Page 2 of The Star's Sword

1

Cleo

Istrode across the misty road in front of Simon’s keep, thinking that my friends had lately been acting a little out of character.

A bit moody.

Morose, one might even say.

I wasn’t sure why. I was feeling peppy, training with Cayne was going well, and I was even managing to impress the vampires in Simon’s court already, with his help.

It was his idea to seek out the vampires to see if they would help us breach the seals that kept lower flying creatures out of the sky realms.

Vampires were a key security feature for the celestials. Growing up in the havens, I only saw them as a threat to leaving my haven, to going beyond the veil. Evil monsters that came out of nowhere in swarms, that the celestials saved us from.

Coming to the mid-realm made it clear that vampires were nothing like I expected.

For one, they formed into fairly regulated societies ran by elder vampires who served as factory owners, thrall owners, or keep owners.

Keep owners, like Simon, provided protection, but any vampire society could provide something, for a price. Usually the blood of any visitor.

That’s why blood donation was the key aspect of vampire society.

And why I showed up every Wednesday in the evening to give blood.

Simon’s keep was guarded by a giant, iron-wrought gate. Behind it, four large castle structures in simple medieval gray blocks all surrounded a large courtyard with several buildings of great size, including a ball room with glass windows allowing you to see from all sides and a dining hall where the vampire courtiers could mingle and meet.

As I reached the gate, and put my hand on it, Simon came into view, walking out of the mist and startling me.

He had a slightly tense expression on his face, which while abnormal usually, had been regular of late. He seemed to think that I wouldn’t be able to sway the vampires from another potential Morningstar candidate that had showed up to court in the past few months.

But I wasn’t worried. I’d been donating blood for months and had never even seen this other candidate donating, and Simon had assured me that blood donation was vital.

Simon was wearing his typical Keep wear, which was much different from his semi-comical vampire costumes or sparkly clothing he wore outside the Keep.

He wore leather boots that made him a bit taller than usual, but still not what you’d call tall. He wore a long leather trench with a high, turned-up collar. Beneath, he appeared to be wearing more leather, with belts and straps and bits of metal glinting as he walked.

Outside the keep, he liked to be frivolous and silly. But I’d quickly figured out that when around other vampires, he was more serious and down to business.

He gave me a smile as he got close enough to open the gate for me, and with a mere wave of his hand the giant structure creaked and heaved to the side, rolling slowly.

Vampire telekinesis.

It was so misty and polluted in the mid-realm lately that it always felt dark. Like the moment before a thunderstorm, but all the time. And as always, it was hard to even comprehend the level of charm emanating from him whenever he turned it my way.

His face was pretty, verging on beautiful, with black hair curtaining at both sides, and pale skin like the marble of a morgue, spray painted just a slightly more normal color.

Basically, he looked dead. But pretty. Pretty dead.

“Cleo,” he said, looking slightly tired as he rubbed the arm of his coat, like something was bothering him beneath it. “How are you doing?” He extended his hand to clasp mine and his skin felt slightly warmer than usual. Like he’d fed recently.

I cocked my head at him. “Did you eat? Is Cayne here?”

Cayne was Simon’s best friend and my lover Sam’s brother, who we recently rescued from death a few months ago.

Simon’s face winced guiltily, just a micro-expression, and then he shrugged. “You know, sometimes it’s a diplomatic thing. Letting someone feed a vampire.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling like I wasn’t getting the whole story.

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