Page 3 of A Dawn So Dark

Chapter 5

Aurora Artorias

Dozens of drunken men of the Duke stumbled about the makeshift camp. It spanned around a third of the castle to boast that he indeed possessed an army. Just not a remarkably impressive one. I swallowed hard and lowered my head as if I were a servant. Scurrying through the crowds, I kept my head low and my cloak lower. Men made drunken comments, trying to lure me their way. My heart pounds against my chest as I weave through the hordes of drunks. To my advantage, my father had sent down enough women from the brothels to be able to sate their aggressions, though it did not stop the swiping and grabbing of my cloak. I swatted the hands away and pushed through the crowd as quickly as I could.

So close. I was nearly there. I would vanish into a small village and wait until I could one day return and cut my father down, claim the kingdom and the grail.

Right as the stables entered my line of sight, I was knocked into a tree, forcefully being held againstthe rough bark. My head achedfrom the harsh impact, the bark digging into my flesh. The cool air hit my legs as myskirts were being hiked above my waist. I screamed, kicking back at the man.This was not happening. “Unhand me!”No, oh please no.

A grime covered hand placed itself over my mouth, silencing me. I gagged at the stench as I continued to thrash and fight against the man. I heard his pants drop, sending me into a panic. My cloak was tossed over my shoulder and my bodice was promptly cut down the back, the blade digging into my skin. The hand muffled my screams as I felt him grope at my bare skin, my breasts, my thighs, my rear. Tears fell down my cheeks as I realized there was little chance of escaping this awful fate.Fight, Aurora, Fight!I started to thrash even harder when suddenly, the man crumbled to the ground in an unceremonious lump. I quickly covered myself as I realized the stable boy had knocked the man in the head with a horse shoe. “Oh gods!” I cried in relief, pulling my cloak around me tightly as I hurried away from the unconscious drunk. “Are you alright, Your Majesty?” I nodded through my tears,grabbing his elbow and pulling him towards the stables.I had to be okay until I was free of this hell.I had a few short moments before the Duke's men alerted the guards that it was me fleeing for the stables. “Thank you for the timely rescue, Miles. I need my horse now!”

“It is the dead of night, Princess. Do you have an escort?” I shook off his worry and opened Mel's stable door, my horse since childhood. “I won’t be needing an escort where I am going.”

“Where are you going, My Lady?” he asked as he saddled up my horse.

I swiftly mounted, as one of the best riders in the kingdom, I had no doubt my escape would be successful if I wasn't followed. Though I had not been allowed to ride in nearly two years. “I am unsure, Miles, but far at the very least. Thank you for coming to my rescue, I hope we meet again one day. Please tell no one of my presence here tonight. Tell the Duke's men I rode towards the coast, heading for the trade port if questioned.”

I was interrupted by the shouts of men rallying, now likely heading for the horses as the alarm hornsounded, signaling the entire kingdom of my escape. Miles opened the gate for me and Mel bolted out of the stables. I kicked her hind leg, urging her forwards, towards the woods. The sounds of at least two dozen men behind me sent adrenaline pulsing through my veins.A fate worse than almost losing my virtue against a tree would find me if I let the Duke's men catch me. I knew the Knights would not be able to deploy in time to catch up to me, though I am sure they would attempt to track me come dawn.

“Do not let the Duke’s betrothed escape!” a voice sounded a hundred yards back. It was as if Mel knew we were escaping as she picked up the pace herself. Tree branches tore at my dress and skin, the wind stinging the cuts as we continued through the darkness, my hair a tangle of leaves and twigs. I had no idea how long I rode, but the night had turned pitch black. Only the light of the moon guidingus. I knew Mel was growing tired as we tore through the trees. “Come on darling, just a bit further.” No clue where we were going, but I had to get as far as humanly possible from the capital. Suddenly, arrows flew towards me. The men must have realizedthey couldn't catch up to me on horseback. An arrow tore through my cloak, terrifying me as I flicked the reins harder, praying that we could make it far enough that they would turn back. My hopes were shattered when a wave of arrows pierced Mel’s hind leg, bucking me off forwards as she collapsed to the ground. I fell to the forest floor with a harsh thud, rolling a few times. Splinters and rocks cut my arms from fingertips to elbows, shredding the sleeves of my gown. I ignored the pain and turned to my beloved horse as another arrow struck her as she lay there. Tears fell down my face upon seeing thelight leave my beloved horse's eyes.My sweet Mel.I knew I was next if I didn't run and quickly. I ran. Tree limbs grabbing at me as I headed towards the thicker, darker part of the forest, knowing horses would not be able to follow. My slippers pounded against the brush as I pushed through briars and thistles, my heart hammering in my chest. The sounds of the hunting hounds sent fear shooting down my spine, as this meant the search party had grown.I was fucked.

I came upon a crossroads that forced me to a halt. A sign pointed to the King's Road while the other roadhad no sign. The other led into a dense, overgrown path with vines devouring the trail. I knew if I took the King’s Road I would be quickly discovered and returned to Camelot. Upon hearing the howling dogs of the Knights, I took off running down the unmarked path. I pushed through the thick brush, praying a clearing would provide me with a moment of rest. Another hour of running passed before I entered a clearing. I couldn't breathe, my ears rang. I didn't know where I was or how far behind the Knights were, but I knew I could go no further. A shout sounded in the distance, the glow of firelight dancing through the trees.HadI been found?I pushed through the brush, keeping low in case it was my father’s men. I nearly let out a sob when I saw a lively tavern, bustling with dozens of drunken people. Perfect, a town. No one would ever remember that they had seen me if guards asked any questions. I wrapped my cloak around me, pulling its hood down to hide my face. It was likely no one would recognize me so far from the city, but being a woman traveling on her own would draw attention I did not need with the Duke's men on my heels.

Chapter 6

Arden

Daemon was going to kill me.

He had warned me against coming to the human realm, not quite forbidding me. The realm of humans thought us extinct. I frequented this tavern only to get away from the constant buzzing of my sister and Noa, Daemon when he was in a particularly bitchy mood. Watching humans and their problems gave me perspective on what it was to live for eternity.They are born. They eat. They fuck. They procreate. They die. I had been alive for over seven hundred years, thousands more ahead of me, and each of these people would be gone and dust in a fraction of that. I had fought in wars to save humans, to save my people and all I had to show for it was stale ale. I spent my days training an army for a war that would never come, the world thought us extinct,dead. I felt it everyday. Living the same day for eternity. Same drills, same meetings, same women,same ale. The ale came as a price for getting to sit and experience humanity for a brief moment. They thought my kind extinct, hatedus in the name of a King that let them die of starvation. All for what? A few dusty artifacts?

I nodded to the barkeep to fill my cup again, his response was a grunt. The tavern was nothing impressive, nothing extravagant like my usual haunts back home, no watchful eyes that knew who I was, questions of the wars I had fought in. Here, I was no one. Even if it was a run down place that held a musk of old men and mildew. The hearth was warm, the crass laughter echoed off of the crumbling walls, the stale food and watered down ale. This place was an escape. A shitty escape.

A new ale was placed before me just as my escape faded. Laughter melted into whispers as the metal door of the tavern was thrown open. I remained focused on my ale, uncaring of what the mumbles were about. My plans of ignoring the newcomer dissipated like smoke when a scent struck me that sent a shiver down my spine and landed square in my chest. The smell wasdelicate, warm like a setting sun on an autumn day and mixed with….blood. This was no ordinary smell of blood, the metallic notes held a softness, a sweetness that made me want to turn around and ravish whatever had just dared to enter the tavern.But I remained civilized, not wanting to alert a tavern full of humans that a Vampire walked among them. I brought my ale to my lips as I listened to hesitant footsteps make their way across the tavern to the bar where I sat. The smell overwhelmed my every sense. My skin felt like it was set ablaze, my blood boiling in my veins, screaming,beggingfor a taste. I wanted to turn and figure out what in the seven hells had my pulse rising in anticipation. Then the source of the smell spoke and my heart turned over in the chest.

“Whatever is strongest.” My breath left my body.Did someone poison my drink? The smell of blood had not made me this crazy in hundreds of years.I blinked hard, fighting my fangs back like a young man trying to tame his cock. Looking towards the source of the smell, I was surprised to see a young woman who could only be described as unlike anything that had walked this earth.Her hair was a rich sunkissed auburn, matted and filled with twigs, her cheeks a flushed peach against the creamy skin of her delicately carved face and her full, pink lips. She would haunt my dreams like a siren. But what stunned me was her eyes. A green that matched the forest canopies, a polished jade surrounded by lush lashes that swept across her cheekbones as she blinked. I had seen thousands of humans in my lifetime, bedded just as many, but this one-a tattered mess and anger in her eyes, intrigued me more than all of them combined. Her cloak hid her body, but I imagined it was hiding a great deal more beneath it. A glass of dark spirit was placed before her. Her pink lips curved around the rim as she tossed it back, wincing as she handed the glass back with a coin. “Another.” her voice wonderfully low, soft and clear, husky from exhaustion.

Daemon really is going to kill me.

“Long night?”I inserted myself into her solitude, trying to coax her attention towards me. Her eyes snapped towards me, widening when she registered me fully. Her pulse quickened and her cheeks flushed a perfect pink.Good, she also found me appealing. That wasgoing to make this easy. “One could say so.” She answered cooly as she placed another coin down for the second drink. When she reached for her next glass, I saw both old and fresh wounds decorating her wrist, seemingly from restraints. Looking her up and down, there were clear signs that she had been attacked in recent hours. Unexplainable rage boiled in my chest at the thought. “Would you be able to direct me towards Verona?” She looked damn near collapsing, but her eyes told me that she had no intention of resting any time soon.Fiery little thing.Goddesses above, I had half the mind to kneel before her and carry her wherever she desired. But there was an easier way to get what I wanted.

“Follow the path behind the tavern straight for a mile and when the path splits, veer left. You will dead end right to your destination.”Noa was going to kill me. Daemon was going to yell, maybe break something. Something told me he would forgive me. She smiled softly, nodding in thanks, seeming surprised I had responded to her question. Her smile shifts, her cheeks tinting pink. “May I buy you a drink?” She tucks her lower lipsbehind her teeth as she nervously awaits my response.She was flirting with me. My chest ignites as I smile broadly at her, prepared to buy her as many drinks as she could handle. I wanted to give her anything she wanted.

Before I could answer her, a man approached her from the other side, clearly drunk and clearly very interested in her. He stank of ale and one of the tavern girls who he had bedded an hour ago. “How much for a night with you, pretty girl?” He teetered as he spoke. Before I could say anything to scare him off she growled “Fuck off.” The man disliked her answer and grabbed her wrist.“I asked,how much?!”

I stood to kill this man where he stood for placing his hands on such a divine little thing. She moved first. She stole the knife from the breadbasket atop the bar andrammed it through his forearm, pinning his flesh to the wood of the bartop.His once gruff voice was now a child-like screech of pain. “You could never afford me.”She spat with angry tears gleaming in her eyes, punching him in the stomach for good measure before skirting around him. Her eyes met mine over the manand my cock instantly hardened in my trousers. She nods a silent thanks before hurrying towards the back exit.

“Safe travels!” I called after her, unable to hold back a laugh. The man screamed as the barkeep ripped the knife from his arm and growled a disapproval in my direction.

It was her… it washer.I had dreamed of this moment for ages. Hundreds of years. Imagined every outcome. Yet here she was, a blur of rage and violence… andbeautiful. The goddesses must have thought I had done something right in eight hundred years to deserve to even be in the presence of such a miraculous creature.

Maybe Daemon wasn’t going to killme after all.

Chapter 7

Aurora Artorias

Ifollowed the directions of thegorgeousman to the letter. I had not expected to see such a handsome man in the run down tavern. Outrageously tall, even while sitting, tanned skin littered with pale scars. His smile made my chest hurt, his eyes matched the sky on a clear spring day andhair white as snow fell across his forehead like a curtain of ice.I had also not planned to stab someone in front of said man. A stranger,a beautiful one, that I would likely never cross paths with again.

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