than be your prisoners!" one of my companions yelled as the soldiers slammed the cage door shut and locked it.

Metal flashed, and then the scent of fresh blood filled the air. The enemy soldier yanked back his sword from between the wooden slats, and my young companion hit the side of the cage. His stomach had been slashed open, and his eyes were wide with shock as he bled out. I could hear the sound of his heart beating, and then all of a sudden, it stopped.

The soldier wiped the blood from his sword. "All of you better heed this warning. Now keep quiet or I'll cut your tongue out. Don't move!" he commanded as he yanked the door to the cage open and dragged out the bleeding body.

All we could do was watch silently as the soldier dragged the body away and disappeared from sight.

"I want to go home," one of my companions finally whispered. He slid down to the floor of the cage as he pressed his grimy hands to his head. "What are they going to do with us? Are we going to die here?"

Another comrade shook his head. "I don't know, but we'll freeze to death if we aren't moved." We fell silent as the hopelessness of our situation finally sank in.

"I might have a way to get us out of here," I said suddenly.

"I know you were the last to be overpowered on the battlefield, but however good you are with a sword, I don't think I have to remind you that we're all trapped in a tiny box. Don't do anything stupid, kid. Not all of us want to die so soon."

I took a seat on the cage floor before wringing my hands together. I needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

I jumped to my feet. "Where's Commander Branche?" I yelled as I grabbed the bars with my grimy hands.

"What are you doing!" The soldiers trapped in the cage with me began to panic as they desperately tugged me away from the bars. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Silence!" a gruff voice commanded, and my companions instantly went quiet. I just held the soldier's gaze as he approached. He stopped on the other side of the bars and gave me an amused look. I silently glared at him. A moment later, the soldier slashed at me with his sword.

When the soldier yanked out the blade, I collapsed to the floor. I could smell my own blood as it gushed from my stomach. I let my eyes flutter shut as I lay there.

"If any of you try to run while I'm taking out the body," the soldier warned, "I'll send you on your way to join your little red-haired friend." Shortly after, I felt myself being dragged out of the cage by my feet. My back and head scraped over the snow-covered ground. The soldier dragged me out of the camp, and I didn't open my eyes until his presence had faded.

The smell of rot and decay filled my nose, and I nearly jumped in horror as the world came into view around me. I was lying in a ditch filled with dead bodies.

✦ ✦ ✦

When night finally came, it brought the snow with it. The flakes tumbled from the sky and covered everything in a layer of white.

As I crept silently toward the fenced camp, I counted the soldiers guarding the entrance. And then I was running. The world blurred around me, and before the guards could blink, I knocked them unconscious. The guards fell almost instantly and tumbled to the snow at my feet.

I continued on my way, first to the place where I had watched the soldiers dump our weapons. It didn't take me long to find my father's sword, and a wave of relief washed over me. I hugged it to my chest. But I didn't linger there long, and I quickly snuck over to the cages. I knew I wouldn't be able to save many soldiers, but if I could help at least some . . .

I froze. There was no one there.

Just before I began to panic, I forced myself to reach out with my senses. There was a large group just behind another row of tents. I silently made my way forward and then, crouching behind a tent, I squinted through the snow. There they were.

My frown deepened as I scanned the crowd. Surprisingly, none of their hands or feet were tied. Either the Western soldiers were very confident in their abilities, or they didn't think highly of ours. I looked over the crowd. Commander Branche wasn't among the soldiers.

Then I blinked-no, he was right in the middle of my fellow soldiers. The soldiers had formed a protective huddle around him. Commander Branche stood there in the center with bare hands and feet, clutching a wooden stick tightly in his fingers.

The enemy soldiers stood around them. They seemed to be smiling and laughing as they pointed at the commander. These were only a fraction of the soldiers who had been captured. Where the rest had been taken, I didn't know.

"Come out and fight us, knight," one of the Western soldiers yelled at the commander. His mocking voice made my skin crawl. "If you win, we'll let you join the rest of your soldiers doing hard labor!"

"This isn't fair!" one of Commander Branche's soldiers yelled back. "You think he's in any condition to fight after you tortured him? At least give him a sword!"

One of the enemy soldiers sneered, "This is what he gets for leading a bunch of kids into battle."

"I'll fight." Commander Branche winced as he pushed aside the soldiers shielding him with their bodies. "And while these men haven't been soldiers for long, they still are soldiers."

"Come on." The Western soldiers beckoned the commander forward. "Fight us!"

Commander Branche raised the stick in his hands as he slid into a fighting stance. Even though his fingers were blue from frostbite and frozen blood had crystallized on his face and hair, he didn't falter. The Western soldiers charged forward, their swords glinting in the light from the flickering torches.

It was time to move. I leaped forward, and with a swish of my sword, I knocked the soldiers who were lunging toward him into the snow. Their blood sprayed as I sliced through their necks.

"Hurry!" I grabbed Commander Branche by the arm. "I've cleared a path for us to get out of the camp!"

"You-?" Commander Branche blinked at me in surprise through clouded eyes. I could see the snow and ice frozen on his lashes.

"You!" One of the other soldiers pointed wildly at me in shock. "You're alive? But you got stabbed right in front of us!"

"I got lucky," I said quickly as I tugged the commander toward the path again. "Come on, we need to hurry."

The group of soldiers looked at each other before rushing over to where the Western soldiers had dumped their weapons earlier. They snatched up swords and armor from the heap. We passed a number of cages as we went, but all of them were empty.

"Our fellow soldiers were taken away to do labor," one of the soldiers said quickly as he followed my gaze. "The fifty of us you see here are what the Western soldiers were hoping to toy around with." I felt my heart clench. The soldiers that had been taken away . . . I couldn't help them now.

"Where are we going to go?" another soldier asked as we swiftly made our way out of the camp.

I looked to Commander Branche, but he just shook his head. "Our kingdom has already fallen. Going back to our own camp won't help anyone. Trying to face the Western army head-on isn't going to accomplish anything either. The only thing we can do now is hurry to the neighboring kingdom and try to warn them of what's coming."

"Will we be able to make it all the way to the border on foot?" one of the soldiers asked. "We'll freeze to death before we even make it halfway."

"We have to try, don't we?" another said.

I tried my best to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest. Commander Branche was in no state to walk. Even though we had gotten him a pair of boots off a dead guard, his feet had frozen gruesomely and were raw with frostbite. A few of the other soldiers and I took it upon ourselves to half-carry, half-drag him between us in our endeavor to make haste.

We slipped out of the enemy's camp and into the snowy night. I didn't know when the rest of the enemy soldiers would return to find their dead comrades.

I could hear Commander Branche's uneven breathing as he shook from the cold. I looked at the other soldiers in a panic. "We need to make a fire. The commander's dying!"

"Make a fire out of what?" one of the soldiers asked hopelessly. "It's a barren wasteland out here."

"I'm fine," Commander Branche coughed out. Even though he was bundled under many layers of cloaks, his skin was starting to lose its color. "Don't stop moving. They could still follow our footprints. Your lives are more important than mine."

I turned to one of the other soldiers. "What did they do to him?"

"They were trying to humiliate him," he responded quietly. "I think they're intimidated by him, though. They slashed at him with their swords, and then they took his shoes. They dumped a bucket of icy water on his head and then forced him to work outside in the snow. When night fell, they took the commander and the rest of them back to the camp. It's a miracle he didn't freeze to death earlier."

"You need to leave me here," Commander Branche said softly, and everyone's head snapped up to look at him. "Dragging me along will just slow you down. My death is inevitable-I'm well aware that I won't be able to last out here much longer."

"But what are we going to do without you?" one of the soldiers asked, devastated. "Without your leadership, we'll fall apart at the first enemy we encounter!"

"I have faith in all of you." Commander Branche offered us a pained smile. His eyes were sad. "If you're still willing to fight, go to the north border and set up camp there. There are quite a few towns at the border, and that is where the Western army will go first. Go quickly, all of you."

"You're dying, though!" one of the soldiers called out in protest.

"I know I'm dying. Can't you see that's why I'm telling you all to go? Even though they'll have managed to take my life, they'll never manage to take away my dignity. You need to hurry-the scouts from the Western army could get here any minute. Don't let me drag you down."

Silence hung in the air until one of the soldiers spoke up. "If it's the commander's wish for us to get to safety, we must follow his order."

I didn't want to leave the commander. But I had to respect his wishes. Even if we tried to save him, there was no guarantee that he would live. After the commander encouraged us to let him go, all of us stood there for a long moment of silence as we bowed our heads to him. Commander Branche swayed on his feet with a sad smile on his face.

As we moved away, I found myself looking over my shoulder. I took one last look at the commander standing there all by himself in the snow. Except he was no longer standing-he had fallen over.

I continued to look back at his motionless form until he vanished into the night. We should have at least given him a proper burial. But something told me that even if we had done that, he still wouldn't be able to rest in peace until the Western soldiers returned to their own kingdom.

And so, we continued on our way through the snow. The gray sky slowly lightened as morning approached, and the sun remained forever hidden behind the cloudy horizon.

✦ ✦ ✦

"That's it over there." One of the soldiers pointed to the faint outline of houses in the distance. "We must have crossed over the border a few hours ago."

"What do we do when we get there?" another soldier asked uncertainly. "Try and evacuate the villagers?"

"We'll set up camp," the first soldier announced. "We'll tell the villagers to leave for their own safety, and if they insist on staying, then it's our responsibility to protect them, too. We might not be the best fighters, but we need to try and slow down the enemy as much as we can, right? History will remember us for our bravery, won't it now, men?"

The second soldier frowned. "Where are we going to find the material for tents?"

"We'll have to buy it," another soldier said with a sigh. "We took the money from the dead guards for this purpose, no?"

By the time we arrived at the village, the snow had started to fall again.

We spent the first week at the village taking turns watching for any signs of the Western army and talking with the people there. The first thing we did when we arrived was warn them about the approaching army. We told them to evacuate for their own safety, but they were stubborn, and all of them stayed. Apparently, word of the Western army's advances had already reached them, but none of them seemed very concerned.

During that first week, I befriended a young soldier named Mason. With our group as small as it was, it didn't take long to become familiar with everyone. It didn't take us long either to buy what we needed for our camp because, even though the villagers couldn't be considered friendly per se, they were more than eager to do business. After our camp was set up in front of the village, we immediately started digging trenches around the entirety of the camp. When the enemy arrived, we needed to be prepared.

The longer I was in the village, the more I realized that maybe its occupants just didn't care who ruled over them. It was clear from what I saw that none of the people here had much money, and they were all struggling to get through the winter.

"Commander," Mason's voice rang out as he hurried over to me. I was leading a small group through a shortcut we had found in an old alleyway to buy another week's supply of food. "Is it just me, or is it starting to get creepy how unworried the villagers seem?" It felt odd to be addressed as "Commander," but the soldiers wanted someone to call the shots. They had all agreed that because I had used my so-called wit and skill to rescue them from the enemy's camp, I was the best person to take over the role.

I nodded my head. "It is weird."

"I don't like it here," another soldier spoke up as he looked around the alley with narrowed eyes. "I feel like the villagers are suddenly going to ambush us and sell our gear for money."

I turned to look at him. "I'd advise you to keep those thoughts to yourself, lest you give them any ideas."

Just then, I sensed a human presence in the alley ahead of us. I held out an arm, signaling my companions to stop.

Footsteps echoed through the alley, and the soldiers behind me fumbled for their swords. "The villagers are here!" Mason whispered loudly. There was a slight tremor in his voice. "Are you sure they won't attack us?"

I just stood still with my hand resting on the hilt of my sword as a figure emerged from around the corner.

"We're not going to be attacked! Look!" One of the soldiers let out a laugh as he sheathed his sword. "It's a female!"

Chapter Fourteen

"What's a girl doing here?" Mason grinned as he took a step forward. I held out a hand to stop him and the others in their tracks.

"You have to help me!" the young woman gasped as she staggered forward. She was thin, and her long brown hair was in a messy braid.

Even though I had managed to keep Mason back, the other soldiers hurried forward. "What's wrong?"

I just remained where I was as I silently watched the young woman's face.

"What happened to you, young miss?" the soldiers asked.

"I tripped on my way home," the young woman said tearfully. "I think I might have sprained my foot. Does it look red?"

"Here"-one of the soldiers set down his sword and crouched down on the frozen dirt-"let me look."

But just as the words left his mouth, the young woman snatched the blade from the ground. Within seconds, she was sprinting back the way she had come with the agility of a gazelle.

"Hey!" the soldier yelled angrily as he jumped to his feet. "Get her!"

We gave chase, but the girl ran into a crevice between two buildings that was too narrow for the soldiers to pass through. They yelled and cursed to no avail.

"Quick, go around and cut her off on the other side!" one of them yelled.

"Should we join the chase?" Mason asked as we watched the other soldiers vanish.

I shook my head. "They'll be back soon."

It didn't take the soldiers long to catch up with the young woman, and they marched her back to the alley.

"You thief!" A soldier yanked the stolen sword from her hands. "Who do you think you are to steal from a soldier?"

"Please don't hurt me!" The young woman had dropped to her knees. The soldiers released her arms, and she buried her head in her dirt-encrusted hands. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I need money-I didn't have a choice."

"Go home." One of the soldiers kicked her aside. "We're not going to let you trick us again."

The young woman feebly reached out in an attempt to stop the soldier from leaving, but her hand was kicked away as well. She pressed her forehead to the ground as her shoulders shook. "I just want to help my brother!"

"I think I have some money in my tent," I said quietly. The young woman's head snapped up to look at me. I glanced over at Mason. "You can lead the group to buy the food."

"Commander"-the other soldiers turned to me-"if you give her money this time, she'll keep coming back for more!"

I just motioned for the soldiers to step away from the young woman. "All of you can go on without me. I'll see you back at the camp tonight." Once Mason and the other soldiers vanished from sight, I looked down at the young woman. "Come with me."

The young woman nodded before slowly rising to her feet. "Thank you," she whispered.

"What's your name?" I asked mildly.

"Laurelle-Lee."

When we arrived at my tent, I grabbed my coin pouch, which was stashed under the makeshift bed I had set up earlier. "Here." I handed the pouch to Laurelle-Lee. "I can escort you back. I don't think you're very popular among the soldiers right now."

Laurelle-Lee gingerly took the pouch from me. "Thank you. Oh, what should I call you?"

"You can call me whatever you want," I said tiredly. "Now that you have money, let's go help your brother."

The two of us walked in silence through the icy village streets. The snow crunching beneath our feet was the only sound cutting through the still air.

"Have you lived here all your life?" I decided to ask.

"I have." Laurelle-Lee sauntered through the snow. Her mood changed as she talked, and her light steps were like skips as her hair flew behind her. "It's a miserable place, really." Her smile faded as we stopped in front of a small house. "Here we are." The wood was rotting, and the windows were cracked.

"I'll wait by the door, then," I said.

Laurelle-Lee just nodded. There was something sad flickering behind her eyes. After a moment's hesitation, she pushed open the door and tiptoed into the room. Shortly after the door swung shut behind her, there was a loud crash as something was hurled at the wall. I instinctively flinched, my hand tightening around my sword.

"I have money to buy you more medicine." Laurelle-Lee's voice wavered slightly.

There was a long silence, then the sound of coins jingling.

"This is still not enough," Laurelle-Lee's brother said.

"You're dying! If you didn't spend the money I left in the house last time-"

"It's because I'm dying that I should be able to do whatever I want with the money!"

"I don't want you to die," Laurelle-Lee said quietly. "You're my family. But no matter how hard I try to help you, you're not taking my help." The sound of footsteps grew louder as Laurelle-Lee backed up toward the door. "I can't buy the medicine for you myself. I encourage you to go save your own life."

There was a thud of someone hitting the ground. I stood there, completely unsure whether I should enter the house. Before I could decide, the door opened, and Laurelle-Lee staggered outside. The left side of her face was red and swollen, and she clutched her arm in a pained way.

Heavy footsteps sounded from inside the house, and the floorboards whined loudly. I drew my sword in an instant, blocking the doorway with the blade. Laurelle-Lee's brother skidded to a stop. He had the same dark brown hair as Laurelle-Lee, and his complexion was sickly.

"What do you think you're doing?" I said with a frown.

"Are you the one who gave this girl the money?" he demanded.

"And what if I am?"

He just glared at me. "You're one of those soldiers."

"You shouldn't be treating your sister like this."

"She's my sister, not yours." Laurelle-Lee's brother's smile was more of a grimace.

I continued as if I hadn't heard him. "Family isn't something you should take for granted." Then I turned to look at Laurelle-Lee. A silent tear trickled from her eye and slid over her swelling cheek.

I gave her brother a warning look before lowering my sword. After I returned it to its sheath, I motioned for Laurelle-Lee to follow me. The two of us walked away from the house and down the path hidden beneath layers of snow.

We walked without speaking for a while until I finally broke the silence. "You're brother doesn't appreciate you. Why do you still risk your life to help him?"

Laurelle-Lee clasped her hands behind her back as she looked up at the cloudy sky. "It was my brother who kept me alive when I was younger. Once I repay him, we'll be even. I never asked to be here, though. This life is a cold and lonely existence."

"Why are you still here, then?" I asked softly. "After death, there is no more pain."

Laurelle-Lee offered me a sad smile. "I know. But I've done a lot of thinking over the years. What's the purpose of human existence? What's the meaning of life? And I answered myself: the purpose of human existence is survival. The purpose of human life is to reproduce and keep the human race alive. But I always felt that there has to be more to life than that. I just need to stay alive long enough to figure out what it is. I want to believe there's more to life than this."

By the time we arrived back at the camp, the sun had fully dropped from the sky. The gray clouds were getting even darker as they were engulfed in the night. "Hey!" someone called. "The commander's back!"

"He's still got that girl with him too!" another pointed out angrily. "She's a thief!"

"She has nowhere to go right now," I said, exasperated, as I looked around at the soldiers. "She'll be staying with me for the time being."

"But-" the soldiers protested.

One of the soldiers hurried over to me. It was Mason. "Commander, we've stored all the food away." Mason then turned to look at Laurelle-Lee, and his expression changed to a frown. Before he could comment, I started walking again, and Laurelle-Lee quickly trailed after me.

I lowered my voice as I motioned for Laurelle-Lee to follow me into my tent. "Don't mind them."

"Are you sure I can stay?" Laurelle-Lee replied in equal quiet. "I don't want to bother you."

"If you go back to your brother, who says he won't hit you again?" I sighed as I let the flap of the tent fall shut behind us. "You're welcome to stay here at the camp as long as you want."

"Thank you," Laurelle-Lee whispered.

I took a step forward. "Here, let me take a look at your arm-"

Laurelle-Lee quickly took a step away from me. Her posture was tense and alert.

I stopped in my tracks. Laurelle-Lee had every right and reason to be wary of me. "I'm sorry," I apologized as I hastily retraced my steps. "I'll let you do it yourself-there are bandages in the box in the corner."

She nodded silently.

I walked away from her and took a seat on the wooden stool on the other side of the tent. After drawing my sword from its sheath, I got to work sharpening it. "How's your wound?" I asked. I stared blankly at the canvas in front of me while Laurelle-Lee rustled with the bandages behind me.

Laurelle-Lee's voice was tired. "It's just a flesh wound. My brother hit me with a broken bottle. After I clean it, it should be fine."

It was my turn to nod.

"What's your name?"

I glanced over my shoulder. "You can call me Jo, if you'd like."

"Okay." Laurelle-Lee shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself.

I set my sword down. "Are you cold?"

Laurelle-Lee rubbed her palms together. "A little bit. You don't feel it? I think the temperature inside your tent is colder than outside."

I blinked. She was right, though-I had never lit a fire in my tent before. Since the cold didn't affect me, it had never crossed my mind to start one. I hastily hurried over to the brazier in the middle of the tent to get a fire started. "I'm sorry-I think I've just gotten so used to the cold."

"Don't get too used to it," Laurelle-Lee said lightly. "The moment you get too used to the cold is the moment you end up freezing to death."

The brazier in front of me flickered to life as the spark I created blossomed into flames. "I'll go get you something to eat."

Laurelle-Lee shook her head. "I'm not hungry." Her eyes were still watching my movements. "I'm just tired, actually."

"You can have the bed if you'd like." I gestured to the makeshift bed pressed against the back wall of the tent. "If you don't feel comfortable with that, you're welcome to take the blankets off and sleep on the floor. I'll be out for most of the night. Don't worry, the soldiers won't enter my tent." Laurelle-Lee nodded silently as she watched me return my sword to its sheath. I paused at the flap of the tent to look back at her. "If anything does happen, shout. I'll be close enough to hear you." And with that said, I stepped out into the snow.

"Commander!" A group of soldiers immediately hurried over to me. "Who is that girl? The others were saying that she's a thief. Is it true?"

"She's someone who needs help and a safe place to stay for the night," I explained. "We need to be on guard against our enemy, but if the people we're trying to protect are getting hurt in other ways, I don't think it's wrong to intervene."

I absentmindedly clasped my hands behind my back as I turned toward the rest of our camp. I planned to look for Mason and ask if he'd be willing to keep an eye on Laurelle-Lee's brother.

My fellow soldiers saluted as I walked by them, and I dipped my head in acknowledgment as I continued on my way. Soon I found Mason, and after speaking with him, I was on my way to my post.

I leaped up and took a seat on the fence we had erected around the backside of our camp. It was another starless night, and as I stared off into the distance, I found myself thinking about my sister, Veronika. I thought about my parents-and Jammie. It had been a while since I had thought about them. What would they think of me now? Would they be scared for me? Disappointed? Proud? Angry? But they didn't need to think of me now. They didn't need to think of anything. They had left this world-moved on to a better place. And I missed them.

I left my post just before the sky began to lighten. The clouds were still there, and the sun was never quite able to penetrate the immovable blanket that stretched on forever.

When I reached my tent, I silently opened the flap and walked inside. Laurelle-Lee was lying on the floor under a pile of blankets. Even though she didn't move when I entered the tent, I could tell that she was awake. She probably hadn't slept at all, but I didn't comment as I walked over to the brazier. I took a seat in front of it and checked the fire. Something underneath my skin crawled and screeched as I attended the flames.

Laurelle-Lee slowly sat up and took a seat by the brazier.

"Hey." I looked over at her.

Laurelle-Lee raised her gaze to meet mine. "Hey."

"You should eat something. The soldiers will be eating breakfast in a couple of hours when they wake up. If you want something, now would probably be the best time to get food."

Laurelle-Lee raised her head. "How much do I owe you for this?"

"You don't owe me anything."

"People don't do nice things without a reason," she said knowingly. "It's a bit hard to trust anything you say."

"You're tired," I said shortly. My gaze fell on the dark circles that had developed under her eyes. "I'll leave you to rest."

"Jo," she said suddenly. I slowed to a stop in front of the tent flap and turned in surprise to find Laurelle-Lee looking at me, her head tilted to the side. "That's not your real name, am I right?"

Chapter Fifteen

"What?" I was completely caught off guard by Laurelle-Lee's remark. "I'm sorry?"

"I can tell that Jo is not your name," she said lightly.

I walked back over to the brazier and sat down to look at Laurelle-Lee. "What makes you think that?"

The smallest trace of a smile played on Laurelle-Lee's lips. "Based on your reaction. But you could say it was a lucky guess."

"And what if you're wrong? What if Jo really is my name?"

"Then I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for offending you-blame it on the tiredness of my current state."

"Have you been to school?" I decided to change the topic after a long pause.

Laurelle-Lee rested her chin on the palms of her hands. "I was sent to school with my brother when I was five and he was nine. A teacher had just moved into a town not so far from here. I don't think my parents were very happy with the idea of me going to school, but they preferred it to having me hang around in the house.

"After some time, my brother didn't want me to learn anymore and forbade me from entering the school. He claimed he was doing it for my own good, but I think it was because he looked bad in class whenever he was compared to me. So yes, I did go to school."

"Was the school the farthest you've been from this town?"

"Yes." Laurelle-Lee closed her eyes, and her hair tumbled off her shoulders as she leaned back. "It's a shame to know that the world's so big, but all I'll ever be able to see is this small piece of it."

"Have you tried to leave before? You could leave this place and travel the world-find someplace where the sun is always shining and where the snow is nothing more than a distant memory."

"I've dreamed of it sometimes," Laurelle-Lee recalled wistfully. "I've dreamed of walking out of this village, of walking all the way to where the snow ends. But just before I can look up and see the clear sky, I wake up, and it all fades away. Tell me, Commander," she slowly opened her eyes, "have you seen the sky?"

"I have. A very, very, long time ago. But it's been too long. I can still remember the colors-I just no longer have the words to describe them."

"Did you have a school back where you came from?" I could tell Laurelle-Lee was watching my averted gaze as she quickly changed the topic.

"There was no real school. My mother taught both me and my sister the same things at the same time."

"You have a sister? You must have been making sure that no harm ever came to her," Laurelle-Lee said confidently.

I laughed. "Actually, she was the one who was always protecting me."

"Really?" Laurelle-Lee's eyes brightened. "What's she like?"

"She was always very energetic." I found myself smiling. "She was never afraid to speak her mind and was always willing to do anything she could to help everyone out."

"Was?" Laurelle-Lee's smile faltered.

"She's gone," I said shortly.

"Oh." Laurelle-Lee fell silent as she clenched her hands in her lap.

My gaze returned to the glowing flames. "They're all gone now."

✦ ✦ ✦

I spent the morning, as I always did, instructing my fellow soldiers on how to use their swords. Although Commander Branche had managed to teach them the basics, they were still more unprepared to face any enemy than I would have liked. Even though I was no master myself, I patiently walked them through the steps Grandpa Graybeard and his company had shown me all those years ago. At least it was a start.

While the soldiers broke for lunch, I returned to my tent to check in on Laurelle-Lee. When I walked in, she was fast asleep next to the brazier. The light from the dying flames painted her hair in fiery orange. Making sure my steps were silent, I briefly checked the fire, then added fresh kindling before exiting the tent just as quietly as I had entered.

I spent the rest of the afternoon patrolling the area around the edge of the camp and watching the distant horizon for any signs of movement. In our position, there was no way the enemy army could spring a surprise attack on us. The stretch of land in front of us was flat snow for miles. But while they couldn't surprise us, they could very well walk straight up to our camp, and there'd be nothing we could do to stop them. We'd see them approaching days before they'd even be in firing range.

I watched the snow gently float down from the sky. From what I observed in the eastern kingdoms, their kings didn't seem much better at taking care of their subjects' needs than the one ruling the west. But there had to be something different, because when I looked at the soldiers in the camp, I could see the determination written on their faces. They were willing to fight for their kingdom and sacrifice themselves to keep the West from taking over their homeland. It was that purpose-that drive-that made me want to keep fighting alongside them.

✦ ✦ ✦

"What happened?" Laurelle-Lee asked as I entered the tent. Her eyes immediately went to the blood on my sleeve.

"Nothing." I sat down in front of the brazier. "I went hunting, and the kill wasn't as clean as I would have liked, that's all." That was mostly true-I still needed blood to sustain myself, and the fox I hunted down this time put up a fight.

"Oh." Laurelle-Lee fell silent.

I turned to look at her. "Is everything alright?"

"I-I just don't understand." Laurelle-Lee sat down on the opposite side of the brazier. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

I offered Laurelle-Lee a small smile. "Shouldn't people be nice to each other?"

"Do you think I'm going to take advantage of you?" Laurelle-Lee asked mildly.

"What? You don't think I'm going to take advantage of you?"

Laurelle-Lee shook her head. "You won't. I can tell that you're a good person."

I let out a laugh. "I might be many things, but a good person is not one of them. I've killed a lot of people."

"Soldiers are bound to have blood on their hands."

"The blood on my hands isn't clean. I'm not proud of it. It's a cold world, but I'm staying alive."

"Even though it's hard, you still want to live?"

"It's for the same reason as you, I suppose. I want to believe there's more to life than this."

She held my gaze. "Then maybe after the war, maybe after all the fighting ends, we could search for it together."

"I'd love to!" I beamed, and my face melted into a smile.

Laurelle-Lee's eyes sparkled. "Then it's a deal."

"It's a deal."

"So what happens now?" Laurelle-Lee asked.

I sighed as my smile slowly faded. "We stay here and fight till the end."

"Something tells me that since you're still alive today, you won't die that easily." Then she turned to me. "Commander, what do you think will happen if the Western Kingdom takes over? For the people like us who already have close to nothing, nothing will change with the shift of powers."

"I think things will change," I said grimly. "If the king takes over everything, who is to stop him from wanting to expand even further? Who will stop him then if he wants to send an army overseas to take over the southern continent as well? He'll be able to draft everyone here into his pointless wars as well. The soldiers here . . . their resolve is strong, and they're willing to give their all if we ever encounter the West again. The enemy is going to pass through here at one point or another. This is the only route to the capital, and they can't avoid us. Otherwise, they'll be running into the mountains behind us. With all their armor and supplies, they're not climbing over them."

Laurelle-Lee tugged on a strand of hair. "The mountains are practically sheer blocks of stone and ice. You're right: if they want to take this kingdom, they'll have to pass through this village."

"We'll see anyone who approaches from miles away," I said darkly. "And they'll see us. There's no hiding or running. I don't get it-we've been camping out here for some time now, and there's no sign of any reinforcements."

"Since you're new here, you might not know this about the king, but he's convinced that everything is going fine." Laurelle-Lee rolled her eyes. "He won't listen to anything that will damage the image he has of himself as our perfect leader." She stood up and brushed off her skirts. "I can tell you have good intentions, Commander. I'm grateful for your help, truly."

I rose to my feet as well. "I should go check in with my scouts." I walked over to the tent flap before stopping to look over my shoulder at Laurelle-Lee. "Are you sure you're alright with staying inside all day?"

"It's warm in here," Laurelle-Lee said mildly. "And I can finally rest without having to worry about where I might find myself when I wake up. My brother would kick me out of the house at night, you see. I hope you don't mind me staying out of the snow for another couple of days."

"You can stay as long as you want. I don't mind the company."

Laurelle-Lee smiled.

"Commander!" Mason rushed over to me when I emerged from my tent. He was completely out of breath as he skidded to a stop. "Commander, the enemy has been spotted!"

"The enemy?" I asked quickly, my fingers tightening around my sword. "Tell me what you saw."

"The enemy is starting to send scouts this way," Mason panted. "There were only five of them, but when they saw Robyn and me, they started shooting at us. We shot back and managed to get four of them, but then Robyn got an arrow in his arm, and the fifth one got away! What do we do, Commander?" Mason asked in a rising panic. "If they bring their whole army, there's no way we can stop them!"

I willed myself to loosen my grip on my sword. I needed to be calm-calm and thoughtful, as Commander Branche had always been. "We've been setting up traps and defense mechanisms for the past few weeks, haven't we? With all the armor they're wearing, they won't be able to climb out of the trenches we've dug unless they discard it completely. We've been at a disadvantage from the start, but we won't sit and wait for death. The longer we hold them off, the more time this kingdom-and the others behind it-will have to get their act together."

Mason saluted determinedly as some of the color returned to his blood-drained face. "Yessir!"

Once he was gone, I made my way outside the camp to check on the progress of our defenses.

"Commander!" The soldiers saluted me as I dropped into the snowy trench. I picked up one of the spare shovels lying discarded on the ground.

"Really good work, everyone," I complimented them as I looked around. "Are we working on this section here?" I joined the soldiers, shoveling away a fresh layer of snow that had likely settled the previous night. "Let me help you."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Is the enemy going to attack?" Laurelle-Lee asked as I returned to my tent late that night.

I shook my head as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "No one can say for sure what the enemy's doing. Even though the soldiers are volunteering, I don't want to send them out more than a few miles from here at most. We can't afford to lose anyone. I'm doing whatever I can to keep them alive."

"Should the villagers be evacuated?" Laurelle-Lee watched as I took a seat in front of the brazier.

"We told them when we arrived that they should leave for their own safety," I recalled. "But all of them are still here."

"I'd offer to help convince them to leave, but I doubt they'd listen to me either."

"I know they couldn't care less about who rules over them, but they could still get caught up in the fighting. Innocent lives could be lost."

Laurelle-Lee angled her head to the side as she changed the topic. "When do you have time to even sleep? You have an entire tent to yourself, but I don't think I've ever seen you actually sleep in here."

"I-" I started, caught off guard. It was an innocent question, but the longer we stayed here together, the more likely it was that Laurelle-Lee would start to suspect that I wasn't human.

Chapter Sixteen

"Commander?" Laurelle-Lee asked hesitantly. "Is everything alright?"

I quickly stood up. "I'm feeling a little tired."

I could feel Laurelle-Lee's eyes on my back as I crawled into bed. I curled up, staring at the blank canvas walls of the tent. Eventually, I heard her lie down on the floor, followed by the soft rustling of blankets. The sound of the flames crackling in the brazier mingled with the steady beating of Laurelle-Lee's heart.

It was another hour or so before Laurelle-Lee finally fell asleep. I sat up and silently slid out of bed. But just as I tiptoed over to the tent flap, Laurelle-Lee suddenly stirred. I froze as I turned to look over my shoulder at her. She was having a nightmare of some sort; her brows were furrowed, and her eyes were moving rapidly beneath their lids.

I knelt down to gently prod her with the hilt of my sword. "You're having a nightmare."

Laurelle-Lee's eyes snapped open. Her gaze went from me to my sword and then back again.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Laurelle-Lee drew her knees to her chest. "I have these dreams a lot. Sometimes, I dream that I'm walking forever. I dream that no matter how far I walk, the snow never ends. I dream that it's winter forever, and when the snow finally thaws, I melt away with it. I'm glad you woke me. Sometimes, when I'm dreaming, I can't wake. It's been like that for as long as I can remember."

"Your family didn't help you at all?"

"Not everyone's family is perfect." Laurelle-Lee tipped her head back to stare wistfully at the roof of the tent. "I figured out that loving and caring parents were something to stop wishing for a long time ago. After my parents left, I used to wish my brother would care about me, but we can't have everything we wish for, can we?"

I looked over at Laurelle-Lee. "I had a younger sister once. You could be my new sister."

"I've always wanted to be an older sister." Laurelle-Lee's eyes danced with laughter as she smiled. "How old did you say you were again, Commander?"

"My age isn't something I like to disclose," I said knowingly.

Laurelle-Lee laughed. "It's settled, then. You'll be my younger brother. We're family now."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Then Laurelle-Lee tilted her head to the side. "What are you doing awake now anyway?"

"I was going to go outside. I should check on the soldiers."

"But what about you?" Laurelle-Lee stood up before brushing invisible specks of dust from her skirt. "How are you still alive with the amount of sleep you get? You're going to wear yourself out before the enemy even arrives. Go to sleep."

"Alright, alright. I'll listen to you." I returned to my bed. I stared at the blank canvas walls for a moment before finally shutting my eyes.

And so, for the first time since I had arrived at the camp, I spent the entire night in my tent, with all my worries on hold until the distant sun rose in the morning.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Good morning." Laurelle-Lee offered me a smile as I sat up in bed. She was sitting next to the brazier, combing through her long brown hair with her fingers.

"Good morning." I smiled back.

"The snow's stopped," she said lightly. "I think it's a sign."

"A sign?" I blinked as I pulled on my boots. Then I frowned. "The enemy is going to attack soon, aren't they?"

Laurelle-Lee nodded.

I wrung my hands together. "It's been snowing almost nonstop for the past few weeks. Months even. I don't think either side has been eager for a battle."

"Make sure to keep your eyes and ears open at all times," she advised as I made my way over to the tent's exit. "The last thing you want is a surprise attack from them."

"Are you sure you don't want to come outside?" I paused at the tent flap to look back at Laurelle-Lee. "You shouldn't stay inside all day. It isn't exactly healthy. No one will cause you any trouble here."

Laurelle-Lee dropped her gaze. "The soldiers who were with you that first day had good intentions. I was the one who tricked them."

"You just wanted to help your brother. Your options were limited."

"That still doesn't stop me from feeling guilty."

I beckoned her outside. "Let's take a walk."

We made our way through the camp. Our footfalls left deep imprints in the snow as we went.

"Commander!" A soldier sprinted over to me and quickly saluted. "I think the enemy is making a move!"

My gaze turned serious. "Show me."

I let the soldier lead me outside the walls of our camp, and my eyes widened as I stared into the horizon. Just like ants, the soldiers of the Western army were slowly spilling over the snow as they emerged from the distant fog.

They weren't moving particularly fast. Instead, there was something rather lazy about their movements.

"Commander." The soldier's voice wavered. "How long until they reach us?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Judging from where they are now and at the speed they're going, they'll get here in a little less than two days."

"What do we do?" The soldier panicked. "Reinforcements still have yet to show up."

"It's very unlikely that reinforcements are coming at all." I continued to watch the massive army in the distance.

The soldier's face paled.

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Right now, our top priority is to evacuate the villagers. Once night falls, the enemy will set up camp. Once night falls, that's when we take action. But if they really don't break for camp, we'll go with the second version of the plan."

"Yessir!" The soldier saluted. Some of the confidence had returned to his voice. "We'll try to evacuate as many people as possible."

I shook my head, finally tearing my gaze away from the Western soldiers. "Maybe now that they can see the army on the horizon, the villagers will actually listen to the warnings we've been giving them. Where's Mason? Let's put him in charge of the evacuations."

"Yessir! I'll relay your orders to him immediately." The soldier saluted again before taking off at a run.

With my grip tightening on the hilt of my sword, I hurried back the way I had come. As I sprinted by, the soldiers looked at me with worried faces, and I called out, "You know what to do!"

Cries of "yessir" rang out as the soldiers took off in different directions. As I hurried through the camp, I nearly ran straight into Laurelle-Lee. I skidded to a stop and tried to formulate words as I pointed in the direction of the village. Fortunately, Laurelle-Lee seemed to understand what I was trying to convey. "I'll go help with the evacuations," she said before quickly hurrying off.

In the distance, the Western army continued to flow over the snow.

By the time night fell, the tension in the air was so heavy I could almost feel it weighing down on my shoulders. Once the sun had gone down, I sent all of the soldiers who weren't with me to sleep. The Western army had set up camp for the night, and now fires glowed through the otherwise total darkness.

"Ready?" I held each soldier's gaze as I slowly looked at them.

The soldiers nodded firmly. "Ready."

We were crouching outside our camp, and each one of us had a white fur blanket in hand. There were ten of us here, including myself and Mason. I had wanted to bring at least five more people with us, but the villagers had only been able to provide us with so many blankets.

The cloudy night didn't leave a gap in the sky for the stars as we hurried through the snow. I squinted through the darkness and strained my ears, listening for any sound of enemy scouts. It was difficult to see without the special night lenses I would normally slide over my eyes with a blink. But using those lenses caused my irises to glow a faint red-not only would that give our location away to anyone staring into the night, but it would also alert my companions to my true nature.

"There's the least soldiers in this area," I said quietly as we finally arrived at the side of the enemy camp. Fires flickered among the walls of tents, and the sound of loud chatter masked our voices.

Shortly after we settled down in the snow, we heard footsteps as the soldiers making their rounds approached our direction. I counted, one, two, three. There were five patrols in total.

I silently signaled to my soldiers, and all of us swiftly drew our blades. Then torchlight blossomed as the guards emerged from behind the row of tents. Before they could call out in shock, our daggers flew at them. All five of them sank into the snow with quiet thumps a moment later, and their torches sputtered out.

We discarded our fur blankets in the snow and made quick work of changing into the enemy armor. I pulled one of the fallen soldier's helmets over my hair before motioning for four to follow me. The remaining five soldiers from our unit would cover our escape. They dipped their heads in my direction as I looked back over my shoulder at them. As I continued to watch, they pulled their blankets over themselves and faded away into the snow.

Once we entered the enemy's camp, the five of us split up and went in different directions. The goal was to find where their rations were being stored and burn them. Our plan was risky and full of holes, but it was the only plan we had with any probability-even a small one-of working.

Walking through the enemy camp, it was almost unsettling how I seemed to go completely unnoticed. Soldiers were milling about in every direction, and I didn't have to do anything other than wear their armor to blend in.

I continued wandering through the camp. I had to move slowly so as not to attract any unwanted attention, but in doing so, time felt like it was speeding past me. It was mocking me, urging me to pick up my pace. I gritted my teeth.

Suddenly, flames blossomed from somewhere on my right, and I found my eyes snapping up to the fire. I nearly let out a laugh of relief.

People were yelling, and then, a split second later, there was an explosion of flames.

The force of the blast knocked me off my feet. I flew backward into the soldiers behind me, and we all crashed to the ground. In an instant, I was back on my feet, pulling my sword from its sheath and running at the soldiers hurrying toward the source of the explosion.

Their heads whipped over to look at me in confusion. They barely had time to draw their own blades before I was slashing out at them. The longer I could keep the soldiers from getting to the source of the blast, the more time my own soldiers would have to escape, and the more time the fire would have to spread.

I had not expected there to be that big of an explosion, but it looked like the source of food the Western soldiers had chosen to bring with them was grain. And grain just so happened to be very, very flammable. And explosive. Maybe luck really was on our side.

I slashed at the soldiers charging in my direction. I ducked under swords, the sound of my blade ringing in my ears as it clashed against countless others. I moved faster and faster-faster than I had in quite some time. I wasn't human, and when it came to my enemies, I had nothing to hide.

I was a whirlwind of steel as I cut through them. My blade found their unprotected necks easily, and blood sprayed as the camp continued to burn. Three, five, ten, twenty. The dead soldiers piled up around me. Then fighting my way through the throng of soldiers, I hurried back the way I had come.

Suddenly, an arrow flew through the night. It was fast. But I was faster. I caught the arrow out of the air with a single hand. My head snapped over to the source of the flying projectile.

A lone soldier stood by what appeared to be a crate of bows. Bows. I charged in the soldier's direction and forcefully knocked him out of the way. I quickly slung one, two, three bows over my shoulder before fumbling for the flame stick I had prepared just before our departure. The little flame flickered to life almost instantly. Next, I dumped the pouch of flour I had brought along with me into the crate. I dropped my flame stick into the crate and sprinted away as the crate ignited. Soldiers were yelling behind me as they hurried to salvage what they could of the weapons.

"Commander Jo!" someone was yelling. My head snapped up as my eyes went straight to the source of the voice. My soldiers were standing a little distance away from the camp. They waved their arms as they motioned for me to run faster.

"Have the others shown up yet?" I asked quickly as I tossed the bows into the snow.

"Two of them have," one of the soldiers answered as he stooped down to sling the bows over his shoulder. "We've already sent them on their way back as you instructed."

"Good." I looked back at the enemy's camp. The flames were still glowing against the night. "Which two have come back? Did either of them look like they were injured? Burned?"

"It was Royce and Dillen. Neither of them appeared to have any injuries."

"I'm going back in," I announced before hurrying back toward the camp.

"Commander!" the soldiers called after me. But before I could even reenter the camp, one of the missing soldiers came sprinting toward me.

"Commander!" he panted. His hands were on his knees as he gasped for breath. "This way! Mason is in trouble!"

"Lead me to him," I said quickly.

The soldier nodded vigorously, and then the two of us were hurrying back into the camp. At this point, the enemy soldiers were so busy trying to put out the flames that the two of us were able to run right in. The ones that did notice us were silenced. Their yells were drowned out by the crackling of the flames and clanking of armored footsteps as soldiers hurried around with buckets of snow.

We came to a stop in the middle of the camp, and there, lying next to a number of other soldiers, was Mason. His helmet seemed to have shielded most of his head from the explosion, but where the helmet hadn't covered, angry burns were prominent. One of his legs was sticking out at an awkward angle as well.

"I don't think he can walk," the soldier at my side whispered worriedly. "The soldiers just kind of dragged him over here."

I bent down and slung one of Mason's arms over my shoulders. "We've got to get him out of here."

My companion nodded quickly. He took Mason's other arm, and together we began dragging the half-unconscious Mason through the camp.

No one seemed to notice us until we were nearly outside the camp itself.

"Hey!" someone yelled. "What are you doing?"

My fellow soldier froze.

"Don't look back," I instructed quickly. "Don't make eye contact."

Too late. My companion was already looking over his shoulder, eyes wide with horror.

"Run!" The two of us quickened our pace, but Mason's feet were dragging in the snow, and his armor clanked loudly as we pulled him along.

"Stop right there!" someone was yelling. "Capture them!" And then the sound of running footsteps pounded from behind us.

As I turned my head to look over my shoulder, I felt my heart sink. There were thirty soldiers running straight at us. Blinking, I let my night-vision lenses slide over my eyes. My irises glowed blood red.

The enemy soldiers skidded to a stop, and their mouths fell open as they stared at me in a mixture of shock and alarm. For a long moment, they just stood there in an almost mesmerized sort of way as the fire in the camp raged on behind them.

"We need more buckets!" A yell cut through the air. "We need more buckets!"

The enemy soldiers blinked as they snapped out of their trances. They looked at each other with pale faces before they sheathed their weapons, turned, and hurried back into their camp.

"What just happened?" one of my own soldiers whispered after a while.

I quickly blinked again, and my night-vision lenses retracted before I turned back to face my companions. "They're preoccupied at the moment. Come on, we better go before they decide that our heads are more important than their camp."

✦ ✦ ✦

A swarm of soldiers rushed over to us the moment we returned to our camp.

"Quick!" I looked around wildly as I desperately searched the sea of faces. "We need a medic!"

The soldiers looked back and forth at each other. My heart sank. We had just sent the rest of the villagers away, and I was almost certain there had been a healer among them. While I did know a little about basic medicine, nothing I knew even remotely applied to treating burns.

"We . . ." I trailed off hopelessly as I glanced at where an unconscious Mason was being carried into one of the tents. The burns on his face looked even worse than before. "None of you knows anything about medicine?"

"What about that girl?" one of the soldiers said suddenly.

I blinked. "What girl?"

"The girl that's been living in your tent! Maybe she knows something about medicine!"

Chapter Seventeen

Laurelle-Lee? It was true that I had never asked her about her knowledge of medicine before. Maybe she really did know something.

As I rushed off through the snow, I found that I didn't even need to enter my tent. Laurelle-Lee was waiting outside in the snow, clutching a blanket tightly around her shoulders as she stared off into the distance.

I stopped beside her to follow her gaze. The sky was slowly brightening, and the glow of the flames was fading away with the morning.

I turned back to look at her. "We were wondering if you happened to know anything about medicine."

Laurelle-Lee shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't know much. But I do know where the medicine in the village is kept."

"Do you think we can figure it out?" I asked. Some of that hopelessness had returned to my voice. "If burns aren't treated correctly, it can-"

"Let's go." She motioned for me to follow her as she took off toward the village. "Tell the others to bring the injured soldier to the clinic."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Commander!" The soldiers jumped up as I stepped out of the clinic. "How is he?"

"Mason will live," I said tiredly. "Laurelle-Lee and I just finished treating him. You can see him now if you want. Once he gets enough strength to walk on his own, you can help him back to the camp."

"What's everyone doing out here?" Laurelle-Lee looked over my shoulder at the crowd of soldiers that had gathered around in the snow.

"We were wrong about you." One of the soldiers stepped forward to address her apologetically. "We shouldn't have continued to call you names behind your back. You saved our brother."

Laurelle-Lee just took a step back so she was standing behind me.

The soldier took a deep breath as he glanced over his shoulder at his companions. "What we mean to say is that you're one of us now."

"Really?" Laurelle-Lee peeked over my shoulder.

"Really." The soldiers nodded. "You don't need to hide in the commander's tent all day. You helped us, and it's only natural for us to return the favor. If you ever need anything, you can come to us, okay?"

Laurelle-Lee stared at them for a long moment before finally nodding her head. A smile lit up her face.

When the two of us returned to my tent, the first thing I did was make sure the fire in the brazier was still burning. Crouching down, I dropped another lump of coal into the flames. Sparks flew, and my hand instinctively snapped backward as the curse crawling under my skin reeled.

"Commander!" Laurelle-Lee was at my side in an instant. Her fingers closed around mine as she examined my hand worriedly. "Did it burn you?"

I lowered my gaze. "I'm fine, I was just a little careless, that's all."

"Oh." She seemed to suddenly realize she was still holding my hand, then quickly dropped it.

I sighed. "You should lie down. You worked on Mason for hours without rest. Here-" I made to help Laurelle-Lee up as she staggered on her feet.

"I can do it." Laurelle-Lee shook her head, and I stopped.

I made my way to the other side of the tent as Laurelle-Lee climbed into the bed.

I could still feel Laurelle-Lee's phantom touch on my hand. Not from when she had checked to see if I had burned myself in the tent, but from when we were still in the clinic. While waiting for Mason to gain consciousness, she had grabbed my hand and didn't let go.

Laurelle-Lee had fallen asleep behind me. Even though it had gone unspoken between us, I could tell she had spent all of the previous night outside, watching the horizon with the other soldiers for any signs of success.

Hours later, I rose to my feet and left the tent. It was snowing again. I squinted into the distance, through the screen of snow, fog, and gray. Something was moving there. I blinked. It was the enemy soldiers.

"Get in your positions!" I rushed through the camp. "The enemy is approaching! Go alert everyone still in their tents!"

All the soldiers sitting around the camp were on their feet. They grimly saluted in my direction before hurrying to prepare themselves.

"Commander!" One soldier came up beside me. It was Royce, who had accompanied me on the mission last night. All the color had completely drained from his face. "What happens if we lose this battle? I'm scared, Commander!"

"We won't lose," Laurelle-Lee said, and I turned in surprise to find her walking over to join us. "And do you know why?"

Royce stared at Laurelle-Lee, and his eyes were wide as he shook his head. "Why?"

"It's because we have something that we're fighting for." There was determination in her voice. "We fight to protect not only our kingdom, but we also fight to protect our families."

"We won't lose," Royce echoed as determination kindled in his eyes. "We'll fight to protect our families and to take back our homes!"

"That's the spirit." There was a faint smile on my face. After Royce hurried off, I turned back to Laurelle-Lee. "From now on, maybe you should be the one giving the motivational pep talks."

"Maybe next time." Laurelle-Lee's smile faded. "If there is a next time."

"You said it yourself. There will be."

Laurelle-Lee's hair fluttered in the wind as she turned to solemnly look out at the enemy slowly drawing closer. "Are there any swords left?"

"There's an extra in my tent. But-"

Laurelle-Lee sighed. "Don't worry. I'm going to stay in the camp. But if the enemy does manage to get inside, I'll fight them the best I can."

"Be careful." I held Laurelle-Lee's gaze as she looked over at me.

"You too," she whispered.

After nodding one last time, I hurried to join the rest of the soldiers gathering next to the fence around our camp. "Get ready." I narrowed my eyes as I looked out at the advancing army. After motioning for the soldiers to follow me, I stepped outside the makeshift walls of our camp, sword in hand. The soldiers stood at my side as we all stared the enemy down.

The Western soldiers seemed to come to a stop, and there was a silence in the air as we just stared at each other across the flat, snowy plain. Even the wind was holding its breath; the only sound was the beating of the hearts behind me.

"Charge!" a roar erupted from the Western soldiers. The sound of hundreds of armored boots pounded through the snow as the army surged forward. But then, over the roar of the stampede, someone cried out as the first soldier fell into the trench.

The entire army froze. The soldiers at the front threw their arms out as they teetered on the edge of the snow. A handful of unfortunate Western soldiers had been unlucky enough to have fallen inside, and now they hopelessly clawed at the snow around them, trying to climb out. The trench itself was barely the depth of two people, but with its equal width, it was enough.

As the Western soldiers stood there, I pulled out the flame stick I had prepared for the occasion. I could feel thousands of eyes on me as I tossed its lid into the snow. I waved it through the air, and the flame flickered to life. The enemy soldiers seemed to realize what I was about to do only seconds before I let the flame stick fall into the trench. If they looked closely, they probably realized that the trench floor was covered in a layer of alcohol.

And then suddenly, there was a crackling sound as fire burst to life. There were cries from the soldiers stuck in the trench as the fire spread, snaking from where the flame stick had landed. The fire was a serpent eager to devour everyone and everything in its path.

Both armies just stood there, facing each other as the screams of the soldiers in the trench mingled with the hissing of the flames.

I felt my fingers tighten around the hilt of my sword as the enemy soldiers on the other side of the ditch slowly parted. They were carrying a wooden plank.

The soldiers standing next to me jumped backward as the enemy soldiers let the plank fall. It was a dangerous bridge across the flaming pit, but the enemy soldiers were moving again as they rushed across it two at a time.

I was there in an instant. The soldiers at my side hurried forward as well, and we clashed swords with the enemy. With a slash of my sword, the enemy soldiers were thrown off their bridge. Their yells were drowned out by the sounds of metal against metal as a new wave of soldiers took their places.

I wrinkled my nose as the smell of metal and burning flesh began to mingle with the overwhelming stench of blood.

I watched as a number of soldiers from the back of the enemy's ranks turned and hurried along the side of the trench we had dug. They wanted to find where it leveled off, but the trench encircled the entire camp. And with the addition of alcohol from the abandoned village, our flaming shield seemed to be holding. There were about ten soldiers from the camp waiting on the backside in case the enemy tried crossing the trench from the back.

Even with all of the careful planning, the trench in the snow wouldn't keep them out forever.

As more and more bodies began to pile up under the plank, the enemy soldiers began to form a second bridge using the bodies of the fallen. My own soldiers fought back skillfully as they shoved the enemy back into the flames before they could make it to the other side.

Even so, it didn't take long for the ditch to become completely packed full of bodies. The fire was finally suffocated beneath them, and the enemy soldiers rushed forward to meet us head-on with their blades. My soldiers stuck close together and didn't break their formations as the enemy pushed into them again and again.

My sword was like a whirlwind of steel as I blocked blade after blade and cut down soldier after soldier. There was blood in my mouth, my nose, my eyes. The snow had turned red. I was moving too slow. The world around me was too fast. I gritted my teeth.

As the fighting dragged on, I could tell there was something somewhat sloppy about the enemy's movements. These weren't the soldiers that had confronted us when we still worked under Commander Branche. Whoever had sent this unit out probably thought we would easily fall to them.

We were all tiring. Both us and our enemy. My movements were just as quick as ever, but the soldiers at my side were gradually slowing. We had been fighting here in the snow for hours. I wasn't sure how many of my companions had fallen. I didn't want to know.

The soldiers defending the back of the camp had succeeded in keeping the enemy soldiers from moving in from behind. Now they were rushing over to the camp walls as backup to throw frozen blocks of ice at stunned enemy soldiers.

And then suddenly the enemy backed away. They turned on their tails and swiftly retreated. I just stood there, staring after them. My armor was splattered with blood. Even though there had only been fifty of us, we had managed to take out about half of the enemy's unit.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone crying out from behind me. My heart sank as I slowly turned around. A number of soldiers had tossed their weapons to the ground as they knelt beside their fallen comrades. My legs finally failed me, and I dropped to my knees. I recognized Royce's face among the twenty fallen soldiers. I hadn't been able to protect all of them.

"Commander!" someone was calling. The soldiers' faces were swimming into focus around me.

"I've let them down." I stared at my blood-stained gloves-stared at the hands that had failed me.

"You did the best you could, Commander," someone was saying. "And look, the enemy retreated! Casualties are inevitable. Don't hold yourself responsible."

I shook my head as I slowly climbed to my feet. "I promised to keep you safe." My voice broke. "I didn't want any of you to die."

"War is about death," a familiar voice said quietly. Laurelle-Lee had come out of the camp to help tend to the wounded. "War is about pain and sadness."

My shoulders shook. "Even after all of this, I'm still not strong enough."

"Come on," Laurelle-Lee said softly as she led me away from the bloodied snow and still-warm corpses. "You shouldn't stay here."

I looked over my shoulder. "I want to help bury them."

Laurelle-Lee let out a sad sigh. "You can leave it to your soldiers this time. They understand more than you think they do."

"All I've ever known is killing and death," I said, still in a daze as Laurelle-Lee led me back to my tent. "But when it comes to protecting people-I can't protect anyone."

"That's not true." When we arrived at the tent, Laurelle-Lee sat me down in front of the brazier. "Without you, these soldiers might already be dead."

"I'm not fit to be their commander." I continued to shake my head. My mind was foggy, and the scent of blood was still fresh in my nose. "I'm not a good person, Laurelle-Lee. I've killed people. I've killed a lot of people."

Laurelle-Lee tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Even if you can't go back, you can be a good person moving forward. What kind of person do you want to be?"

"I-I want to be a leader and lead my fellow soldiers to victory."

"Good." Laurelle-Lee was smiling faintly. "I can go outside and check on the soldiers on your behalf. You should change out of your armor and rest."

Once she left the tent, I got to work pulling off my blood-stained armor. The clothes beneath were wrinkled and stiff from the cold.

I hadn't expected to react the way I did when the battle finally ended. Ever since Commander Branche's passing, everything had felt much heavier. But now my mind was clear, and the fog that floated there minutes ago was gone. I would see this through until the end.

Chapter Eighteen

It must have been the middle of the night as I lay in bed, listening to the sounds of the wind whipping against the tent. After that battle, it was as if the redness of the blood had been burned onto my eyes.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound, and I turned to find Laurelle-Lee sitting up. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide.

"Bad dream?" I asked quietly.

Laurelle-Lee nodded silently as she drew her knees to her chest. "Can't sleep."

I climbed down from my bed and sat next to her. "I can't sleep either."

Her voice was soft. "We can stay awake together, then."

After a long moment of silence, I asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What is there to say, really? I'm scared. I don't want to die."

"You could still leave." I looked over at her. The glow from the fire painted half of Laurelle-Lee's face in a flickering light. "You could still leave this camp and go somewhere far away."

"But what about the rest of you? I don't want you to die either."

I smiled faintly. "You're welcome to stay as you want, but for your own safety, I don't recommend it."

"I'll stay," she said determinedly. "But what happens next?"

I clasped my hands together in my lap. "I've got something of a plan. The cold will preserve the bodies in the snow for a couple of weeks at most. If we're still here by then, we'll need to move our entire camp to avoid getting sick."

Laurelle-Lee tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I have an idea."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Don't let them get into the camp!" My voice was swept away by the clashing metal and the pounding of heavy footsteps.

A blizzard was raging, and snow spiraled in all directions as my sword cut through one enemy soldier after another. Even with my enhanced eyesight, I could barely see what was in front of me as I squinted through the flying snow.

The enemy soldiers appeared at the same time as the previous day, charging at our camp with a loud cry. We had already been out in the snow for hours, and the armor I had scrubbed clean the previous night was now covered in grime once again.

The Western soldiers' movements were slower this time, and even though we were still outnumbered, the situation didn't seem nearly as dire as before. Their hunger was beginning to affect them. And as the blizzard continued to rage, the enemy soldiers retreated once again.

"Quick!" I turned back to my own soldiers. The wind tore my voice from my throat, and I had to shout over the howling. "Everyone back to their tents! Help the wounded if they can't walk by themselves!"

I spent the rest of the day standing guard, perched on top of the fence that surrounded our camp. The wind howled, but I couldn't feel any of its frigid bite.

"How many did we lose today?" Laurelle-Lee asked quietly when I returned to my tent.

"None, fortunately."

She smiled. "You should get some rest."

I just nodded my head. Even though my physical body didn't tire, I was mentally exhausted.

It was only a few hours later when I sensed Laurelle-Lee stir from her sleep.

"Bad dream?" I asked.

Laurelle-Lee's head whipped up to look at me, and then she nodded.

I gestured to the empty space beside me. "You can sit here if you'd like. I can stay awake with you until you feel like going back to sleep."

"Okay." Laurelle-Lee slowly took a seat next to me, and the two of us chatted in quiet voices.

Eventually, Laurelle-Lee's eyelids began to droop, and I lowered my voice as she slowly dozed off. I carefully draped a blanket over her sleeping body before lying back down.

I looked at her for a long moment. I admitted that I have blood on my hands. How can she sleep so peacefully next to a monster like me?

I turned my head away and shut my eyes. Suddenly, my eyes fluttered open in surprise as Laurelle-Lee rolled over in her sleep and wrapped her arms around me. I froze, completely unsure of what to do. She had finally fallen asleep. If I pushed her away, I'd wake her up, but if I let her stay like this, she'd wake up embarrassed. I wasn't sure how long I spent debating what to do, but suddenly she stirred. Her face was pale as she sat bolt upright.

"Another nightmare?" I asked. She had sat up so quickly I didn't think she even realized her arms had been around me.

Laurelle-Lee nodded. Her eyes were wide as she swallowed hard.

I sighed. "When my little sister couldn't sleep, I would let her come into my bed, and that would help her. If this doesn't help, we can switch places. I think the bed is probably more comfortable than the floor."

"I'm sorry." Laurelle-Lee shook her head. "I'll go back to my own space." She hastily slid out of the bed. "I don't want to keep you awake."

A silence fell between us. After a while, I said, "You should sleep. If you need anything, just ask."

✦ ✦ ✦

The next few weeks were filled with snow and fighting, and a mixture of different emotions ran throughout the camp. Some of the soldiers were completely spent, others seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown. Others still were running around the camp, exclaiming to anyone who would listen that victory was in our hands as long as we kept fighting.

We were all starting to get worn out. Not once had the enemy soldiers tried to go around our camp. They always charged straight at us with their swords raised. But what began happening was that a sizable number of soldiers from the Western army would surrender to us. They begged to join our army if it meant they would have food to eat. And so our numbers started to grow.

I had made myself very clear to the Western soldiers when they first came to our camp with their hands raised. I told them that they were being watched, and if they tried to do anything to sabotage us, they would be killed on the spot. All of them had eagerly agreed to my terms and swore that they would help us fend off their former comrades.

"It's been snowing for days." Laurelle-Lee sat next to the brazier in my tent. "Do you think the snow is acting as reinforcements for us or the West?"

I wrung my hands agitatedly. "At least the snow gives us an opportunity to rest and hope the enemy freezes to death before it stops."

Laurelle-Lee shook her head in bewilderment. "If their reinforcements never come, does that mean that we've won?"

A crease formed between my brows. "I think so."

"That's great, then!" Laurelle-Lee beamed, and her smile lit up her entire face. "Then we can finally leave this place behind." She stood up before helping me to my feet as well. "We can go see the world!" she said enthusiastically. I laughed as she took my hands, and the two of us jumped around energetically. Laurelle-Lee's eyes sparkled. "What do you want to see first? I can take you anywhere you want to go."

"We can go see the ocean! We could go everywhere-we could go as far as the southern continent. Go to the place where snow and ice are all but a myth and the sun rules over the land."

"You're so adorable when you smile." Laurelle-Lee giggled as she threw her arms around me.

I was laughing again as I held her tightly. "No, you are!"

Even though I had only known Laurelle-Lee for a few months, I knew almost everything about her family and childhood from the stories she told when we were huddled in the tent as the snowstorms raged outside. I just wanted to talk with her, laugh along with her, and listen to her many stories and ideas. It was those little things that brought me rare happiness-a feeling I hadn't thought I'd ever feel again.

"What is it?" Laurelle-Lee leaned back to examine my face, her dark brown hair glowing in the light from the fire. "Is there something on your mind?"

"I'm fine, really. You're not so shy anymore, are you now?"

"You know me too well at this point." She let go of me to clasp her hands behind her back. "What is there to be shy about anymore? You should tell me more about yourself. I want to know all of your stories."

"I've told you before-if I tell you everything about myself, you'll want to run as far away from me as possible. For your own sake, it's probably better you don't know."

Laurelle-Lee's eyes sparkled. "Nonsense!"

"If you could leave this place, do you see yourself ever coming back?"

"I don't think I would," Laurelle-Lee said after some consideration. "There's an entire world out there to explore. I've always told myself that if I could survive this place, then maybe one day I'd get to wander the world."

"There are quite a few people like that," I recalled.

"Like what?" Laurelle-Lee asked eagerly.

"Wanderers-the people who don't live in the cities and villages. The people who are always moving from one place to another. I was lucky enough to come across a group of people like that before. They were former knights. They didn't seem to have any set home, but they wandered the kingdom with the intent to help ordinary people."

"What happened to them?"

"We parted ways," I said lightly. "Our paths branched off in different directions. I learned a lot from them while we were traveling together, though. They taught me everything I know about how to fight."

"Do you think they were recruited back into the army?" Laurelle-Lee inquired. "Do you think they're fighting in this war?"

I shook my head.

Laurelle-Lee opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. "They're gone, aren't they."

I nodded tiredly.

"I'm here with you now." Laurelle-Lee took my free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "After we die, we'll grow back as flowers. One day you'll be able to find them in that field."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Commander!" a soldier was yelling. "Bad news, Commander!"

I recognized Mason's voice immediately and sprinted over to join him by the walls of our camp. I squinted through the snow.

Another week had gone by, and with each day that passed, we were getting closer to finishing off the last of the enemy soldiers. Over the past month, we had whittled their numbers down so much that now we were the ones outnumbering them. So many of their own soldiers had defected to our side. As a matter of fact, the Western soldiers seemed to be getting along quite well with the soldiers here at the camp.

But now, as I stood looking over the fence at the distant horizon, my heart began to sink. There, spilling over the snow, another army was emerging. Flags of the Western Kingdom billowed in the icy wind, and the sound of thousands of footsteps echoed like thunder.

"We need to retreat!" I jumped down from the fence. "Pack up everything and head for the mountains! We'll guard the mountain pass from the high ground!"

"Yessir!" The soldiers around me sprang into motion and spread the word as fast as they could.

"Are we moving camp?" Laurelle-Lee's eyes were wide as I skidded into our tent.

"Their reinforcements finally showed up," I said grimly. "We've got to move quickly."

Nodding, Laurelle-Lee hurried to help me break down the tent.

After a stressful half hour, our entire camp had been packed away. Shortly after that, we were making the trek toward the mountains hidden in the fog.

Laurelle-Lee walked at my side as we swiftly made our way along the snowy path. The capital lay somewhere behind those mountains.

"It's so lifeless," Laurelle-Lee observed. Even though she was trying to make small talk, I could tell she was frightened. We all were. The soldiers walking in front of and behind us were talking quietly among themselves as we dragged our supplies through the snow.

Eventually, the ground began to slope upward, and then we were climbing the sharp slope of the icy mountains. The higher we climbed, the more the icy world seemed to spread out beneath us. The higher we climbed, the more treacherous the slope became.

We had been walking for hours, and I could tell that exhaustion was starting to set in as the soldiers began to slow.

"Look!" one of the soldiers at the front of the group said. The snaking mountain path had just brought us to a vantage point overlooking the extensive Western army. "What are they doing?"

I dropped my belongings and sprinted to where the soldiers at the front of the group were gawking with pale faces. My blood chilled as I followed their terrified gazes. The Western army had brought with them a wooden contraption that resembled some sort of catapult. I barely had time to blink before a gigantic boulder flew through the air.

"Get down!" I screamed. But it was too late.

The entire world shook as the boulder crashed into the mountain above us. My head snapped up to watch as the collision sent a large crack snaking through the rocks. There was a loud cracking sound, and then a landslide of snow cascaded right toward us. I was swept up in the current of snow within seconds, and the cries of the soldiers flooded my ears as we were all washed away.

Chapter Nineteen

The world was white. People were yelling, but I couldn't see any of them. The scent of blood was sharp in the air as rocks and ice tore into my skin. I was falling, falling, falling.

And then suddenly, I crashed headfirst into a sheet of ice. The sleeves of my tunic tore as I instinctively threw out my arms to brace myself, and my arms was ripped raw.

My body curled up as my momentum sent me slamming into the rocky wall of some sort of cavern in the mountainside. Frozen in shock, I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to process what had just happened.

When the initial shock finally started to fade, I slowly sat up. My legs stuck out at odd angles, and I stared at my shredded skin. As I continued to look on, the skin slowly began to knit itself back together, and the scratches and cuts disappeared. The blood left on me was the only evidence of any injuries.

I couldn't stay here. With my legs nearly buckling under me, I rose to my feet. I froze again as another bang sounded. The mountain shook for a second time, and I fell back against the wall.

And then suddenly, the world turned white as I was buried under an avalanche of snow. Everything was silent. I gritted my teeth as I clenched my hands into fists. The Western soldiers had come prepared.

I needed to check on the rest of the soldiers. I needed to make sure that they were all right. But as I tried to raise myself from the mound of snow, I realized I couldn't move. The snow around me was packed too tightly. I felt so weak, and what strength I had left was slowly ebbing away.

"Help!" I yelled. My voice was muffled as snow fell into my mouth. "Down here!"

Nothing.

No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't move. I could feel the panic beginning to set in. The silence was pressing down on me from all sides.

I needed my strength back if I was going to try and crawl out of here, and I needed to conserve what energy I could.

I closed my eyes and let my body go into sleep mode. The faster I could heal, the faster I could ensure the rest of the soldiers were safe. My only worry was whether I would wake up too late-or if I would even wake up at all.

✦ ✦ ✦

I hadn't dreamed for a very long time.

In front of me were shadows. I slowly turned on the spot. There were shadows behind me too. They surrounded me on every side. They faded in and out in a blink of an eye.

Suddenly, there was a pair of hands reaching out of the darkness toward me.

I screamed and struggled, but my movements were futile as the hands reached into my chest, into my heart. And then the hands retracted themselves. Their fingers dripped with my blood.

I looked down at the gaping hole in my chest. Where there should have been a heart, there was nothing. I let out a cry as I collapsed to the ground, clutching and clawing at the hole in my chest.

The shadowy hands scampered away from me as if terrified. They hadn't taken my heart. My chest had been empty from the start.

✦ ✦ ✦

"You're awake!" It was Laurelle-Lee.

My eyes fluttered open, and Laurelle-Lee's worried face came into focus. "Laurelle-Lee." My voice sounded odd in my ears. My head felt foggy, and my thoughts were a mess.

She wrapped her arms around me tightly. "I was so worried! You scared us, you know. You've been sleeping for days now."

"Days?" I asked in alarm. "Where are we now? What happened?" I reached up instinctively to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I froze with my hand still in my hair. My hair had grown out again.

Laurelle-Lee let out a sigh. "Do you have something you'd like to tell me?"

I quickly scooted backward out of Laurelle-Lee's embrace. "I-" I started with wide eyes.

Laurelle-Lee just tilted her head to the side expectantly. "You knew that women weren't allowed to serve in the army, so you dressed up as a boy to disguise yourself. Am I right?"

I nodded silently.

"And you didn't want anyone to know, because if they found out, you would be kicked out."

I nodded again.

"See?" Laurelle-Lee offered me a faint smile. "That wasn't that hard, was it?"

"Do-" I started. My voice was failing me. "Do the rest of them know?"

Laurelle-Lee shook her head. "No, ever since we got back, I haven't let anyone enter the tent to see you."

"Tent?" I blinked as I looked around the room. It was true-the two of us were in my tent.

"We've set up camp toward the top of the mountain," Laurelle-Lee informed me. "After the Western soldiers caused that avalanche, the rest of us quickly searched for and rescued the soldiers that had been swept away. When we found you, you were covered in blood." Then she frowned slightly. "But when I washed all the blood away, you had no injuries at all. You're not human, are you?"

"I-" I buried my face in my hands, and my hair fell around me like a curtain. I couldn't face Laurelle-Lee. But I didn't want to keep lying to her either. "I'm a vampire. I'm a monster."

"Actually"-Laurelle-Lee clasped her hands behind her back-"I knew for a while now that you're a vampire."

"You knew?" I lifted my head to stare at her in surprise. "Since when?"

"That night when I was sleeping next to you, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and I couldn't hear your heartbeat. There was no heartbeat. You can imagine how scared I was. But then you asked me if I had had another nightmare, and all I could do at the time was nod. After that, I was able to put the pieces together quickly."

"What am I supposed to do now?" I asked helplessly. "I'm not fit to be the commander the soldiers need."

Laurelle-Lee wrapped me in a hug for a second time. "The soldiers look up to you. They're worried about you, you know."

"You should stay away from me." I shook my head, even though I made no move to push her away again.

"No matter who you are, you're still my friend. What kind of friend would that make me if I decided to abandon you now?"

"You're not leaving?" I asked quietly, raising my eyes to meet hers.

Laurelle-Lee held my gaze. "I'm not leaving. I don't think you're as evil as you make yourself out to be."

"That's a mistake." I shook my head again as I rested it on her shoulder.

She hummed lightly as she twirled a strand of my hair around her finger. "I think I like you better this way, though."

"Really?"

Laurelle-Lee leaned back to look me up and down. "You're really pretty, you know that?"

I found myself laughing, and then she was giggling too.

"Anyway"-Laurelle-Lee finally let me go-"right now, we've set up camp high enough on the mountain that we're well out of the enemy's firing range. And because of the avalanche of snow and rock, they've completely destroyed their own path up here as well as the path to the capital city."

I let out a humorless laugh. "They were so eager to kill us that they ended up doing a disservice to themselves."

"The important part is that we're safe for now." Laurelle-Lee gave my hands a reassuring squeeze. "We can camp up here as long as we want to-we've found that there's no shortage of small animals to hunt for food." Then she tilted her head to the side as she looked at me. "But you don't have to eat, do you?"

"I survive off the blood of other animals." I closed my eyes. "You've probably noticed my fangs by now."

Laurelle-Lee blinked. "Fangs?" I opened my mouth, and she inhaled sharply. "How come I've never seen them before? You remove them yourself?"

I nodded. "I pulled them out. I can't feel pain, though," I hastily added. "My body heals very quickly, so it's a process I have to keep doing along with cutting my hair."

"Let me get this straight," Laurelle-Lee said slowly. "You used to be human, and then you were turned into a vampire?"

I nodded heavily. "I never wanted to be a vampire."

A long silence passed. "How many years has it been?"

"Too many."

Laurelle-Lee fell silent again, and her furrowed brows gave her the appearance as if she were deep in thought. "I'm curious now. If you don't mind me asking, what is your name? I could keep calling you Jo, but what do you want to be called?"

"Josephina," I told her. "Josephina is the name I've been using for myself."

"Josephina." Laurelle-Lee nodded her head as she tried out the name. "Does that mean I get to call you Phina?"

I laughed. "I don't see why not."

Laurelle-Lee beamed. "Phina it is, then. I think it suits you."

✦ ✦ ✦

Later in the day, Laurelle-Lee helped me get ready to see the soldiers. Once I had completed my disguise, Laurelle-Lee wrapped a cloak around her shoulders and passed one to me as well. She motioned for me to follow her out of the tent. "This way."

The sky outside was gray, and the clouds were closer than they had ever been before. A city of tents was set up on the flat section of the mountain. Heavy fog drifted lazily around the mountains, masking the horizons both near and far. A wind picked up, sending the hems of our cloaks fluttering among the snow swirling up from the ground.

A voice cut through the misty air. "Look! It's the commander!"

And then suddenly, Laurelle-Lee and I were surrounded by a circle of bright-eyed soldiers.

"You don't know how happy we are to have you back, Commander!" Mason told me excitedly. "You were asleep for so long that we were starting to worry if any of us were even capable of taking your place."

"We had quite a fright, you know," another soldier piped up. "I was there when we dug you out of the snow, and we could have sworn you were dead. Only Laurelle-Lee was adamant you were still alive."

"Come, Commander." The soldiers swept me toward the center of the camp, where they had been previously gathered around a crackling fire. "Come eat with us!"

"Tell me about what happened after the avalanche," I said as I let them lead me over to the fire. "How many were injured?"

"Not many, actually," Mason answered my questions. "Out of everyone, you got swept the farthest away. Most of us were still on the other side of the mountain when the enemy started launching boulders at us. Some of us got some injuries, but nothing fatal. It will take more than a bit of snow to break our spirits."

We spent so much time chatting around the fire that by the time I finally looked up, the sky was already dark. The clouds were thinning, revealing a star-strewn night.

"Look!" I exclaimed. My eyes were glued to the little pinpricks of light.

"Yeah!" Mason grinned from ear to ear. "We can see the stars from here. Not bad, am I right? Now this is something I could get used to."

Suddenly, a flicker of flame sparked in the corner of my vision. My gaze fell away from the sky as I hurried over to the edge of the mountain.

"Commander!" The soldiers rushed after me, worriedly. All of them squinted through the dark as they followed my gaze.

"Do you see it?" I asked softly. "The village is on fire."

Laurelle-Lee came to stand by my side. "I'm not surprised they waited for a semi-clear night to set the fire. They want us to see it."

We all stood for a long time at the edge of the mountain in silence, with the stars dancing above us and the fire roaring below.

✦ ✦ ✦

That night, I wandered through the camp in a daze. Even after the fire in the village burned itself out, the flames from the Western army's torches caused the snow beneath the mountain to glow like a sea of fire. My comrades had long retired to their tents for the night, but I could tell that few had actually managed to fall asleep.

One of the tents I passed was still illuminated, and I almost passed it completely before I heard the sound of Mason's voice from inside. "Is this legible enough? If you look very carefully, you can see the words, right?"

I paused and doubled back to the entrance of the tent. I gently rapped on one of the tent posts with the back of my hand, and the tent flap quickly opened to reveal Mason. His face split into a grin. "Commander!" Mason beckoned me into the tent, where his tentmates swiftly scooted over to make room for me around their brazier.

"Still awake?" I asked mildly.

Mason sat down next to me to show me a handkerchief. "Look, Commander. Is the writing legible to you?"

I squinted down at the crudely embroidered letters. "Mason," I read out loud.

Mason nodded enthusiastically, but his excitement quickly faded. "I still need to add my home's location."

I offered Mason a faint smile. "I happen to know a few things about sewing. Let me help you."

After a few minutes of going back and forth about how I, as the commander, shouldn't have to do that kind of work, I was sitting with the needle and thread in hand.

Mason and his tentmates looked on, impressed, as I cleaned up the letters and added the location of Mason's home. "What's this for?" I asked as I skillfully continued the embroidery.

"I lost my old one during one of our battles," Mason admitted. "My mother made it for me and told me to sew it onto my uniform. If I die, that would be my identification. Maybe then my body could be taken back to my mother so she could see her unfortunate son one last time. But now that I think about it, being buried alongside all of you doesn't sound that bad either."

"Mason," I started softly.

Mason just shook his head as he drew a shuddering breath. "I always knew that I wouldn't walk away from this war alive. I thought I was ready to face death, but now I'm not so sure. I just miss my mother. How about you, Commander? Do you want to make one for yourself?"

I shook my head. "Everyone I care about is here in this camp. I don't have any home to return to or anyone to collect my body."

"Commander-"

"What do you think?" I lifted up the finished embroidery to show Mason and the other soldiers. "While I'm still here, I can help sew it to your uniform."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Phina!" Laurelle-Lee grabbed my arm as she sat up in bed. The sleep in her eyes was gone in an instant as she looked at the crack in the tent flap. "Look!"

"What is it?" I quickly sat up as well.

"Quick!" Laurelle-Lee sprang out of bed. She pulled me along with her as she threw open the tent flap. An icy wind rushed in and set her long hair flying. "It's the sunrise!"

"The sunrise?" I squinted as my eyes burned from the light. All I could see was Laurelle-Lee's back as she stood in front of me. Her figure was silhouetted in the brilliance of the rising sun, and her hair and skirts flowed around her as the white light grew brighter and brighter.

I took a step backward. "I can't stand with you in the light."

She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes met mine. "Is it because of the curse?"

"I wish I could see the sun-I wish I could see all the colors that you can see. But vampires are creatures of darkness and night. All I can see is a blinding light."

"You can't see the sunrise?" Laurelle-Lee's tone was sad.

My shoulders slumped. "I haven't seen it in many, many years."

"How about this?" Laurelle-Lee was suddenly standing next to me. She reached out to take my hands in her own. "Let's stand here at the edge of the light, and I'll describe the sunrise to you. That way you can see it too."

I held her hand tightly as I nodded.

"The sun hasn't shown up yet," Laurelle-Lee said as she gazed into the light. "Right now the sky is still a dusky blue with hints of purple and pink. Oh! The blue is slowly melting into a lighter purple! And now the purple is lightening even more into a rosy pink! I think that's the sun, Phina! The sun is climbing up over the horizon!"

The sun must have appeared because the brightness had intensified tremendously.

"Day has broken," Laurelle-Lee breathed as she finally turned to face me. Her expression was that of someone who had just witnessed a miracle. "The sky is blue. The storm has blown over. It's the start of a new day."

Chapter Twenty

Even though months had passed and the seasons changed from winter to spring to summer to autumn, Laurelle-Lee's smile remained the same.

"Good morning!" she said as she rolled out of bed and stretched her arms above her head. "I can't believe it-in just a few weeks, we'll have spent an entire year on the mountain."

I sat up to look at her. "I've gotten used to it. I had hoped the snow would melt, but it never did."

She let out a sigh. "The snow and the fighting have both dragged on long enough. I think it's about time to think about having a peace talk."

I took Laurelle-Lee's hands. "The Western soldiers still try to attack us at least once a week. I don't think they're ready quite yet. I know you're tired of the fighting. I am too, and so are the rest of the soldiers. I'm sure the Western soldiers feel the same. You can feel it in the strength of their attacks. Their morale is fading. We just have to wait for the right moment."

When we left our tent, soldiers greeted us as we passed. "Morning, Commander! Morning, Laurelle-Lee!"

"I've made a few adjustments to our defenses," Laurelle-Lee explained to them as the soldiers made room for her around the firepit. "We're the ones who know this mountain like the back of our hands." She drew a crude map of our mountain base in the snow with her finger, then indicated points on the slope. "Pour water on the path here, here, and here. After the storm last night, those are the places where the enemy will try to climb if they attack at all. We can trip them up with the solid ice."

"Yes ma'am!" The soldiers jumped up and hurried off.

I took a seat on the opposite side of the fire pit and watched as Laurelle-Lee chatted away contentedly with the remaining soldiers.

"Commander"-Mason elbowed me in the arm-"are you ever going to tell Laurelle-Lee how you feel?"

I sighed. "I think you're misunderstanding. I'm not even sure what I'm feeling."

"You're so lovesick it's making our hearts hurt," the soldier on my other side said matter-of-factly.

I batted him away half-heartedly. "Honestly now, both of you."

"Seriously, though!" Mason said. "You're in love!"

I shook my head again. "I was in love before . . . with someone else. After that ended tragically . . ."

Mason clapped me on the shoulder. "Who says you can't love again? Love, heartbreak, and then learning to love again is the cycle of what it means to be human. It's all part of life. We just think you should tell her while you still have the chance."

✦ ✦ ✦

The night was silent, and the fire in the center of our camp dwindled to nothing more than a pile of softly glowing embers.

With no one else around, I let my night-vision lenses slide into place as I climbed the icy path to the mountain's summit.

There was something calming about the stars. Something lonely about them. Something about how they were also so close and yet forever out of reach. I sat cross-legged in the snow and tipped my head to look up at the vast sky above.

A soft wind picked up, sending my now shoulder-length hair fluttering. The orange color was washed out in the silvery hue of the night. The moon had made a rare appearance, and its light now painted the entire world in silver.

Just then, I heard the sound of footsteps crunching through ice and snow. I blinked as I looked over my shoulder to find Laurelle-Lee walking up the slippery path to the top of the mountain. Her arms were held out on either side of her as she tried to keep her balance.

"Laurelle-Lee?" I climbed to my feet before hurrying over to help her up the slope. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was." Laurelle-Lee took my hand. "But sleep comes and goes . . . Also, I brought this for you." She pulled out my cloak. She shook it out of its neatly folded square before wrapping it around my shoulders.

"You know I can't feel the cold." I fastened the cloak around myself anyway as the two of us took a seat on the rocks.

"I know," she said simply, looking up at the stars.

A silence fell between us as we sat there, gazing at the clear night sky.

"Laurelle-" I started after a while, finally tearing my gaze away from the sky to look at her.

"Phina, look!" Laurelle-Lee grabbed my hand before I could finish. She pointed with her free hand at the sky. "It's a shooting star!"

My head snapped upward, and I followed her outstretched finger just in time to watch the tail of the shooting star flicker before it vanished behind the mountains.

"Did you see it?" she asked excitedly.

"I saw it!" I beamed.

Her smile was wistful. "The stars are pretty, aren't they?"

"They're beautiful."

Laurelle-Lee giggled. "Silly, why are you still looking at me?"

"Laurelle." I dropped my gaze to where my fingers were still twined through hers.

"What is it?" She patiently waited for me to go on.

"I-" All the words I wanted to say were stuck on the tip of my tongue. "What would you do if I told you that I love you?"

To my surprise, Laurelle-Lee giggled again. "What would you do if I told you that I've fallen in love with you? Over the past year, I've realized that because of you, every day is worth living. I have you to thank for giving me a second chance at life. I don't believe in fate, but if you hadn't shown up that day, I don't even know if I'd still be here. I just want us to make it out alive. I want to travel the world with you."

Moved, I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly. Her hair was like silk under my fingers.

When we finally drew apart, even though she was smiling, a single tear trickled down the side of her face.

I reached out and gently brushed the tear away. But before I could withdraw my hand, Laurelle-Lee caught it in her own.

"As for what I'd do if you told me that you love me . . ." She leaned forward until her lips were a fraction away from mine. "May I?" she whispered.

I nodded as I found myself leaning forward as well. There was something sweet and longing about the kiss. When it was over, I slowly opened my eyes. Even though my lungs no longer worked, I still felt breathless. Giddy. Blissful.

Laurelle-Lee shook back her windswept hair and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "I've always wanted to do that."

I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I wanted to stay here in this moment forever. "I love you."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Commander!" Mason sprinted over to where I was going through our daily training routines with a group of soldiers. "You're not going to like this, Commander. It's bad."

My grip tightened on the hilt of my sword. "Tell me."

I could see the panic in his eyes. "The Western army is coming. Not the ones that have been camping out at the base of the mountain, but the rest of their forces have been spotted on the horizon. There's too many of them for us."

"They must have finished conquering the rest of the kingdoms," someone said in alarm. "They've finally regrouped to take down us and this kingdom in one blow."

I could feel the hopelessness beginning to take hold of me, even as I fought back against it. "Has an estimation been made yet?"

"Ten thousand maybe?" Mason's face was pale. "It's too many, and they just keep coming."

"We've got to prepare ourselves, then," I said grimly. "Prepare ourselves for the worst and hope for a miracle to save us. How long do we have until they arrive?"

"A few hours at most, sir. They advanced under the cover of the night, those sneaky bastards!"

"Suit up and start preparing!" I called out. "We'll do whatever we can to slow them down when they reach us."

"Yessir!" The soldiers saluted before hurrying back to their tents to don their armor.

The moment I entered my tent, Laurelle-Lee threw her arms around me. "Phina!"

"I know." I melted into her arms.

"There's no escape." Laurelle-Lee was shaking. I was too.

My voice broke. "Our soldiers . . . they'll never return to their loved ones. Why does there have to be war? Why does there have to be suffering?"

She held me tightly. "We're just unlucky enough that that happens to be the kind of world we live in. But this world isn't all bad. I was able to meet you, after all."

I pulled back to look her in the eyes. "If we never met, you might have still had the chance to stay alive."

Laurelle-Lee sat silently on the bed as she watched me pull on my armor. She was already in one of the spare suits, and the metal glinted from the flames dancing in the brazier.

I picked up my father's sword and drew it from its sheath. I stared unseeingly at my reflection in the blade. Right now, it was still clean. But soon, it would be stained with blood once again.

"Is this the part where we have to say goodbye?" Laurelle-Lee's voice was nothing more than a whisper. "It still seems too soon to say goodbye, Phina."

"We still have a little time," I replied. I didn't trust myself to speak.

She stood and reached for my hands. I let her take them and lace her fingers through mine. Even though it went unspoken between us, I knew that neither of us expected to make it to the sunrise of the next day.

✦ ✦ ✦

I stood by the soldiers as we silently watched the Western army advance. The wind seemed to hold its breath in anticipation as we stood there on the ridge of the mountain. We had descended from the peak to a lower and more strategic location that we surveyed earlier.

Every couple of minutes or so, I would glance back over my shoulder to where Laurelle-Lee was standing among the rows of soldiers further back. She was determined to fight too.

The army came to a stop at the base of the mountain. Their dark-armored bodies seemed to stretch for miles, and the white of the snow was almost completely hidden beneath them. The flags of the Western Kingdom billowed as the winds began to pick up again.

I squinted down through the haze and fog. The soldiers at the front of the lines were doing something. I couldn't quite tell what, but they were running about and pushing something to the very front.

"What are they doing?" Mason asked under his breath. "I can't see anything clearly from here."

A frown tugged at my lips. "I don't know. It doesn't look like they're trying to climb the mountain."

"If they're not trying to climb the mountain," Mason started slowly, "then they're trying to get us to come down to them? But we're still too high up for their catapults to reach . . ."

My blood chilled. I didn't like where this was going.

I glanced over my shoulder at Laurelle-Lee again. Her eyes met mine, and then suddenly a thunderous boom cut through the air. The mountain gave a violent shudder. For a split second, nothing seemed to have happened. Then my head snapped upward. Something heavy had struck the snowy peak of the mountain above us. Cries erupted from the soldiers around me as the snow rushed toward us in a raging avalanche.

The ground swept out from under my feet a moment later, and I was free-falling off the edge of the ridge.

The soldiers were yelling as they tumbled around me among the raining rock, ice, and snow. I was paralyzed with horror as the wind roared in my ears. What kind of weapon was that?

The fall seemed to take both a few seconds and forever at the same time. Before I knew it, I hit the snow below. Judging by the groans around me, the soldiers had made it down too, and the snow was thick enough to prevent us from breaking our necks. But judging from the scent of blood in the air, not all of them had been as lucky with avoiding the falling debris.

I was on my feet, helping the soldiers who had fallen around me as I frantically scanned the snow for Laurelle-Lee. But before I could find her, a single voice cut through the air: "Charge!"

A roar erupted through the Western army, and thousands of footsteps echoed like thunder as they surged forward.

I whirled to face them.

I clashed swords with the first enemy soldier, and in one swift movement, blood was spraying. The soldier staggered back and his sword fell from his hands as he clawed at his bleeding throat.

I moved faster and faster, a whirlwind of steel cutting down enemy after enemy. My own soldiers were slowly rising to their feet and staggering over to join me.

Corpses were beginning to pile up, and the bodies were quickly trampled under the feet of the charging soldiers. My hair was in my eyes and plastered to the sides of my face with blood. The snow had gone from white to a muddy brown as the landscape was transformed into a battlefield. New snow had begun to fall, but the moment it touched the ground, it too became red with blood.

"Stop," a voice commanded, and just like that, the fighting ceased.

I stood there with my sword at the ready. The soldiers at my side were breathing heavily. The lines of enemy soldiers in front of us parted to reveal a man in intricately patterned armor, dragging someone along behind him.

Laurelle-Lee, I mouthed in alarm.

Her eyes were wide in horror as she struggled unsuccessfully against her captor. Her armor was splattered with blood, and her unbound hair waved freely in the icy wind. Phina, she mouthed back. Even from the distance, I could see the frightened tears glistening in her eyes.

"Are you their commander?" The man lifted his sword and pointed it directly at me. The soldiers standing next to him forced Laurelle-Lee to her knees, and one of them pressed his sword to her throat.

"Yes," I said defiantly, trying my best to hide my panic. "Yes, I am."

"I want you to surrender," the man said lazily. "I'm one of the generals, you see. My soldiers caught something interesting. It's a female wearing your army's armor. If I'm not mistaken, she must mean something to all of you for you to keep a girl around."

"Release her!" one of the soldiers standing next to me yelled. "If you hurt her, I swear we'll-"

The general let out a low laugh. "No one's hurt her yet, boy." Then the general turned back to address me. "Surrender, and maybe we'll let her go."

Don't give up, Laurelle-Lee's eyes said. Her silent tears turned to ice as they trickled down the sides of her face. Don't surrender.

"I'll give you to the count of three to put down your swords." The general raised a gloved hand with three fingers extended. "Three." He folded one finger in.

I just stared at Laurelle-Lee across the stretch of muddied snow between us. My expression must have been as broken as I felt because Laurelle-Lee offered me a sad smile. A fresh wave of tears slid down her cheeks.

"Two." The man put another finger down. His smile was fading.

Gritting my teeth, I let my sword fall from my hands. The soldiers around me did the same, and their blades thudded to the snow.

"Good." The general's smile was back. It was a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Now that wasn't that hard, was it?"

Laurelle-Lee's face had completely drained of color as she shook her head in despair.

"Now," the man was saying, but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. His hands were already on Laurelle-Lee as he talked. Maybe we had spared Laurelle-Lee from death, but she wasn't going to be released either.

The snowflakes that had fallen on Laurelle-Lee's head were a stark contrast to her dark brown hair. A single tear fell from her eye as she held my gaze. And before I even had time to scream, Laurelle-Lee had thrown off the general's hands in one swift movement and lunged forward.

The general himself just stared in shock as she wrestled a sword from the hands of one of his companions. Then, whirling around, she plunged the blade into his stomach with a cry. The moment the general toppled over, the Western soldiers were charging at her. Her blood sprayed as she was impaled by their blades.

I was frozen in horror as she tumbled to the snow. Her icy tears were frozen to her blood-splattered cheeks.

Everything moved in slow motion, and yet the world spun too fast around me. I was screaming. The sword I had dropped was back in my hands in seconds, and then everything was moving again as the Western soldiers surged forward. I was moving faster than ever. My inhuman speed caused the entire world to blur around me as I swung my blade through the air. The world was red with blood. How many soldiers had fallen under my blade, I couldn't tell. Hundreds. Thousands. Everything was a blur.

I fought my way through the ranks of enemy soldiers. Everything was a roar. People were screaming. Soldiers were charging at me, then fleeing from my sword, and then charging at me again.

And then suddenly, a thunderous explosion cut through the air. I watched as the same weapon that had struck the mountain was now firing straight at what remained of my soldiers.

I instantly changed course and ran toward them as fast as I could. I leaped off the ground and hurled myself through the air, right into the path of the flying metal ball.

Screams came from the soldiers behind me as I was struck in the stomach. The next thing I knew, the world was on fire, and I was blown to pieces.

✦ ✦ ✦

When I opened my eyes, the army was gone.

Everything was gone. The world was white with snow drifting down from the gray skies.

I slowly sat up and looked around in a daze. The first thing my eyes fell on was the pieces of armor and swords peeking out from under the mounds of snow. The second thing I noticed was that I was completely naked, and my hair fell at its full length to my hips.

I just sat there in the snow, staring at the silent mountain pass. The snow and rock that had once completely blocked it had been shoveled away. It was the only evidence that the Western army must have passed through. The kingdom had been taken. The battle was over.

Laurelle-Lee was gone. All of the soldiers that had become my friends, my family-they were all gone.

As I slowly climbed to my feet, my foot knocked against something hard. I reached down and pulled my father's sword from the snow. It was dull, grimy, and still coated in a thick layer of dried blood.

Laurelle-Lee. Where is Laurelle-Lee?

I spent an entire day digging through the snow for her body. I found the bodies of many familiar faces as I went. I recognized Mason among them. I dug each of them a grave in the snow away from where the battle had taken place. On the third day, I finally found Laurelle-Lee's body.

After cradling her lifeless body in silence for a long time, I gently laid her down in a snowy grave. Once she was covered, I reached out with a shaky finger to etch a flower in the white flakes where Laurelle-Lee lay.

By the seventh day, I had found and buried the rest of the soldiers. I rose to my feet and stared unseeingly into the horizon. What was I to do now? Where was I to go? And then the answer hit me: home. It was time to go home.

✦ ✦ ✦

The stream was just as I remembered it. The way the water sparkled as it reflected the silvery light from the moon was the same. The tall grass, the weeds, the flowers-all of it was familiar. But the village itself-the village was gone. All the houses were gone as if they had never existed. All of them had been torn down, and the dirt roads had become overgrown with weeds. The farm, the barn, everything. My home was gone.

The disappearance of the village should have been another punch to the gut, but it was just a dull thud. My ability to feel emotions was slowly fading. My fingers clenched the fabric of my cloak.

I spent the night in front of my parents' graves before finally laying my father's sword on the dirt. I had cleaned it, and now the blade glimmered as I stared at it. It was about time I returned it to its rightful owner.

I was alone again. The overwhelming sense of despair slammed into me all at once.

When the sky began to lighten the following morning, I climbed to my feet and slunk back into the shadows.

Chapter Twenty-One

"The queen has returned!"

The manor was familiar and yet so foreign. Even though the hood of my cloak hid my face, every vampire I passed seemed to know who I was.

I opened the door to my old room and found the dyes and cosmetics I had stashed away. I dyed my hair and painted my face until I could no longer recognize myself under the harsh lines. From now on, there would only be Karmen.

After changing into a plain white dress, I made my way barefoot to my throne room. I looked at the chair I had made with my own hands for a long moment before finally taking a seat. The moonlight spilling into the room from the windows behind me illuminated the whorls of dust lazily spiraling through the air.

"Milady." The doors to the throne room were thrown open as a vampire timidly stepped inside.

"What is it?" My voice was calm and cold as it cut through the stillness of the room.

The vampire bowed his head. "The other vampires wanted me to tell you that we're glad you're back." I could sense his fear as he kept his distance from my throne.

My lips tugged upward into a ghost of a smile. "So you're the unlucky soul who was sent to welcome me on their behalf. Where's everyone else? Eavesdropping at the door, I presume?"

Even before the words had finished leaving my mouth, there was the sound of hasty shuffling behind the throne room doors as the vampires speedily dispersed. I let out a laugh.

"Milady!" I could hear the slightest tremor in the vampire's voice as he dropped to his knees and practically threw himself at my feet.

"Have the humans stopped showing up here?" I questioned.

"No." The vampire shook his head vigorously. "They still show up in search of the vampire queen."

"And what do you do with those fools?"

"We lock them up, milady."

"Kill them," I said icily as I leaned back in my throne. "There will be no mercy for those looking for death."

"Yes, milady!" The vampire was bowing so deeply his forehead touched the tiles of the floor.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment. "You may go. Tell the others not to disturb me if they value their lives. Unless I call upon any of you, I don't want to see any of your faces."

"Yes, milady!" The vampire quickly bowed again. Then he scrambled to his feet before flying out the doors.

I raised my head to stare at the ceiling. What was the point in fighting against the monster within anymore? All I was capable of was losing time and time again.

Laurelle-Lee wouldn't want to see me like this. Jammie wouldn't want to see me like this. My family wouldn't want to see me like this. But they were dead, gone, never coming back. I was gone too. All that remained was the vampire queen with a heart of ice. And so I finally gave in to the darkness and let it embrace me in its awaiting arms.

✦ ✦ ✦

During the first year back, I didn't take a single step outside of my manor. The vampires that lived in the manor with me made sure to keep out of my sight, and for an entire year, I saw and spoke to nobody. Time continued to slip by, and the days blurred while I remained the same. I was lost. All I knew was that the humans needed to pay for all the suffering they inflicted. And it was that idea that continued to grow in my mind.

Once winter had come again, I rose from my throne. The skirts of my dress slithered over the floor as I made my way back to my room, where I changed into a new dress. This time, the dress was the color of spilled ink on parchment.

I draped a heavy cloak around my shoulders, pulled the hood up over my head, and slowly turned to face the mirror. My blood-red eyes glowed out from under the shadows.

Then after drawing my gaze away from the reflective glass, I turned on my heel, glided out the door, and made my way down the deathly silent halls beyond.

✦ ✦ ✦

There was so much blood. There was blood on my hands, under my razor-sharp nails, on my face, in my eyes. The world was red. The smell of death hung in the night air, and I stood in the center of a dead village.

There were no more emotions. There was only anger. Anger and rage and hate.

This world should have never belonged to the humans. The world had belonged to the ancient magics. It had belonged to the dragons and other mythical creatures who were now nothing more than mere whispers of myths and legends.

I was returning it to the ancient magics. I would cleanse it of humans. I would cleanse it of vampires-vampires, the creatures created by a greedy and selfish human. And once all the humans were gone, once all the vampires were gone, I'd leave this world for good too.

✦ ✦ ✦

When I returned to my manor, I could sense that something was off.

I narrowed my eyes as I made my way to the front doors of the building. Behind the wood, I could sense the presence of vampires. Another smile tugged at my lip.

After reaching my blood-coated hands out from under my cloak, I pushed the doors open. The vampires were flying at me in an instant, their blades and nails glinting. I dodged them with ease, and my dark cloak flowed behind me as I indulged them in a deadly dance down the narrow hallways. I wasn't afraid of them. I wasn't afraid of anything anymore.

"Karmen, you two-faced fox!" one of the vampires bellowed at me as I sidestepped another swing from his sword. "Are you for protecting the humans or killing them?"

"Who do you think you are?" another vampire chimed in angrily. "You tell us we can't have any of them, while you go save all the fun for yourself!"

A vampire lunged at me. "Let one of us take over! I'm sure any of us would be a better ruler than you!"

I smirked. "But would they talk about you the same way they talk about me?" Blood sprayed as his head hit the floor at my feet. "I've been around much longer than any of you. Would any of your names hold the same power as mine? No, over the years, the humans might forget the names of the kings of the past, but they will always remember mine."

The vampires hissed as they lunged at me again.

I ducked under their arms and let my cloak flutter to the floor. The vampires froze as they looked at me. I could tell it was a face none of them had quite expected.

"Looks like you all have seen my true face now," I said wryly. "I can't let you leave alive after that, can I?"

Getting over their shock, the vampires charged at me again. I met each of them with my claws and ripped their heads from their bodies until all that remained in the hallway was a pile of bloody, decapitated corpses.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning the blood from the walls and tiled floor. After dumping the last body onto the stairs outside the front doors, I glanced upward at the slowly lightening sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight to obscure the stars. But as I continued to watch, the stars melted away into the growing brightness of the day.

I let the doors swing shut behind me as I stepped inside the manor. The walls blocked out the light, and my world fell once again into darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

"We have come to pledge our allegiance to you, Karmen, the queen of the vampires," yet another group of vampires chorused as they bowed to me.

My following was growing rapidly, and even though they came in handfuls at a time, I was surprised by how many vampires there already were. The curse was spreading too quickly. I realized that with each new generation of vampires, their powers grew progressively weaker. Whenever a human was turned into a vampire, they inherited only half of their turner's strength. After I killed the first progenitor and the rest of the vampires turned along with me, I remained the most powerful vampire.

As the vampire population grew, the number of vampires who wished me dead was growing as well. Word reached me that one vampire in particular had gained a sizable following, and now he was even calling himself king.

"What does milady plan to do about him?" one of the vampires asked me. "He's making claims that he's going to attack you."

I lifted my arms in front of me to admire the way my razor-sharp nails glinted. "If they want to fight, we'll wait for them to come to us. They'll realize that they decided to seek their demise."

The vampire nodded along at my words. "Milady is wise."

✦ ✦ ✦

Over the next month, the vampires in my manor grew anxious in anticipation of an attack. We didn't have to wait much longer before one night my ears perked up at the sound of faint footsteps outside the manor. The other vampires in the room must have heard them too because they began to look worried. A humorless smile tugged at my lips. "They're here. You know what to do." I waved a hand at the vampires still gathered in the throne room.

The vampires turned on their heels and scampered out of the room as I unhurriedly rose from my throne, gliding across the tiled floor and down the hallways beyond.

"Where's Karmen?" someone was shouting furiously from outside. "Where's the queen?" A moment later, there was a pounding on the front doors.

I pulled them open. A vampire stood on the opposite side of the threshold, his contorted face melting into brief shock at not needing to break down the doors himself.

I smiled. "I'm Karmen." Even though my face was hidden in the shadows of my cloak, the condescending tone could be heard in my voice. "And you are . . .?"

"I'm the new king of the vampires!" he hissed. "I'm going to defeat you right here and now!" He was moving in an instant.

I sidestepped him, and in one swift movement, my hand was around his throat.

"You-!" The vampire struggled to break free of my grasp. My blood flowed from where his nails tore at my skin. But before he could finish his sentence, I was moving again. His head fell to the floor, and his body followed a moment later.

"Too easy." I was still smiling as I slowly raised my head to look at the vampires who had gathered around.

"Of course, milady." One of my subjects seemed to get over her shock as she hurried over to me. "He didn't stand a chance against you."

"He should have died before he even reached the front door. It was too easy for him to make it to me. You wanted to see if he really could take me down." I slowly looked around at the vampires gathered on the front steps. "How disloyal all of you are."

"Milady!" Voices cut through the air. "Have mercy! Have mercy!"

"Mercy?" I tossed my hooded cloak aside. No one was leaving the manor alive tonight.

I whirled down the steps. Some vampires fled, while others flew at me with their daggers, swords, and claws. They all fell at my hands.

A number of them sprinted for the forest, but I gave chase. My claws tore into them from behind. The vampires might have gotten a head start, but I knew this forest like the back of my hand. They could run, but I was faster.

By the time the sky began to lighten, I returned to the courtyard, which was strewn with bodies. I had slain every last vampire at the manor in a single night.

I stood there in the middle of them, my skin and clothes splattered with blood. I had known from the start that the vampires weren't my allies.

I turned on my heel and made my way back into the manor. The silence rang in my ears as I wandered along until I found myself in my room. I sank down on in front of the mirror. My blood-splattered face stared back at me. I stared at my reflection for a long time.

That girl in the mirror-there was something familiar about her. I blinked out of my daze and leaned closer until my nose was inches away from the glass.

What is her name?

What is my name?

I froze. I couldn't remember. In my desperation, I thought back to my family. I could still hear the sound of their voices. They were whispers, echoes. I could still see their blurred figures. But the name on their tongues . . . I couldn't hear it. I couldn't make it out.

Phina, a voice echoed through my head. It was Laurelle-Lee's voice.

Where is Phina? I stared harder at myself in the reflective glass. Isn't she me too? But all I could see were the harsh and icy features of Karmen, the queen of the vampires. There was blood on her face, and her crimson eyes glowed back at me.

I screamed as I staggered backward, away from the glass.

I needed water. I scrambled to my feet and almost tripped over my skirts in my haste. I sprinted out of the room, nearly crashing into the walls as I wove through the maze of hallways.

When I finally made it to the washroom, I collapsed onto the floor and reached out with a bloody hand for the buckets of water.

Splash! I dumped the first bucket over my head and sat there for a long moment, water dripping down my face and my soaking hair plastered to my head. With a shaky hand, I reached out and dumped the second bucket over myself. Black water trickled across the floor as the dye in my hair ran.

Soaked from head to toe, I returned to my room. After sitting back down in front of my mirror, I stared at my reflection once again.

My ginger hair was back, and the eyes that stared up at me from the glass were wide and horrified. Slowly, I looked down at my hands, the hands that had drawn so much blood, the hands that had taken so many lives.

I let out a cry as of despair as I rapidly shook my head. This wasn't what I wanted. I was horrified by myself, horrified by the monster I had become.

Somehow there was a sword in my hand, and I raised it with deadly steady hands to my neck.

I sat there with the sword resting on my shoulders for a long time as the silence screamed in my ears.

Why can't I do it? The sword clattered from my hands as I curled up on myself. My shoulders shook violently. Why can't I do it?

I wanted to die. But Karmen . . . Karmen wanted to live.

Fine. If she wanted to live, I would make sure she was locked away for eternity.

After rising to my feet, I threw a cloak over my shoulders and marched out of my room, out of my manor, and through the forest. The sun beat down from the clear sky, and its brilliant rays set the curse inside of me reeling. I ignored it even as my exposed skin began to flake and peel. I gritted my teeth as I moved east.

I would leave the Western Kingdom forever.

I walked for months, never stopping, never dawdling. The landscapes around me were constantly changing. I traveled through fields of tall grass, then valleys of snow, and then forests of ancient trees. But even as I continued to move forward, the flags that billowed at me from all directions were the same.

Flowers began to show their vibrant heads with the coming of spring, and the world was dotted in color as it bloomed. I found myself smiling softly, wistfully, as I looked around at them. This would be my last journey-a journey that had taken me all the way to the other side of the Northern Continent.

It wasn't a journey I had ever thought I would make, at least alone. It was beautiful, really, the world beneath the star-flecked sky.

When I finally came to a stop, I was standing on the sands of a beach. The ocean waves lazily lapped back and forth as the moonlight reflected on the water's surface. I had discarded my shoes long ago, and now the water raced up to lap at my bare feet.

What I wouldn't have given to see the sunrise again, just once more. What I wouldn't have given to wake up from this nightmare, to wake up once again in my own bed and see my parents, my sister, Jammie, Laurelle-Lee. Everyone.

But now . . . I didn't deserve to see them.

After letting my cloak fall to the ground, I walked along the shore, bending down to scoop up a number of heavy rocks, which I brought back to where I had left my cloak. Next, I shredded the fabric of my cloak into long strips. Using these, I secured a stone to each of my legs and tied the remaining two to my arms.

When I was done, I turned back to the ocean. The waters were calm, peaceful. I had never seen the ocean until now. The waves were like reflective glass in the night. The ocean was infinite, powerful, alluring, silent, dangerous. It was calling out to me.

Come, the ocean was whispered with each wave. I will set you free.

A soft wind picked up and set my hair floating. It was time.

I took my first step forward, my tattered skirts dragging behind me in the fine sand. With my next few steps, the water lapped over my feet and swirled around my ankles.

Soon, I was up to my chest in water, standing there with my hair rippling around me. I gazed out at the distant horizon. The night slowly faded, and as the sky began to lighten, I forced myself to move again.

Each step brought me deeper into the water. Then everything seemed to go still as my head went under.

My movements were slow and lethargic, but calling upon my inhuman strength, I kicked out and pushed off from the sandy floor, sending myself deeper and deeper into the depths of the water.

I kept swimming as the weights on my arms and legs dragged me down, down, down. I kept swimming until I no longer knew which way was up or down or left or right. There was only darkness. Pure and utter darkness.

My immortal strength would eventually fail me. By not consuming the blood of other living beings, I would continue to grow weaker and weaker until my abilities were reduced back to that of a human. And when that happened, I would no longer be able to remove the stones I had secured to myself. I had made sure the knots couldn't be severed even if I tried.

I didn't think I would try to free myself, but at this point, I couldn't trust myself either.

I closed my eyes, letting the weight of the rocks and my waterlogged dress drag me down into the darkness.

All that was left to do was stay here forever, with no one and nothing except my thoughts to accompany me, tormented by my past and the person I had become. I was fearful of myself and afraid of the future.

And so I continued to hang there in the middle of the ocean. Time itself both slowed to a stop and sped up. Days melted into months, months into years, and years into decades.

My mind was cloudy as whispers and flashes of memory occasionally cut through the haze: the swaying of grass and the sparkling waters of a clear lake, the darkness and blood-stained walls of a small room. Forests and snow-covered battlefields. I relived the past over and over until my mind began to go as numb as my body.

I was so weak I couldn't even muster the strength to move a finger. But things were better this way.

Eventually, my head began to empty, and the memories began to fade. Completely starved of blood, my body was starting to wither. The curse inside me had gone silent. Everything was silent.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Everything was dark, and the sound of the wind whispering through the grass slowly drew me from the haze that had clouded my mind.

Wind? Grass? That can't be right.

I blinked before slowly opening my eyes. A canopy of leaves rose high above me, and I marveled in a daze at the branches that snaked on as far as the eye could see. These ancient giants must have been even older than me.

I sat up to find myself dressed in a clean tunic and trousers. I lifted my hands to my face only to frown at the razor-sharp nails that tipped my fingers. I was still a vampire.

A voice from behind me rumbled through the entire forest. "Awake now, you are. How do you feel, child?"

"I feel confused." I brought my knees to my chest as I buried my head in my arms. "Why did you bring me here? I trapped myself in the ocean for a reason." The way the curse inside of me frantically reeled in fear told me everything I needed to know about my savior. I didn't know how to believe it-I could feel the presence of a powerful and ancient magic behind me.

"Alas, I have been watching you for some time," the deep voice sighed. Leaves rustled in its wake. "I did not think that you wished for your story to end like that. And only recently, I was able to glimpse at the other possible paths you might be able to follow. If you are willing to take the risk, that is."

A broken laugh escaped me. "Different endings? Other paths? I've chosen my path. You know that as much as I do."

"But that path led you to me, did it not?" the voice said lightly. "I am not that bad, am I?"

I shook my head in a daze. "You seem great. Wonderful, honestly. But I think you're doing everyone a disservice by bringing me back. I'm Karmen, remember?"

"It was not Karmen I pulled from the ocean, though, was it?" I could hear the faintest trace of a smile in the voice. "It was not Karmen I pulled from the ocean, but a different woman. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Josephina," I whispered. "But you can call me Phina." Then I paused. "Whose blood did you give me? I-my strength is back."

"My own," the voice said simply. "Don't think too hard about it-it just so happens that I have plenty of it."

"You-" I lifted my head as I finally turned around. My eyes widened, and my words left me as I stared. The dragon in front of me must have been the size of a house. His brilliant green scales were flecked with metallic gold, and his golden-tipped wings were folded comfortably at his sides.

"Surprised?" The dragon chuckled. "How rude of me. I do not think I have introduced myself yet-I hope you can forgive me. My name is Andreus."

"Andreus?"

The dragon nodded his majestic head. "I did not mean to go against your wishes, child. But I have a quest that only you can accomplish."

"You and I both know that I'm not a child anymore." The scent of blood floated through the air as I unconsciously dug my nails into my skin. "I haven't been a child for a very long time."

Andreus fell silent, and the wind itself seemed to go still.

"How do you do it?" I finally asked as I tugged on a strand of my hair. "You've been here in this world longer than I have, and yet you weren't consumed by hate the way I was."

"I will admit that I have gone to some dark places in the past," the dragon said knowingly, "and while feelings impact us longer than just a moment, the world will keep moving forward. Wait long enough, and things will change-whether that be for the better or the worse. Nothing can last forever. But that is just the way life is. That is just what it means to be alive. When you are blinded by your own hatred, you become blind to the good that happens in the world around you."

"A friend did tell me once," I started slowly, "that life is about learning how to keep living. But how can I live on? Can I even move on? I can't forgive myself for what I've done. Even if I died a hundred deaths, I still wouldn't be able to make up for what I've done. How do you do it?" I asked again. My voice was a broken sound. "You're one of the last of your kind. You've never thought about revenge?"

"Revenge?" Andreus chuckled. "Revenge on whom? The humans who slayed the dragons are long dead. If you told the humans of today that dragons once ruled the skies, they would never believe you."

"Wait." I blinked up at the dragon. "How long was I in the ocean?"

"Nearly a hundred years."

A hundred years. "Has anything major happened recently?" I stiffened as I anticipated the answer.

"Yes. And no."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I could hear the tiredness in my own voice.

"I will leave that for you to find out," Andreus said lightly. "But either way, you still need to stay here with me for at least another few days. I do not think you are strong enough yet to leave."

I sighed as I watched the sunlight streaming in from behind the gaps in the leaves. It was nothing more than pricks of white light in the distance. "I don't have any intention of leaving. Maybe with you watching me, I won't be tempted to do anything stupid."

Andreus's golden eyes crinkled upward in the faintest trace of a smile. "I have faith that you will do the right thing. I have faith that you want to do the right thing."

"I think you have more faith in me than I do."

Andreus angled his head to the side, his golden scales glimmering softly. "Would you like to see a magic trick?"

"A magic trick? I'm not a small child, you know."

"But would you like to see a magic trick?"

I nodded. "I would like to see a magic trick."

"Look over there." The dragon smiled, gesturing in the direction of the trees with his tail. "What do you see?"

"Trees?"

"And now look back at me."

I turned, but the dragon had vanished.

"Behind you," Andreus's voice rumbled quietly.

I turned around to find the dragon sitting behind me.

"That isn't magic!" I found a smile playing on my own face. My muscles were stiff, as if they had forgotten such a gesture. "You just moved while I was looking away!"

"But do you think someone as big as me could really move without you noticing?" His eyes sparkled knowingly. "Are you sure it isn't magic?"

A laugh escaped me, and Andreus chuckled. I looked up at the dragon. "Tell me more about yourself. What was it like to live during the era of magic?"

Andreus rearranged his wings at his side. "I'd advise you to get comfortable. It is a very long and fascinating story, if I do say so myself."

As day turned into night, I listened to Andreus tell me about the world of the past and the different magical beings that had once called it home. He explained how the humans were there too, but they quickly became jealous that they hadn't been gifted with magic.

The ancient beings of magic never wanted to fight; after all, it was their ability and willingness to live in peace with one another that had granted them their magic in the first place. The dragons took to the skies, and the faeries to the forests, until magic faded from the world.

"How did you get away from the humans?" I asked with wide eyes.

"They knew we did not wish to hurt them." Andreus's voice was sad. "And that was why it was so easy for them to annihilate us. Oh, we ran, but in a couple of centuries, there were not many of us left. I flew away. Not all of us were so fortunate. The majority of the dragons saw it as the end of an era, and in such, made up their minds to die in their homeland rather than escape."

"What about you?" I leaned in closer, with my hands on my ankles as I sat cross-legged on the grass. "Did you see a future?"

"I was younger back then," he said wistfully. "When everyone I loved was dead, the only thing I could think of was to run-to fly away. And that was what I did. It took many years, but then by chance I found a group of dragons that had also escaped. Life is full of surprises, and you never know where it will take you next." When I didn't respond, the dragon just smiled. "Come, let me take you somewhere."

"Where are we going?"

"You will see." Andreus motioned for me to climb onto his scale-covered back. "Think of it as another one of life's surprises."

After standing up from the grass, I timidly climbed onto him. Once Andreus made sure I was seated and secure, he spread his gold-tipped wings, and we rushed upward. The branches of the trees seemed to part for us as we shot into the night sky. I gazed in awe at the stars glittering and dancing around us.

"Hold on tight," Andreus instructed.

I wrapped my arms around the dragon's neck, and then we shot across the inky fabric of the sky. I had never been this close to the stars before. All I needed to do was to reach up and maybe, just maybe, I would be able to brush one of them with my fingers. "Where are we?" I asked over the rush of the wind. "Somehow I feel that these aren't the skies of the Western Kingdom."

"We are in one of the kingdoms in the east." Andreus's voice was clear as he answered my question.

"The kingdoms here aren't conquered by the Western king?"

"Not these ones. The king tried time and time again, but the people here continue to fight back."

As we dipped lower, the glow of lights floated up to us. Where the lights were most concentrated must have been the capital. I turned to watch them over my shoulder as we passed and flew farther yet to the coast.

Andreus finally landed on the fine sands of a beach I had never seen before. The ocean was a pearly silver in the moonlight. "Have a seat," the dragon said lightly after I slid off his back. I obliged. Andreus sat a little distance to my left, and the two of us looked out over the water. "What do you think?" Andreus asked after a while. The night air between us was still.

I blinked. "What?"

"What do you think is out there beyond the ocean?" Andreus mused. "What is there beyond the horizon?"

I turned to look up at the dragon. The light from the moon had changed his golden scales to silver. "You haven't been there?"

"I tried." Andreus's eyes were glassy as they reflected the sky. "But do you know what I found?"

"What did you find?"

Andreus sighed. "Another horizon. A horizon that was even more distant than the first. No matter how fast I flew, the horizon was always out of reach. I flew in a straight line for days, and do you know where it took me?"

"Where did it take you?"

"Home," he said simply. "By chasing the horizon, I found myself back where I had started. No matter how many times I flew around the world, my path would always lead me back. But with each journey, that home began to fade until there was nothing left of the place I remembered. And now, once again, I am a homeless wanderer-a traveler of the vast lands and skies of this world."

I turned back to the sky. "I suppose that's what I am now, too."

"You know," Andreus started, "when you look up at the stars, you are looking into the past."

"Maybe that's why I've always been drawn to the night so much." I angled my head to the side. Then I rose to my feet. A soft wind set my hair floating as I walked over to stand in front of Andreus. "You should kill me."

The dragon just blinked. "And why should I do that?"

"Please, do me the favor. I don't know about these other paths you think I can take, but you're thinking far too highly of me."

"How about I explain to you what these other paths are before you decide to throw your life away," he said lightly. The dragon motioned for me to return to my seat, and I slowly sat back down.

My nails dug into my arms. "I don't want to lose track of myself again. I don't want to be Karmen again."

"And who do you want to be?"

"Phina."

"What kind of person is Phina?"

"I-" I trailed off. What kind of person was Phina? She was me though, wasn't she? "I don't know."

"What kind of person do you want Phina to be?" When I didn't respond, Andreus smiled. "Come." The dragon rose to his feet. "Let's return to the forest."

✦ ✦ ✦

"Are those . . .?" My voice faltered as I slid off Andreus's back. I was completely captivated by the little glowing bugs that flickered around the trees and above the grass.

"Yes. Fireflies." Andreus nodded his majestic head, and the glowing bugs drifted over to land on the dragon's horns.

"They're beautiful." I slowly turned on the spot. The forest was full of tiny lights dancing among the leaves. "I-I don't think I've ever seen fireflies before. When I was a human, my village was too cold for them, and ever since I became a vampire, all life has fled from my presence."

"You are in luck," Andreus smiled faintly. "Life tends to flock to wherever I am."

"Your presence must be much stronger than mine. Well, of course-you're an ancient magic, after all."

"Yes, yes, I am old," the dragon chuckled. "Now, have you ever heard of the legend of the four queens?"

"The legend of the four queens? I can't say I have."

"Legend has it that four queens will rise up and restore peace to the Northern Continent."

"Four queens? You think one of them is me?"

"Maybe."

"There aren't many queens here in the north . . ." I paused to look up at the dragon. "Is this legend true?"

Andreus's eyes twinkled. "What do you think?"

I took a seat on the grass. The glowing bugs flickered as they rose around me and drifted upward toward the leafy canopy. "You think I'm one of these four queens. What do you want me to do?"

"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to," Andreus said lightly. "But if you're willing to work to bring about the new era that comes with the rise of the four queens, you can be the one to help bring them together."

"Me?" I turned my head to look up at the dragon. This was my chance to make things right. Even if I couldn't go back and right the past, there was an opportunity here in front of me. "I don't know if I can do it, but I'm willing to give it a try-I have nothing to lose. What would I have to do?"

"It's simple. Meet the other queens."

"Do you want me to leave right now?" I made to rise to my feet, but Andreus shook his head, and I stopped.

"Why not stay here for a little longer?" The faint smile on the dragon's face was back. "You still are recovering."

I flopped over backward and looked up at the sky hidden behind the leaves. The fireflies flickered softly like golden stars. It was the forest's own little universe. "You're being too good to me. I don't deserve this."

"You have suffered, child." Andreus's voice was sad.

I closed my eyes. "But who hasn't suffered in this world?"

"There will be a day," Andreus said softly. "There will be a day when the four queens come together and the sun of a new era rises."

"I will bring the queens together," I vowed as my eyes fluttered open.

"The queens will appear eventually. Wait long enough and your paths will intertwine."

"If I just have to wait around, what do I do in the meantime?"

"Why, you could do anything you want. Travel the world, explore foreign lands, to name a few."

"I think-I think I might do that."

Andreus ruffled his wings. "There is no need to rush out of here. You can stay in the forest with me for as long as you like. I will admit it has been a while since I last had company."

I tugged on a strand of my hair. "I'll stay for a few more days. Once I'm back to my full strength, I want to see the changes that took place in the Western Kingdom. And then after that, I'll head east. If I'm going to meet another queen, something tells me I'll have better luck there. This time I won't lose track of myself." I met the dragon's gaze. "I've got a mission now."

✦ ✦ ✦

I had spent the past couple of weeks in the forest with him, and although I enjoyed flying over and exploring the kingdom with the dragon, I could not delay my journey any longer. I was sitting on the grassy forest floor when the canopy of leaves parted above, and a moment later, Andreus touched down next to me.

"What are all of these?" I blinked up at the pile of clothes the dragon began to lay out.

"I thought you might want to pick something for your travels," Andreus said mildly.

I spent a few minutes finding a pair of boots that fit and a hooded cloak that I could drape over my shoulders. "I-" I started after a silence had fallen between us. "Thank you. I guess I'll be on my way, then."

Andreus bowed his magnificent head to me, and his gold-flecked scales flickered in the light.

I asked the question that had been on the tip of my tongue for some time now: "Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe." Andreus smiled faintly. "Maybe not."

I let out a soft sigh as I clasped my hands behind my back. "I hope you find someone who makes you happy-someone who constantly reminds you that life is worth living."

"And I you."

After offering the dragon a sad smile, I slowly turned on my heel and took a step forward. A rush of wind behind me made me glance back, only to find that the dragon had vanished. The fluttering leaves settling on the forest floor were the only evidence that he had been there.

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was spring. The trees were blooming, and their flowers reached their painted heads toward the sky. But as I drew closer to the borders of the Western Kingdom-or the Western Empire, as it would be called now-the colors of spring seemed to fade. Spring had only just begun, and yet the flowers were already dying.

I arrived in a familiar town a number of days later, only to find that it wasn't so familiar anymore. It was the one I had traveled to with my sister lifetimes ago. This was the town I had wanted to visit with Jammie before his untimely death. While the town itself hadn't moved, all the buildings looked different. The outfits people wore had different patterns. The colors were different.

The streets were paved with cobblestone, and each building along the main road was decorated with large glass windows. The town was bustling with people, and vendors were selling every sort of good imaginable. As I was taking in the surroundings around me, I could suddenly feel the presence of someone approaching me from behind.

"Hey." Someone grabbed my arm. A woman. I turned to look at her with wide eyes. "Come with me, quickly," she hissed under her breath.

"What is it?" I asked as I let her lead me away from the main street.

"You can't just walk around like this!" The woman finally stopped in a quiet section of the town before she turned around to face me. She was eyeing my outfit with a frown.

I blinked as I looked down at my boots and trousers. Both of them had been splattered with mud and dirt from my travels. "Why not?"

"You're not from around here, are you." The woman arched a brow before tugging on my arm again. She led me into a small shop and quickly shut the door behind us. "It's dangerous."

"I'm a wanderer." I lifted the fabric of my cloak to motion to the sword at my side. "I'm not afraid of danger."

The woman inhaled sharply. "That's even more reason you can't just walk around here like that! Just wearing what you are now is enough for them to accuse you of being a witch. If they see that you have a sword, oh, no matter how good your sword skills are, you're dead."

"Who's they?" I asked hesitantly.

"You have to be careful." The woman ignored my question as she shuffled over to the racks of dresses on the walls of the shop. "Let me give you some advice-keep your head down. Blend in. The last thing you want to do is attract attention."

"Is-is it like this everywhere?"

"As far as I know, yes." The woman sighed as she returned to me with a dress in her arms. "Put this on, quickly now!"

"Why are you helping me?" I stared at her for a long moment before I made quick work of changing into the dress.

The woman let out a laugh. "Why shouldn't I help you?"

"But isn't it dangerous?"

"Of course! But one, I don't want to see you or anyone killed, and two, if I were ever to be in your shoes, I would hope that someone would come to my aid."

"Thank you," I said quietly. Then I turned my head to look at the woman. "What year is it?"

"What year is it? It's six hundred and eighty."

"And what was year zero?" I asked quickly.

The woman looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and bewilderment. "The elimination of the ancient magics, of course."

At least the calendar system was still the same.

"You need to be careful around here," the woman warned again as she helped tie back my hair. "The last thing I want is to walk into the town square and see another poor girl burning to death there. I'll be praying for you."

"Pray?" I furrowed my brows as I turned around to face her. "Pray to who?"

She gave me a sideways look. "You wanderers really don't have any faith, do you. The Immortal One, no? Don't tell me you've never heard of him." I shook my head, and the woman ran an agitated hand through her hair. "He's powerful and he watches over all of us. Pray to him, and the deepest desires in your heart will be answered. Follow his teachings, and you'll be rewarded. Go against his teachings, and you're a sinner."

The corners of my lips tugged downward in a faint frown. "I see."

"Make sure no one sees that sword of yours," the woman said as she walked me over to the door. "For your own sake, I'd advise you to finish your business here as fast as you can, and then leave this town."

"I'm not afraid of some villagers." I shook my head as I mustered a cheery confidence. "Wanderers face danger all the time. Thank you for the dress. Are you sure I can't pay you back for it?"

The woman lifted a hand in a gesture of farewell once the two of us stepped outside. "Just remember my words. I hope you find your way."

After dipping my head respectfully, I started on my way.

The next place I stopped was a small village, where I found myself in front of a tavern. Instead of going inside, I lingered out back, listening through the wooden walls to the conversations within.

I stood there for a few hours, learning about the current events in the Western Empire. I was about to leave when a certain snippet of conversation caught my attention.

"The last of the troops have come back from the east," someone was saying in a loud and drunken voice. "There were only five dead this time, but all of them were completely decapitated. Wait, no, not decapitated. What's the word?"

"Defeated!" someone hissed. "Defeated, defeated!"

"Right, defeated," the first voice slurred. "Is the Eastern army really that powerful? Our own men keep being sent out and keep returning in utter feat!"

"Defeat!" the second voice corrected. "I heard their generals and strategists are brilliant beyond what you and I can even imagine!"

"What do you mean I can't imagine?" the first voice said angrily. "I can imagine a lot of things!"

There was the sound of a fist colliding with something solid, and the second voice sounded again in a pained sort of way. "Right, of course."

A third voice joined the conversation. "I heard that the Eastern army is led by a woman."

"A woman?" the first and second voices exclaimed together. "Impossible!"

"I hear she's not just any woman, though," the third voice said knowingly. "I hear that she's the queen of the kingdom!"

"The queen?"

"Yeah! And she fights right alongside their king!"

"Impossible! What kind of queen wields a sword? What kind of king appears on the battlefield in person? Our king would never even step outside the walls of his castle!"

"Actually, I heard she's not actually the queen, she's just the king's lover-"

"Doesn't that make her the queen, though? Those people will be defeated sooner or later."

As the conversation drifted farther and farther from what I was interested in listening to, I turned away from the tavern. Was this army-leading, sword-wielding queen one of the four queens in Andreus's legend? I needed to go east again. But first, there was one last place I needed to check in on.

✦ ✦ ✦

I lifted my hood over my head. I had just reached the edge of the tree line, and the clearing before me was one that I couldn't easily forget. Lights were on in the manor beyond, and shadows were passing by the glowing windows.

After stepping out of the forest, I swiftly walked up the steps to the front door, my cloak billowing out behind me in the dull moonlight, trapped in a thick layer of fog. Everything was dark, silent, dead-just as I had remembered.

I paused once I reached the top of the stairs. I could sense the presence of vampires inside. Chatter. I could hear the faint sounds of voices talking as well.

The doors to the manor were unlocked, and I stepped over the threshold. The voices had gone silent the moment the doors swung shut behind me, and then suddenly, vampires were standing in the entrance hall before me.

"Who are you, vampire?" the vampire at the front of the group asked silkily. "Friend or foe? I wouldn't mess with us if I were you . . . we've still got the queen of the vampires on our side."

"The queen of the vampires?" I arched a brow, even though the gesture was hidden under the hood of my cloak. "Karmen?"

"Who else? The current Karmen is in the throne room."

"The current Karmen?" I angled my head to the side. "I've been away from the world of vampires for quite some time. Enlighten me, will you?"

A vampire at the back of the group stepped forward. "After the old Karmen disappeared, a new Karmen rose up. She took over the manor and the role of queen. Every couple of years, Karmen is challenged, and if the challenger can take her head, then they become the new Karmen."

The first vampire narrowed his eyes. "It's been that way for years now. You haven't heard about the fight to be queen at all?"

"I have not," I said lightly. "Tell this fake Karmen to step down. The real queen of the vampires has returned."

The first vampire waved me off. "That's what they all say. You'll have to prove it."

"Challenge accepted." I drew my sword, and the blade glinted as I lifted it in front of me.

The first vampire bowed to me once before lunging at me with a dagger in his hands.

I dodged him with ease. Even though I hadn't fought with anyone in a century, my muscle memory had me blocking each attack and dancing a deadly dance with the vampires.

Before long, all the vampires lay dead around me. After stepping over their bodies, I made my way down the hallways and into the throne room. A single vampire stood in the middle of the throne room, and the light from the large windows behind her drew a silver outline around her figure.

"Your Majesty!" She was shaking as she dropped to the ground in a bow, practically throwing herself at my feet. "All I've ever wished for was to serve the queen of the vampires! Yes, let me serve you!"

I looked down at her. "How have you been ruling over the vampires? What have you done about the humans?"

The vampire at my feet shook. "Us vampires have been too busy fighting each other to touch the humans."

"Fighting?" I asked lightly.

"There's a growing population of vampires who don't want a queen anymore," the vampire answered me quickly. "They call her-they call you evil. The way you murdered so many humans . . . they don't think someone like that is fit to be their ruler. Your Majesty!" she frantically grabbed onto my leg. "Let me live!"

"Live?" I took a step sideways out of her grasp. "I'm not really Karmen until I've taken your head."

"Your Maj-" she started, but she didn't have time to finish before my sword flashed through the air. I was Karmen again now. And the throne I had built for myself-it was mine again too. It didn't feel good to be back here at the manor, but I had faith in Andreus.

I only spent one day at the manor before I was back out under the night sky, heading east to find the queen who led soldiers against the Western army.

Through the grasslands, I went. Over the mountains and valleys. During the day, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and wrapped the thick fabric around my body. At night, I let my hood fall to my shoulders, and my hair flew freely in the winds.

As I walked, I tipped my head back to look up at the stars. If I looked long and hard enough, maybe I would see a shooting star. Maybe I would see a dragon.

Sighing softly, I clasped my hands together behind my back.

I had a lot of time to think as I walked alone. The days turned into weeks, and then the weeks into months. I had time to process my thoughts-of which there were many. It felt odd reminiscing about the past. But all of that was over now. I needed to focus on the present. The future.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I had been living in the eastern kingdoms for some number of years now. Ten maybe. Twenty perhaps. Possibly even more. And over those years, I had worked a variety of different jobs.

During the first five years, I worked as an apprentice to a master swordsmith. I had planned to keep working for him for my entire stay in the east, but the man was elderly and passed away not long after he had promoted me to a full-fledged swordsmith.

For a number of years after that, I took in a handful of eager apprentices. But once they started to grow suspicious of how I never seemed to age, I announced that I was retiring and moved away to start again in a neighboring province.

After that, I took up medicine, and then I got into the fishing business. It was peaceful sitting all day by the vast rivers that snaked through the countryside, under the protection of my wide-brimmed hat. The waters always bubbled a cheery song, and the fish that danced in the little currents were colorful as the light reflected off their scales.

Every weekend, I traveled to the heart of the kingdom, where the castle could be seen rising up above the horizon. I would sell my fish at the market among a number of other street vendors. I would sit there, gazing absently at the crowds of locals and travelers alike as they ambled by.

Here, someone was always talking about the king and queen and how no rulers before them could be more kind than the two of them. The king and queen were warriors who never once fell at the hands of the Western army. With them watching over everyone, the kingdom would never crumble.

It didn't take me long to believe their words. When I had first arrived at the kingdom, it was still a war-torn place. The Western army had finally retreated, leaving the kingdom in ruins. Just within the last twenty years, the king and queen had almost completely rebuilt it. Even though the monarchs themselves didn't show up in public as much as they used to, the people didn't seem to mind. After all, the king and queen now had a daughter to take care of.

One evening, after the markets closed, I packed up my stand and left the capital as always. The streets became less and less crowded the further I went. It was a quiet and clear night, and I was humming softly to myself as I walked.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy hooves pounding over the ground cut through the air. I spun around to watch a man on his horse galloping down the path. He was shouting out to anyone who would listen, "The castle has been attacked!" His face was pale, and his eyes whirled in their sockets. "The king and queen don't stand a chance!"

"You lunatic!" someone on the road angrily yelled back at him. "Are you crazy? Who would dare attack the king and queen? The Western army retreated years ago!"

"It's not the Western army!" the man on the horse shouted over his shoulder. "It's their own family!"

My blood went cold. I had to go to the castle.

No, that voice in my head hissed. What can I even do? Can I even get there in time if I wanted to do anything? I couldn't let the queen die-the other two queens from Andreus's prophecy still had yet to show up.

After slinking into the shadows, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and ran. The world blurred around me. My footsteps were light-silent, even-as I sprinted faster and faster on top of the rooftops. The stars were a blur of light above me, and the wind was a constant roar in my ears. A panic that I hadn't felt in years was starting to sink in. I needed to move faster.

By the time I reached the castle gates, they had already been thrown wide open, and the smell of blood lingered in the distance. I hurried through the gates, making sure to keep in the shadows as I desperately searched for any signs of life.

The courtyard was silent. Bodies littered the grass, some of which were knights who hadn't had time to don their armor. My skin crawled. Some of them were very young.

I could sense life radiating from inside the castle, but with it, there was also malice and an energy that sent my skin crawling all over again. The killers were still here, lounging lazily as if they hadn't just murdered the very people who had been fighting tooth and nail to keep the kingdom safe.

Before I could decide whether or not it would be a horrible idea to march into the castle and confront them, I suddenly sensed a lone presence coming from somewhere far above. I lifted my head to the turrets and took a step toward the scent of blood.

I stealthily made my way into the castle, down the halls, and finally up the stairs where the scent of blood, death, and despair was the strongest. As I stepped out into the night air, I took in the scene before me.

A young woman with hair the color of ink was lying next to her parents. The wind gently blew their dark hair around their lifeless figures.

The king and queen lay there, hand in hand, joined forever in eternal slumber.

I just stared, completely frozen in shock. Their daughter . . . she was still alive. Barely. Her dress was stained with blood where an arrow was lodged deep in her stomach. I looked down at her-looked down at the unconscious face streaked with tears. I dropped to my knees.

With the king and queen dead, once word got out, the eastern kingdoms would fall one by one to the hands of the Western army.

I sat there for a long time as the stars traveled across the sky. Part of me hoped that the murderers would come up the stairs so I could hurl them off the balcony myself, but no one came.

Finally, I lifted my hood back over my head and slowly rose to my feet. Just then, the dark-haired woman stirred. The slightest movement of her fingers caught my eye, and I timidly took a step closer, then another, and another, until I was right in front of the young woman.

The young woman slowly opened her eyes and blinked at me.

"Hello there," I whispered.

"Hello," the princess whispered back. There was something like shock in her voice. Shock, anger, and sadness.

"I can give you the strength you need to take your revenge." My words surprised me as they lingered in the night air between us. "I can give you the power you desire."

"Revenge?" The young woman's voice broke as she turned her head to look at the corpses of her parents. A fresh wave of silent tears streamed down her face. "They'll pay for what they did to my parents. They'll pay for what they did to everyone." Then she turned back to me, and her eyes flashed with resolve. "I want that power."

I sighed softly. "You know what I am. I can tell. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes," the princess whispered. Her breaths were ragged as she struggled to hold onto life. "I couldn't protect them-I couldn't protect anyone. I want to be like you. I-I'll avenge them. I need to avenge them."

I rolled my sleeve back before slicing a deep gash into my arm with a razor-sharp nail. "All you need to do is drink my blood." I offered the young woman my arm, and she only hesitated for a split second before taking it.

After drinking deeply, the princess drew away. My blood stained her lips. She just stared at me for a long moment, and I stared back. Then she seized up, and her eyes rolled back in her head.

My gaze dropped to the gash in my arm. My pale skin was already beginning to knit itself back together. What have I done?

The sound of footsteps running up the stairs echoed through the silence, and I jumped up.

I needed to get the princess out.

After scooping her up in my arms, I hurried over to the edge of the balcony just as a group of knights emerged from the stairs.

"Hey!" one of them shouted angrily. "The new king orders you to leave the princess's body!"

I let my blood-red eyes blaze at them through the dark before leaping into the night. I clutched the princess close to me as we tumbled through the air. We landed lightly on a balcony lower down, and I repeated this maneuver until I made my way all the way down to the ground.

And then I ran. The castle grounds gave way to a vast field of swaying grass and flowers. I needed to find someplace safe to hide the princess. I was sure those knights would come to look for her, and she needed to be safe as she went through her transformation. If she even survived it.

I came upon a lake, and the water bubbled softly as I knelt beside it. This would be the safest place to keep the princess.

I tentatively felt her pulse. She wasn't breathing. Her heart had stopped.

I gently set her down in the water and watched her slowly sink. If she woke, she would be close enough to the castle to find her way.

After rising to my feet, I stood there staring at the water where the princess's body had vanished. Forcing myself to tear my gaze away, I turned and hurried out of the field. What have I done?

I ran and ran and ran until the sun began to rise. The sky was turning into a blinding white light. I needed to find somewhere to escape the light.

I slowed to a stop and finally took a good look at my surroundings. The small village in front of me was foreign; the architecture of the buildings indicated that I had crossed the border into another kingdom.

I stood there shaking. It had only just hit me that the princess wasn't a princess anymore. With her parents gone, and as the rightful heir to the throne . . . she was the queen.

I let out a broken laugh. Everything was happening too quickly. There would be consequences for my actions-that I was sure of.

Dazed, I walked into the village and located the tavern almost immediately. The entire tavern seemed to go silent as the doors swung shut behind me. I could feel the eyes of its occupants on my back as I silently made my way to the far side of the room. I took a seat at an empty table pressed against the stone walls.

It didn't take long before I had an audience. A group of men had gathered around my table and were looking me up and down.

"This isn't a place for a girl," one of them finally said. The smell of alcohol was thick on his breath.

I just shook my head tiredly. I didn't have the mental energy to engage them right now.

Suddenly, the doors to the tavern burst open, and the music playing in the background dwindled to a stop. I glanced over in confusion.

A skeletal young man stood in the doorway. His sunken eyes narrowed as they skimmed over everyone in the room.

The men around my table dispersed as they marched over to confront the new arrival instead. One of the men folded his arms over his chest. "Well, would you look at that. He's back." There was something about the way they were looking at the young man that promised violence.

I quickly jumped up from my seat and pushed past them. "Hello!" I came to a stop in front of the young man and offered what I hoped was a bright and friendly smile. "There's an empty table in the back."

His eyes were cold as he glared down at me from behind his brown hair. There was a cloud of hatred that seemed to linger around him-a cloud of pain and resentment.

Suddenly, he reached out and forcefully shoved me away from him. Even though I had sensed the movement coming, I let myself stagger backward anyway. I had hoped I could help him avoid the impending conflict, but it seemed like it was going to happen anyway.

"You-!" The men watching our exchange stared at the young man in a rage. "You even dare to push a girl? Maybe this time we'll actually have to kill you!"

"Kill me, then!" the young man yelled into the tavern. His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Whoever wants to fight, I'll fight right now! Come at me!"

The sound of punches and angry yelling filled the room. I let a few of the men protectively lead me away from the fighting. Behind all the rage and anger I had sensed from the young man, there was a sense of sadness.

"Dump him outside!" someone finally said. I watched the men drag the unconscious young man out the back door.

"Young lassie," one of the men called after me as I started to follow them outside. "Where are you going?"

I wrung my hands together. "I feel partly responsible. If I hadn't gone over to him, maybe he wouldn't have gotten beat up."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to that angry lad. He fought us last time, and the time before that."

I offered them a smile. "I just want to make sure he'll be alright." And with that said, I headed outside.

The young man lay passed out in the grass in front of the stable, and I took a seat a short distance away under the shade the stable had to offer. It took many hours for the young man to come around. He opened his eyes and blinked up at the night sky, but made no move to sit up.

I looked over at him. "You're awake. Are you alright?"

"I'm alive."

"What's your name?" I tried. "My name's Josephina, but you can call me Phina."

"Lynden."

"Fighting like this will get you killed," I said softly. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

Lynden just stared unseeingly at the sky. A dark bruise was beginning to form around his right eye. "They killed her. They killed my sister. I need to go back there-I need to make them pay for what they did."

I furrowed my brow. "Who killed your sister? The men in the tavern?"

Lynden shook his head. "No, not them. I . . . I was an indentured servant until just recently. They kept all of us locked up in there. There was no sun. There was no light. My younger sister and I both suffered. Only I got away with my life."

"You want revenge," I said quietly.

"I want revenge," Lynden repeated darkly. "The last few times I came to this tavern asking for help, I got beaten to the verge of death instead. Now I see that they were never going to help me."

"How did you ask them last time?"

"I yelled at them. I tried to threaten them. They didn't take me seriously."

"Maybe you should try a different approach. Yelling at a bunch of drunks isn't known to end well."

"How else do I ask them?" Lynden asked hopelessly. "It's too late now, though."

"We could talk to them together," I suggested softly. "I came here to apologize-"

"I don't need your pity." Lynden narrowed his eyes as he finally sat up. He swayed as he climbed to his feet. "I'm leaving."

"Hey!" I called after him as he limped away through the grass. He hadn't gone far before he collapsed onto his knees and vomited. Even if he hadn't drunk any alcohol tonight, it was clear that his health was deteriorating. "Hey, are you alright? You'll just make your injuries worse like that!"

"I'm still alive," Lynden choked out. And with that, he climbed to his feet again and staggered away into the night.

✦ ✦ ✦

The following night, I waited and waited, but Lynden didn't show up. By the time the sun started to rise, I had made up my mind to go look for him myself.

Lynden hadn't gone far, and I tracked him down by the next night. I hurried over to find Lynden standing inside an abandoned barn. Somehow he had gotten his hands on a length of rope and was drunkenly trying to toss the end of it over one of the wooden joists that supported the roof rafters.

"Hey!" I raised my voice as I rushed over to him. "What are you doing?"

Lynden brushed me off with a hiss. "It's none of your business!" This time, he reeked of alcohol.

I grabbed the rope from him and tossed it aside. "You're not thinking straight right now!"

"I'm thinking clearer than I ever have before!" Lynden yelled. He swayed on his feet as he squinted through the dark. "If I can't avenge them, let me join them in death!"

I took a cautious step forward. "I know you're in a lot of pain. But you should wait until you can think straight before you make any life-or-death decisions."

Lynden stared at me with clouded eyes. He just let out a broken laugh. His eyes rolled back in their sockets, and he collapsed to the floor of the barn.

I sighed and bent down to drag the unconscious Lynden over to the wall. His head lolled to the side as I propped him up in a sitting position. It was true that even in all their glory, the eastern kingdoms did have a dark side.

✦ ✦ ✦

The next night, Lynden and I ended up at the tavern again. Lynden had refused to join me until I offered to buy him a drink.

I sat quietly as I watched him. He was looking sicker with each passing day, and the other patrons in the tavern had lost interest in him. Lynden blinked as if he only just remembered I was sitting there with him. "They say the West is going to take over."

I dipped my head in a nod.

"What difference does it make? Until a few days ago, I didn't even know there was a Western Kingdom or a Western King. I didn't know there was a war going on for decades."

"Once he takes over, people will suffer," I said quietly. "Chaos and corruption will reign."

Lynden's expression darkened. "If that's the case, it seems like the Winfielde's duchy really won't be investigated."

"The Winfielde's duchy?"

Lynden just ignored me as his expression changed again to one of fear. "If the East isn't going to look into it, and the West will continue to turn a blind eye as well, I'll need to stop them myself."

"Listen to yourself. You're just one person, and a sickly one at that."

Lynden dropped his gaze to stare at the table between us. "There's really no hope, then. There's no hope for any of us."

"There's always hope," I said quietly.

"Where?" Lynden demanded as he raised his head to look at me. "I clung to hope for all those years. But the one I hoped to protect is gone!"

"Lynden, I-"

"Why do we have to keep enduring in a world like this?" Lynden hopelessly sank down in his seat. "Aren't we all human? Aren't I a human too? We all just want to live a peaceful life." Finally, he slowly rose from his seat.

"Where are you going?" I worriedly called after him as he staggered toward the exit. "Lynden!"

Lynden ignored me as he stumbled outside. I rushed to the door only to pause with one foot hovering over the threshold. I stared after Lynden's retreating figure for a long moment. I wanted to help him, but I had to respect his decision to act on his own.

After a few days, I began to hear the rumors that a drunk and angry young lad had stormed into the manor of the Winfielde family. He threatened to kill everyone in it but was quickly subdued and thrown into the dungeons. I knew they were talking about Lynden.

✦ ✦ ✦

Sneaking into the manor was too easy. All I had to do was glide through the shadows. The servants who walked through the halls had their heads bent over and refused to look at each other or anyone else as they shuffled from place to place.

The dungeons didn't take me long to find; the moment I entered the manor, the reek of mold, rot, and despair hit me in the face. I wrinkled my nose as I descended the slick stone steps.

I blinked in the dark, and my eyes glowed as they adjusted to the absence of light. A single candle flickered in a lone sconce on the wall, and I watched the dying flame slowly burn itself out.

There were multiple bodies in the dungeon's cells, but out of all of them, only one person was still alive. And his scent was one I recognized.

I silently walked over to the cell. When I stopped in front of it, I reached out and bent the metal bars away from me. The figure lying in the cell was shivering from cold and hunger.

"Are you Death?" Lynden's eyes stared unseeingly at me through the dark as I stepped inside. He was even more skeletal than the last time I had seen him.

"I'm Karmen," I said quietly. "Karmen, the queen of the vampires. But, in other words, you could say that I am Death."

"Good." Lynden's breathing was labored, and his voice was hoarse. "I've been waiting for you."

I just stood there, looking down at Lynden for a long moment.

"Before you take me away"-Lynden's cracked lips were moving again-"please, I have one request. I'm begging you, make the Winfielde family pay. Please bring justice to the innocent people who suffered at their hands." With that said, Lynden rolled onto his knees in a bow. He hissed in pain as his broken legs buckled beneath him.

"You're dying," I said softly. "I could give you a second chance at life. I could give you a chance to start over."

"I don't want to start over." Lynden's forehead was pressed to the stone floor. "I want revenge."

I knelt down. "I could give you the power you'd need to take that revenge you seek. I could make you a vampire like me."

"Make me a vampire like you . . ." Lynden raised his head. "I'll kill them-I'll kill all of them. And then-and then everyone can be free."

"Once you become a vampire, your body will heal. You will become something other than human. You will become a walking corpse."

Lynden's smile was pained. "I don't care what I become. Ever since I was born, I haven't truly lived. I never cared about my own death. But my sister . . . she was so young."

"In that case, all you need to do is drink my blood." I offered my arm to him, and with a flash of my nails, I cut a deep gash through my skin.

Lynden inhaled sharply, wincing at the blood dripping from my arm. But he finally reached out with a hand of broken fingers and nails to take it.

"Meet me on the other side," I said softly. "I'm always looking for loyal followers. You can find me at my manor in the Western Kingdom."

When Lynden finished drinking, he collapsed back onto the stone floor, and his eyes closed as he began to lose consciousness.

I reached out to wipe away the blood that had smeared onto his face, but froze as Lynden's fingers closed around mine.

A single tear slid down the side of his face.

And so I sat there next to the unconscious Lynden, silently holding his hand until he stopped breathing and the warmth of life faded from his body.

It was time to return to my homeland.

I had a role to fulfill if I wanted to bring about a better world.