I press my lips together. He glances at me, tilting his head. “What is it?”
I debate a moment what to say but decide that the best lies are usually concealed by truth. “I don’t like guards.” Then because that sounds too much like what a criminal would say, I hurry to add. “I find that they usually abuse their power and have little care for the people that the laws they are upholding are supposed to protect.”
Victor’s eyes dart to the side, an evasive gesture if I’ve ever seen one, before he says, “Not all guards are like that.” I’m considering asking him why he is suddenly so shifty when he clears his throat. “Anyway, we also get our fair share of sailors as well as just the regular townsfolk to patronize our inn. Not to sound too sure of myself, but it’s a fine establishment. My father does a wonderful job running it, and someday, I’ll take over.”
I note that he doesn’t sound confident or pleased by this assessment. More resigned to his fate.
“Are you glad to be home?” I ask as I turn to him, wondering not for the first time about the man I married. Our courtship was a whirlwind to say the least. We met on the road; Victor was traveling home and I lied and said I was going in the samedirection. Our journey took us some days, and in that time, Victor must have decided he liked my company well enough because he asked me to marry him.
I’ve heard that the humans have short courtships and hasty weddings, something about their belief that marriage continues into death and their fear that they will die before they are wed and thus separated from their beloved in the next life. Elves are not so, at least not my people the Higher Elves. We typically live twice as long as humans, so long as we aren’t being murdered.
As such, we usually take at least a year to make certain that we have chosen the right partner. But I didn’t have a year and marrying Victor gave me a place to live, an income at an inn, and food every night.
If it turns out I dislike him, well that’s fine too. I’ll outlive him anyway so at least I’ll get out of this marriage without a broken heart. Unlike my last one, which still causes me pain even a thousand years later. Perhaps it is proof that mortals, even elves, were not meant to live forever, but I have spent much of my life as an unchanging vampire. Even without that, I’m not certain I can age because I am half Lower Elf and they are known for having such long lifespans that they are considered immortal.
An inheritance from a father I never knew, I suppose.
The corner of his mouth turns up. “I’m always glad to be home again. I enjoy being able to travel and see the world, but I’m only able to do so knowing that I can return to my father, sister, and our inn whenever I choose. Speaking of, I think it’s time you meet your family by law.”
I smile slightly at that. It’s been so long since I’ve had a family. Although for me, it does not feel that way. I don’t remember anything that happened in the thousand years I slept, but that just means that the pain of the loss of my family is still fresh.
A sister-by-law won’t replace the sister I lost just like I don’t expect Victor to replace Petrov. But something is still better than nothing, and it’s a start to rebuilding the life I once had.
I will settle for nothing less than everything that was once mine.
“We had better get hurrying,” Victor says, oblivious to the turn of my thoughts.
I pause, frowning as I glance at a man in a knit cap as he places boards on his windows. “What’s going on?”
“What isn’t these days?” he asks with a snort. I turn to him startled, and he shrugs. “There’s a necromancer that has been reanimating the dead in these parts. The constable can’t seem to catch him so there’s a curfew now. Anyone out after dark will be arrested.”
“Really?” I ask surprised.
Victor nods. “At least that’s how it was before I left, and given the way that the constable handles things, I doubt it’s been resolved anytime soon. Sometimes it seems like the entire world has gone jetting insane.”
That’s something we can agree on at least. What Victor doesn’t realize though is that it went mad a thousand years ago when my people’s halls were raided by allied men and Lower Elves that wished to eradicate us. I was forced to watch in horror as I lost everything, and suddenly nothing made sense.
I try to tamp down the horror I feel at the mention of a necromancer. There are many necromancers, so it isn’t necessarilyhim. Besides, from the way that Victor spoke it sounds like this necromancer has been practicing in this area for some time.
Unless Creed moved just after my escape this couldn’t be him.
“And to top it all off, there’s a storm coming in off the sea,” he continues as he raises the collar of his shirt up as a nippy gust of wind blows over us. “It will be a bad one.”
Sure enough there are dark clouds rolling in. I’m not sure if I would have noticed them if Victor hadn’t brought up the weather. “How can you know that?”
“I grew up off the sea,” he replies with a smirk.
I glance up at the hazy sun, still visible even though it has sunk far lower in the sky than it was when we stopped at a lone temple outside of town and asked a priest to wed us. The day is almost over. My first day married.
Red light reflects on the mountain peaks visible over the village, they jut into the sky like upside down fangs.
“But never you worry, there’s the inn just ahead. Let’s get you inside,” he says with a smile. “It’s time to meet the family.”
Chapter Two
Victor
“What a lovely inn, burn it all to the ground.”
