Lilah (42 page)

‘Arianne, you are just ill. I can find a way to
cure you. I have read the books…’

‘It is too late for that,’ she said. ‘There is
nothing left here for me. It is my destiny that I am to be dust, along with my
dreams of being Queen. There is no future. I would say that in your foretelling
you saw nothing of my fortune.’

‘You are not bad. It was the
blood
which
confused you. You must come too. Together we can escape and be
free. Remember the times at the monastery. Remember how happy you were there.
We can find a way for you to find peace again.’

‘You were always so forgiving, Lilah. It will
one day be your ruin,’ she said, her voice much softer now. ‘It was I who
killed Sister Nora, pushing her through the window to punish her for what she
did to you. I am a murderer! There is no going back to a
past
which
no longer accepts me. I was already tainted before Gabriel found
me.’

There was a rush through the trees, a lift in
the wind.

‘They are coming…’

‘There is nothing there Arianne. It is all in
your head.’

‘No, I can see them now.’ Arianne looked at the
clearing sky, her eyes vacant. Her shoulders jerked backwards and her body
arched. She screamed then in pain before crouching like a cat, her chin low to
the ground, her eyes wild, and blood streaming down her face.

Gabriel stepped forward in front of us. He
still did not trust her
;
her nature to play before her
kill.

I put up my hand to stop him.

‘She is without conscience. I must kill her.’

‘No need, Gabriel,’ said Arianne. ‘I can finish
this myself.’

Leaves swept from the trees from a sudden rush
of wind, twirling them upwards toward the parting clouds.

‘To think I had a chance of being normal. Lilah,’
said Arianne, looking straight at me but no longer with hate. ‘Your admirer is
right. I am bad and the only way to stop the evil is to destroy it.

‘I loved you most, Lilah. But I loved you so
much I wanted to be you – to have your talent. You took it too much for
granted, afraid of it, afraid of
who
you are. Such
power is wasted. But it was never you I wanted to punish.
Lewis,
yes.
Gabriel, yes.
But never you.’

A wind had whipped up around her noisily, a
strange whirlpool in the air. She rose off the ground her body twisting
unnaturally as she wailed in pain.

‘Gabriel,’ I screamed above the wind. ‘Stop
her!’

With one final howl, she vanished into a
fireball. Her ashes were swept into the tail of the windstorm and disappeared
into the early morning mist.

‘Forgive me,’ said Gabriel quietly.

And I knew what he meant. If he had not lured
her to him for his own lust Arianne would have lived her life of charity still.
I wanted to blame him but Arianne’s ambition played a large part in her own
demise.

‘What has happened to her? Were there really
forces that we could not see or feel?’

‘I don’t know. I can’t explain it. It was
perhaps delirium which led to her self destruction.’

‘She had become strong for a reborn,’ I
queried.

‘Strength born from secrets stolen
from Lewis’s library.
She also took souls of the innocent, Lilah. She abandoned all control,
indiscriminately breathing in their life force: their spirits. That can make
one powerful but too much can send us mad, as well from too much blood,
especially if they are not born of such inheritance.’

I shuddered looking at the air around us hoping
that it was
her own
self-destruction and not the work
of something even a strigoi could not explain. As much as I wanted to believe
that, I also knew things that Gabriel did not. The ancient books told of an
evil far greater
;
of demon possession. Lewis, like
many of the elders, was convinced that there were other unexplainable forces in
a purgatory spirit world, jealous of those with earthly bodies.

Oleander ran to me and I folded her into my arms.
She pulled away to observe us. She was not frightened or upset just calmly
taking us both in, absorbing our connection.

‘My brave girl,’ I said unable to suppress the
quiver in my voice. I smoothed her hair tenderly while she calmly pulled
something from the folds in her skirt.

My stolen journal notes were revealed and I looked
into Oleander’s unaffected smiling eyes. She was clearly pleased with herself
and not traumatised by what she had been through.
What had I bred?
I
wondered: this strange little creature afraid of nothing, and with such
knowing. I marvelled at the union of myself and Lewis and just what force we
may have created.

*

We were silent as we walked. I did
not sense any danger from strigoi nearby
;
many searching
for Arianne in Laszlo’s dominion. I wondered where Georgio had gone and how
Lewis would retaliate. I sensed that Lewis would count his losses for the time
being while he had no control of his body, but soon after his repair he would
claim what was rightfully his: Oleander. Lewis would never forgive me for
taking her away and he would surely spend whatever years he could to return his
daughter to what he believed was her birthright.

‘You must never return here,’ said Gabriel.

Lewis had already told me of my fate had I not
taken it into my own hands. I took a dried fig from my pocket that had prior
been boiled with powerful herbs to remove both Oleander’s and my scents.
Oleander was too hungry to notice its strange flavour.

‘You perhaps should take some,’ I said to
Gabriel. But he shook his head. Gabriel may not have had the gifts to destroy
his fellow kind but I knew he was skilled enough to disappear when he had need.

*

‘I cannot go with you. There are
things I must do and you belong among humans.’

We stood at the border of the Kingdom of
Hungary. Gabriel held me to him one more time. Oleander had woken from his
shoulder rubbing her eyes. He put her down and whispered in her ear. I could
hear him tell her to think of nice things whenever she thought of the castle.
It was to give her good dreams and erase her recent bad memories, though I did
not think she needed this magic.

‘What will happen to any strigoi who defected
and who is captured?’

‘You don’t need to know,’ he said. ‘But they
are of little consequence to Lewis in the end. He has enough supporters to keep
the coven going. Some of which will be searching for you now I daresay.’

‘I don’t think so,’ I said. And I told him what
I did and the fact that whoever touches Lewis to try and heal him will also be
tainted and incapacitated for days.

Gabriel shook his head. ‘He knew you were
clever but he underestimated you. It is good that I have been warned what you
do to husbands. At least it will give me some time for my own goodbyes.’

And despite all that had happened I felt the
urge to smile.

‘Goodbye. Take care. I will keep an eye on
you,’ he said and he raised my hand to press upon his cool lips.

I smiled feeling such great tenderness but at
that moment strangely nothing else. It was as if our time in Venice had never
happened. The episode with Arianne had cured us temporarily of any desires.

‘Follow the pathway into the first town. Ask
for Josephine who sells the feathered charms. You will find temporary sanctuary
there. She has her own witch’s tricks to keep you protected until you can find
somewhere else safe to live.’

He still surprised
me with
his friendships of human and witch
. ‘Another of your previous
conquests?’ And this was asked without jealousy. He smiled but looked away. And
I still felt none.

‘I love you, Lilah,’ he said. ‘I always will.
Perhaps one day we will meet again.’

And then he was gone. I had loved Gabriel with
every part of my body, heart and soul. But this alone could not sustain us. It
was not in Gabriel’s nature to remain constant. I was meant to be with humans
and he was meant to wander and travel. To have him beside me would be like
caging a wolf. Though, this knowledge did not cure
me of the
emptiness inside or the sadness of our separation
.

I looked through the trees hoping for another
glimpse of him but there was none. We turned to the narrow pathway ahead to
follow the tracks of a horse and cart towards a new future, while melancholy
rested heavily on my shoulders. Sensing my mood, Oleander squeezed my hand to
make me look at her. Her smile came from deep within her heart. I squeezed her
hand to return the gesture.

Chapter 18

Lilah

Several years have passed since I
came to this town. I stand at the market stall selling my herbs with Irene who is
my faithful assistant. Only days after I left the castle she turned up with
nothing but the clothes on her back. She made the escape while Lewis was
incapacitated and the other strigoi were in disarray, afraid to make any
decision on
their own
.

Gabriel had then taken Irene away in the night
under their very noses. Because of our close friendship he did not believe she
was safe there anymore. It was Irene who told me what followed. Gabriel had
returned to the castle and made sure that Lewis was being cared for during his
paralysis. Though while he appeared comatose it was likely he was fully aware
of what was going on, his thoughts in turmoil. Gabriel put the other strigoi
– who were unaware of his betrayal – to tasks sending them in all
the wrong directions to find Oleander. During those days Claude returned to the
castle and reported the slaughter at King Laszlo’s castle. Gabriel did not
allow him to stay. He feared that Claude might be killed when Lewis awoke.
Irene did not know where the boy had gone from there.

She was one of the lucky ones, as a servant had
never escaped successfully before, and she suspected that Gabriel was keeping a
watchful eye on her, as well as helping others. It was Gabriel who instructed
her to Josephine’s safe house.

It has been comforting to have a friend these
past years, who
has
been faithful and kind.

We will have to leave our present home soon.
Already I have become somewhat of a sensation
;
renowned for my cures. I have to be careful because some humans do not trust
what they cannot understand.

It is busy and hot in the marketplace. Oleander
lies asleep at my feet after a morning of running wildly with the other
children from the markets. She is still strange and mysterious to me but this
new town has allowed us to blend into normality. I still look over my shoulder
occasionally, though this far south it is unlikely that we would encounter many
strigoi. They do not like the warmth of the sun that drains their body fluids
and blisters their pale complexions.

Sometimes, I have strange dreams of past and
present. I have seen things that I feel are real. Many nights ago I saw Emil at
the house I once worked in. He had a new wife and small babies and he seemed
happy but then I have also thought I have seen his future where he will be
killed for his land, his wife and children running for their lives. These are
bittersweet for me; I cannot control what I see. And although I want to believe
they are just dreams, deep in my heart I know that many will be real. I have a
power of foresight, which I would give up in a heartbeat. I am only fortunate
that I see nothing in Oleander’s future and hope that it remains so. With every
good dream there is also a bad one.

Another time I saw the assassination of King
Laszlo by strigoi in the forest, one of them was Pietro. I heard though, much
later, from town gossip, that
Laszlo was killed by his own
men
. A fact that I thought would have been conveniently spread and setup
by the strigoi
–  to
make it look like a
human ambush.

One night I awoke in a sweat and then began
shivering. I felt death around me and knew that someone close to me had died.
Shortly afterwards, I had a vision of the little girl I had saved after
drowning, now about the age of fourteen.  She wore the novice garments of
the Cistercians. I followed her as she slowly climbed the staircase that led to
the church bell, clutching at her temples and praying loudly.  I was with
her as she climbed out of the steeple and balanced on its edge.  I tried
to wrap my arms around her but she felt nothing so I stayed close to her back
silently praying with her also. She yelled that it was over and then threw
herself from this height.

I followed her downwards, feeling the same
summer air as she, and lay beside her broken body. Moments later her soul
floated past me. Other dark souls, which I did not recognise, hovered above her
empty form but they dispersed quickly in the wind and I thought I detected
their wailing departures. Then the vision jumped suddenly and I was at the
girl’s burial. Strangely at this ceremony I floated around all the people who
circled to weep: children, other men I had never met, Gertrude and some of the
other sisters. But stranger still was that I passed Claude standing there
behind these people, with his sad wary face, looking out of place, just as he
did at the castle. His eyes seemed to follow me even though I did not have any
body in this dream and I wonder now how much I am connected with my past and my
future and of the powers I still have yet to learn about.