Page 14 of Embers in the Snow

The blood of men doesn’t smell so maddeningly sweet. I can control myself around them. As long as I surround myself with male soldiers and servants, my condition is manageable.

Kaithar staggers up the stairs, his footfalls so heavy he could wake the dead.

How can this bastard be so deadly and graceful on the battlefield—a pure menace with his heavy war axe—and yet so clumsy and lumbering when he’s had a few too many drinks?

It isn’t often, but when Kaithar gets on the booze, he goeshard.

“Van…” Kaithar’s tone turns serious—well, as serious as he can possibly be when he’s drunk and slurring his words. “You’reyou.I don’t care what’s happened to your body. You’re as you as I’ve ever known you to be. You’ve already had enough power at your disposal in your lifetime, evenbefore. If you wanted to turn into some evil bastard, you would have done so already. I should know. I’ve seen enough of them. You and I both. That’s why I’m loyal to you.”

“I appreciate your vote of confidence, Commander Bareem,” I say dryly as I deliver my old friend to the top of the stairs. “But there’s still so much about this infernal conditionof mine that I still don’t understand.”

The books I ordered from the other side of the continent haven’t arrived yet.Arcanea MagikoraandAn Illustrated Guide to Vampyrkindare extremely rare and old texts I’ve been trying to obtain for some time.

The answers I seek… I am hoping beyond hope I’ll find them in those books.

As we walk down the corridor, Kaithar puts his big, heavy arm around my shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You always do. It doesn’t make me see you any differently, Your Highness. I’m just glad you’re still alive.”

I take more of Kaithar’s weight, refusing to allow him to stagger. “Kaith,” I say softly, a thorny vine curling around my heart. “It’s not often I say this, butthank you.”

“Tch. What for? You’re not going all sentimental on me now, are you? You know, it’s good to see you, Van. I haven’t seen your face in a while. I get uneasy, you know, with you locking yourself up in your chambers all the bloody time.”

“I have a lot of work to do,” I growl. “Feyrun Bengar left Tyron’s estates and finances in a mess.”

“Can’t argue with you there. The man was a complete moron. I don’t know what your father was thinking, keeping him as steward for so long. Never mind. You’ll have this place up to your usual standards in no time. You’ve already done enough, mind you. Nobody’s going to starve this winter.”

The castle registry is filled with records of many deaths from winters’ past. Babes, children, mothers, fathers. The registrars usually putsicknessas the cause of death, but when I cross-referenced the granary records from those dates, it was quite obvious that they simply didn’t have enough food.

A knot of anger tightens within me.

I despise incompetence.

Especially incompetence that causes suffering.

I don’t tell Kaithar that father failed to deal with Duke Bengar because he didn’tknowwhat was going on in Tyron. Lukiria is the center of everything, and as far as the nobles are concerned, Tyron is the end of the world; a barren, wintry province that is of no value and no consequence.

At last, we reach the simple wooden door that leads to Kaithar’s quarters.

“Well, thankyoufor dragging me all the way here, Your Highness.” Kaithar uncurls his arm from my shoulders and tries to execute the worst bow I’ve ever seen. “If you didn’t sneak up on me back there, I probably would have crawled into the nearest stairwell and fallen asleep.”

“And gotten yourself half-frozen to death in the process. At least now your snoring won’t wake half the bloody castle.”

“I don’t snore,” Kaithar says with a deadpan expression as he pushes the door open. A tendril of warm air escapes. One of the servants must’ve lit the fire before they went to bed.

Familiar scents swirl around me. Leather and blade oil. Clean linen and woodsmoke and salted meat.

Ever since I underwent the changes, my senses have been overly sharp. The faintest sound rings loudly in my ears. I can pick up scents I never knew existed. Too many strong scents all at once can make me feel sick in my stomach.

I can see in the dark now.

The direct midday sun is too harsh for my eyes.

For months after I turned, I secluded myself, unable to cope with the cacophony of noises and the melange of scents that assaulted my senses.

But I’m a little more used to it now. I can filter out unnecessary distractions…mostof the time.

“Go to bed, Kaith,” I growl, gently pushing him inside.

He hesitates at the entrance, turning around and leaning heavily on the door frame. “Do I have to pry answers out of you, you cryptic idiot? I asked you where you’re going.Twice.Spit it out, Van.”

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