Child of Blackwen (An Artemis Ravenwing Novel Book 1) (2 page)

No…it was orange. Wasn’t it?

I smelled the dried blood and got my answer. I had hunted a fox, the animal I preferred to feed on. Avilyne’s hell.

I hated what I was. I hated my need for something to sustain—no. I had to keep a peaceful mindset. I had to suppress the dark nature of my heritage.

I hid the bundle for now, making a mental note to burn it all later. It wasn’t too long ago that a “slip” like this had happened last. I prayed the next episode wouldn’t happen for a prolonged period of time. That damned nature of mine had to have been sated…it better have.

Running to another room, I rummaged through my clothing trunks. Scowling at my lack of “proper” elven garb, I settled on a sleeveless, light green dress with a high neckline—one of the many gifts bestowed to me by Talisa, a witch who served the Woodland Realm and a longtime vassal of the water goddess, Kiare. The thought of her returning brought a smile to my face. I missed her dearly. I’d be lying if I denied missing Shadow more though.

My thoughts returned to the dream I had before the bells woke me. The memory of Shadow’s news, of his call to war, still haunted me. He and Talisa were the few true friends I had here in the city, let alone the realm. Who knew that the realm of your birth would make you feel like an irremovable stain on the finest fabric reserved for the nobility?

I was raised away from the cities of the Woodland Realm. I never knew the site of my birth. My mother, Tamina, was murdered when I was
still an infant. I never knew the whole story either; neither Shadow nor Talisa would tell me. The two were once close friends with Mother, and they both swore to watch over me, even before the gloomy circumstances.

I spent the first ten years of my life with Talisa, living in her cottage far from Ellewynth, a city that was considered the heart of the Woodland Realm. At the end of that tenth year, I was relocated to Ellewynth and spent more of my time with Shadow. Talisa visited whenever she could to help ease the transition and to ensure her continuing guardianship. I hated living here. The elves quickly rejected me. They would have been more than pleased to cast me out of their borders if given the chance. If it weren’t for the Elders, I’m sure they’d have tried to kill me as well.

All of the hatred from the elves was because I was different from them. I am a dhampir, or half-vampire in simpler terms.

My vampiric heritage came from Mother. Full-bloods, her race was called. I wasn’t told much about my father, Gavin, other than that he was human. The only other detail I
did
know was that both Talisa and Shadow despised him. I didn’t know if he was still alive, and I stopped asking after a time. Angry glances and murmured curses were tiring after a while.

Standing in front of a mirror, I stared at the face that gazed back. I was told by many that I was the spitting image of Tamina; I had her long brown hair with hints of red in the sunlight, but I had my father’s hazel eyes. Talisa told me Mother’s eyes were violet. I often tried to picture myself with her eyes instead of those I was born with.

Taking a ribbon from my desk, I plaited my hair and twisted the ribbon to bind it. After a sigh, I felt I was presentable enough to venture outside and into the throng of elven society.

As I slipped on a pair of soft brown leather boots, I heard a series of loud, pounding knocks from the main room below. I made my way down the stairs, and I heard a familiar grumbling from the other side of the door.

After opening it, I stood face to face with the only other elf I could call “friend”—even if he was a stitch in my side once in a while.

“Well, good morning, Jack,” I greeted him, while folding my arms.

I met Jack several days after Shadow and Talisa’s departure. He was the new addition to my archery classes then, and was equally as terrible
as I. It was a friendship sent from the goddesses themselves. I never appreciated the strange sense of humor of the sacred sisters.

Like me, Jack was considered an outcast among the elves; he didn’t act like the “proper” elf, and to this day he still has little skill with the bow and arrow. Jack made it a habit of skipping weapons training to hide in the library to research spells and other “rewards” of magic, as it was the only thing of interest to him. Jack usually suffered dearly for those antics, mostly at the hands of his horrific aunt. Avilyne’s hell, she even terrified
me
. That old crunchy-faced, slack-jawed goat…

Jack was also an outcast because of his appearance: where the Woodland Realm elves had differing shades of blond hair and a pair of either blue or green eyes, Jack was dark haired and had equally dark brown eyes. I was always disgusted with the politics here…if you couldn’t blend in, you were sneered at. It was no wonder the other elven realms steered clear from us.

Jack took one glance at my dress and covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. I rolled my eyes as a snort escaped his lips.

“Stop it.”

“Since when do
you
wear dresses, Artemis?” he asked, forcing a cough to cover the chuckling. “Soleil burn me, I didn’t even think you
owned
one.”

Once upon a time, he would have been right about that.

“I didn’t have much choice in the ‘proper’ section of my wardrobe. And I happen to like this dress!” I answered. Studying him, I noticed his hair was pulled back in haste, and his gray robes were disheveled. I groaned once I put two and two together. “You didn’t make it home last night, did you?”

Jack laughed nervously. “Well…”

“Oh goddesses, Jack.” I covered my face with a hand in disappointment. “Were you drunk again?”

“No! Not this time, anyway,” he answered, while rubbing his face. “Look, that’s not why I’m here. I thought you’d maybe want to go with me to welcome back Shadow and Talisa.”

I raised an eyebrow at first, and eventually nodded as I shut the door behind me. “Let’s not keep them waiting.”

“Artemis?”

“What?”

“What’s that on your hand?” Jack asked.

He pointed to my left hand, and I saw remnants of fox blood on it. Soleil burn me…it must have rubbed off from the clothes. I didn’t need Jack’s inquiries, not now. He couldn’t talk, seeing as his drinking habits were far worse than my dhampir blackouts.

I just needed to work on tightening the leash.

“Nothing,” I declared as I moved my palm out of sight.

“Are you—”

“I
said
it is nothing,” I insisted as I rubbed my hand along the bottom of my boot. “Let’s go already.”

Jack and I eventually made our way to the city square, ignoring the grumbles and curses of the elves we passed. I glanced over at Jack and scowled. He was such a mess.

“Jack, for goddesses sake, at least fix your hair!” I scolded. “If
I’m
wearing a dress, the least
you
can do is to look proper yourself.”

“There’s nothing wrong with slightly messy hair. It becomes me,” Jack teased. “As for your choice in wardrobe…maybe you should wear dresses more often. It makes you look normal!”

I glared at him as he guffawed. “If I didn’t pity you, I’d cripple you where you stand.”

“No, you wouldn’t. You’d miss my company and spur-of-the-moment visits,” he mused. Before I could snap, Jack held up a hand and pointed straight ahead. “Here come the cavalry. Smile, will you?”

A parade of elven warriors marched from the city gates onward to the square. Some were on foot, others on horseback. Elves from the crowd ran out to those they recognized and partook in teary greetings. I tiptoed over other elves to better my view, and my stomach churned as I couldn’t find Shadow or Talisa in the crowd.

Jack grabbed my wrist and helped me move through the crowd; I could feel his own nerves through his grip. There still weren’t any signs of Shadow and Talisa, and the stomach twists grew worse. I shook my head to be rid of the thought that they might not return at all.

“Where are they?” I whispered.

“They can’t be too far behind, Artemis,” Jack assured me. “You worry too much.”

“Shadow has already made it into Ellewynth,” a voice informed us from behind, startling us both. “Just a little after dawn, if you care for specifics.”

Jack and I swiveled around and were greeted with a grin from our former archery-mate, Lilith. She was the same age as us; her light blond hair was unbound and held a crown of white lilies, which matched her flowing white gown. Lilith blinked her bright blue eyes and smiled shyly in Jack’s direction. Jack did a terrible job hiding the excitement her presence caused.

Lilith was another one of the very few elves who treated me as a person rather than a monster. It was usually done in secret, however, as her sister, Serlene, was our archery instructor and harbored great disgust for me. Lilith would always be scorned for public kindness toward me; I often felt terrible for the poor girl.

“H-hello, Lily,” Jack greeted her, while wringing his hands nervously behind his back. “I w-would hope Serlene made her safe return as well?”

Lilith’s smile widened a bit more, and it nearly made Jack fall over. I smiled myself; Jack had had an infatuation for her since the day the two met. I always enjoyed the thought of Serlene ripping her hair out should Jack finally gather the courage to court her younger sister.

“She did,” Lilith answered him. “It warmed the heart knowing she made it through her four years of service in the war.”

“Lilith, is Shadow at home or did he go elsewhere?” I interrupted, not wanting to hear more about her wretched sister.

“Artemis, please! You don’t have to keep calling me by my proper name!” Lilith chuckled. She tapped a thin finger against her cheek. “I’m not sure if he is still at home. If it were me, I’d probably be fast asleep after all the toil and travel.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, as would I.”

“Eight years is a long time for anyone, Artemis.” Lilith put a warm hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure Shadow wants to be well rested and presentable before seeing you. A few more hours couldn’t hurt, hmm?”

“You do realize you’re talking about Artemis, right, Lily?” Jack snorted. “Dhampir or not, she still falls prey to impatience. They have quite the relationship, you know.”

“Oh stop it, Jack,” Lilith teased, with a light smack to his shoulder. “You would act the same way if your love went off to war.”

Jack and I stiffened at her words. After an awkward moment of silence, Jack burst out laughing. I quickly cleared my throat.

“I’m not in love with Shadow,” I insisted, while glaring at Jack.

“No?” Lilith asked, blinking her sweet innocence. “Apologies then. I just assumed because you are so fond of Shadow and speak often of him that perhaps you and he—”

“He’s a close friend, that’s all,” I explained, while reaching for Jack’s arm. I gave him a sharp pinch. “Stop laughing!”

Jack yelped. He frowned at me, and then focused on Lilith. “What of Talisa? Any news of her?”

“Yes! She’s returned safely to her cottage. Serlene helped escort her,” Lilith answered.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was happy knowing they had returned safely, though I still wanted to see them despite their fatigue from the war. I looked at the streets, watching the returning soldiers embrace their loved ones, and felt a twinge of jealousy. Jack jabbed my side, forcing me to pay attention to the conversation.

“Why don’t we head back to your house?” he suggested. “I’m sure Shadow will meet you there at some point today. And I may or may not be hungry. You know how that goes.”

Lilith chuckled as I glared at him again. “Fine, fine.”

“Well, I am sure I will run into the two of you again. A pleasure,”—Lilith reached over and kissed both Jack’s and my cheek in farewell— “as always.”

I said good-byes for both Jack and myself, as he began blushing like a youngling and was unable to respond. Dragging him away, I gave him a smack to the back of the head.

“You won’t win her over if you continue to let your nerves control you,” I scolded.

“A lady like her will never share my love, Artemis,” Jack said with a deep sigh. “A man can dream though. Such
nice
dreams…”

“I don’t want to know!” I chided. “And she does like you, idiot! You just have to work harder. Make her believe that you’re more than an acquaintance. And for goddess’ sake, do something about the blushing! It’s called control, Jack.”

“Shut it!” Jack huffed while he folded his arms. “So tell me…you really believe you’re not in love with Shadow?”

“I’m not,” I groaned. “And do not speak of it again. It’s nonsense!”

“Uh-huh. This is coming from the woman who gave away a most prized ring as a ‘source of protection.’” Jack stroked his chin in mockery. “If he was merely a friend, you would have just hugged him good-bye, not given him a trinket to remind him daily of you.”

“Keep this up and I will not feed you,” I threatened.

“You
are
old enough to chase after him now, unless by some miracle he’s actually taken to someone who maybe fought alongside him,” Jack mused as we walked. “My coin’s on you, of course, should you see fit to challenge this new rival…I wonder if Shadow likes a biter?”

I stopped walking and smacked his arm. “Are you done now or shall I have to bite you to shut you up? Believe me, it’s a bite you would
not
enjoy.”