93

Nine minutes into the hunt, Hanos was already bored. It was the same dribble, just like last year. The council members, Rifera and Luwid to be exact, and some of the princes would chase some scrawny men up until the slave market, killing them off, and Hanos was fed up. He wanted something different this year and felt only he could bring about the change.
With that in mind, he shot up from his chair and tore off his cloak. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Sia.
“Uncle, what are you doing?”
“What do you think?” Hanos asked as he grabbed his sword. “I’m going hunting.”
Thjis shot up from his seat. “You would do no such thing.”
“I only agreed not to interfere if the hunt was to my taste. It’s not.”
“We already have enough vampires in on the hunt, Hanos. We don’t need another,” Thjis countered.
“Rifera and Luwid are not good hunters, Thjis. Only I can…” he paused, then sniffed the air. There it was. That sweet scent he had perceived in the hallway. Replacing his sword with a dagger, he put on his cloak, determined to find the young girl. He went off in search of her, leaving Thjis in a dilemma.
“Sia, please go after your uncle.”
“No, let me do it,” Dogara objected, rising. She was bored and needed something to do.
“Are you sure? I don’t want anything to happen to you, Dogara,” Thjis said in his usual manner, which made Dogara wonder if he was truly concerned for her.
“I’ll be fine, Thjis. Hanos wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Alright then.”
Dogara fought a smile as she went after her brother. While the Icelander king was a bit disturbed with Hanos’ disappearance, the Vampire King couldn’t contain his joy as he slowly approached the royal stables. She was in there, he was sure of it.
Toreh pried her eyes open before rolling off the stack of hay. The short nap had done her good, for she was feeling more refreshed than ever. She risked a glance at Crinka who was fast asleep on the ground, snoring softly. Toreh smiled to herself before rising, and that’s when she saw him.
He was here, right here in this stables and not a figment of her imagination. The Vampire King flashed her a smile so bright, she thought she’d go blind.
“What are you doing here?”
“You know the answer to that, dearie. So be a good little girl and come closer.”
“I’m not little, and I’m fine where I am.”
“Are you disobeying me?”
“Maybe.”
Hanos moved, but she was faster. Jumping over a sleeping Crinka, she fled to the other side of the stable. The horse behind her neighed. Hanos just laughed.
“So you’re a slave. I’ve never met a slave who moves that fast.”
“You just did. Now you listen to me, I would only let you drink my blood if you catch me.”
“Is that a challenge?”
Toreh smirked. “Definitely.”
“Toreh?”, Crinka called out as she rose from the ground, having overheard their conversation. “Don’t do this.”
“Stay out of this, Crinka. This is between me and the king,” she stated before turning to the king. “Do you accept my challenge?”
Hanos smirked. “I’ll inform the king of your sudden boldness. His throne would serve as the starting line and the slave market would serve as the finishing line. I won’t use vamp speed, so you’ve got nothing to worry about that.”
She doubted that. “Lead the way then.”
Crinka didn’t feel good about any of this but what was she to do? Toreh was just like her, unwilling to stand down. Glum, she followed Hanos and Toreh out, snarling when she saw Dogara by the doorway.
She would confront the queen someday. Now, she had Toreh to worry about.
Thjis was shocked to see Hanos returning with Crinka and a human slave hot on this trail.
“Hanos, what madness is this?”
“This slave here, claimed she could outrun me and you know, in fact, everyone here knows that I never turn down a challenge. If I outrun her without using my vamp speed, I drink her blood.”
Thjis was shocked and so was Sia. For a slave to challenge a vampire king without fear was shocking. Thjis turned to Toreh.
“Slave, is this true?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Clepp, is this true?”
Crinka was surprised the king was asking for confirmation, but still nodded anyways.
“Where and when do you intend to have this race, brother-in-law?”
Hanos clapped his hands. “I was getting to that. Since you all would be busy tomorrow, I have decided to have this race today and right now. The finish line is the slave market.”
“Okay, get set.”
“Wait.”
“What is it?”, Hanos asked annoyed, turning to Toreh.
“What if I outrun you…”
Hanos laughed. “You think you can outrun me?”
“I don’t think. I know I can.”
Toreh didn’t know what was giving her so much confidence but she liked it. “As I was saying, if I outrun you, you won’t get to drink my blood.”
“Is that all?”, Thjis asked.
Toreh nodded. The king was surprised. He had expected her to ask for freedom.
“Alright then. On your marks, get set, ready, go!”
Toreh took off immediately, ignoring the battle cries from the sidelines. She didn’t dare look back, her focus solely on the road ahead of her. She tuned out the horse’s sound, dodging bodies that were also on the run. The hunt was in full swing, she had no other choice than to pick up her pace, running past residential buildings. Curses rained on her as she shoved bodies out of the way, her muscles aching as she kept running. Kept going. This victory was hers to take, whether the Icelanders liked it or not.
Sweating profusely, she turned sharply to the right, nearly colliding into a horse. Damn those princes who rode on horseback.
The cold air whipped her hair around but Toreh kept running. She was tired and hungry but stopping wasn’t an option. She heard her name from the crowd but didn’t need to turn around to know who called her.
That nasal voice could only belong to her mother and hearing her name and not “child” from her mother’s voice gave Toreh willpower to go on.
She was winning, at least that’s what she thought until she felt it. The arrowhead pierced through her side; she bit her tongue to prevent herself from screaming. It wasn’t easy to run while bleeding but she had to go on. She was nearing the local market now and would soon reach the slave market.
The second arrow pierced her leg, and Toreh fell to the ground with a cry. She was going to die. The pain was simply too much to bear. Lifting her head weakly from the snow, she looked up, her eyes colliding with her sister’s jade green ones. Eyes wide, she asked, “Amar?”
“Yes, it’s me you coconut. Look, I don’t know what the fuck you’ve done, but you better get the fuck up and finish this race. Aspen has delayed the vampire king a bit, so you still have some time to win this shit.”
“I can’t. I’m bleeding and… I can’t, Amar.”
“You can. Toreh, you can. You must. You’re a Tamac, and Tamacs never give up. So, get up and run.”
Toreh felt a lot more encouraged. Amar backed away as Toreh dragged herself to her feet. She only fell. Fine. She would crawl. The slave market was very close anyway. Breathing hard, she crawled through the snow past the closed market stalls. They would be open tomorrow; she was sure of that.
The slave market entered her line of sight, and Toreh crawled that fast. All she needed to do was reach the slave market and she was done.
Sadly, the vampire king had other plans.
The moment Toreh crawled into the slave market, Hanos grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and forced her to look at him.
“You know just because you won doesn’t stop me from getting what I want.”
“Please,” Toreh begged as the Vampire King’s fangs lengthened. “Please, I can’t lose more than what I’ve already lost.”
“I don’t give two fucks, slave,” Hanos yelled, grabbing her wrist. He would’ve loved to drink from her neck, but the stupid choker prevented him from doing so.
Toreh’s heartbeat quickened as his fangs neared her wrist. She already won, so why was he doing this? Why wasn’t anyone coming to her aid? It was at that moment Toreh realized how foolish she had been to challenge a vampire king. She might have won, but he would still take her blood nevertheless, and there was nothing she could do about it.
The fangs grazed her wrist, and Toreh let out a sharp cry. “Please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this, I beg you.”
Hanos didn’t care to listen. He was some seconds away from drinking her sweet blood. His eyes were a bright red, and the beast in him was eager, very eager for a taste. Too bad, Eloive wasn’t ready to share.
His arrow strung from his bow, smacking Hanos in the face. The vampire cried aloud, releasing Toreh, turning to see who had struck him. Eloive quickly pulled on his hood and went to Toreh, gathering the unconscious slave into his arms. Hanos turned to his nephew, a nasty look on his face.
“Run.”
Eoff, who had been watching the whole drama, turned to Sia, who had just appeared beside him.
“Call in Wilhelm now!”