Chapter 46
I wouldn’t have been sorry to live in the stables, they were as ornate and fancy as the Emperor’s home – two hundred stalls lay idle, even the smell of horses long gone. I led both stallion and gelding into the box stalls closest to the sliding exit doors in case I needed to make a run for it. Saw to it that they had food and water before I took a virtual and physical tour of the city, which Laioli called Panaculeum. It was he explained, a Greek word meaning peaceful sanctuary.
He then took me to the government offices where I explored the Security system of the city. Most impressive of all was the force shield that was dormant until he explained to me how to erect it. Once up, he said no one would be able to approach or enter into the city unless I lowered the shield. I asked if that included magic and saw incomprehension on his pleasant face.
“Magic?”
“Yeah. Spells, incantations that tap into the energy of the lower world,” I said and showed him a few simple spells I had learned from Arianell as in how to light a witch globe, make plants grow faster and send a message.
I wondered if Arianell had received my message but had no idea how long it would take the bat to reach her. As I thought about her, I felt a tingle deep in the pit of my stomach – not like pain but almost a pleasurable feeling and sensed her presence.
“Arianell?” I called out and like the hologram, an image of her sitting on her sylph in her Ranger uniform appeared between us. “Arianell?” I asked dumbfounded.
“Tobias? Is that you?” She straightened up and I saw that she was on the edge of the glacier, very near where I had first met her. Deep in the woods and surrounded by evergreens and ferns, dappled by sunlight she stared back at me. I wished for way through and the air sparkled with a million fireflies as she rode her mount into our presence. The sylph’s cloven feet slipped on the pavement and she dismounted rapidly to fling herself into my arms. “Toby! You’re alive!”
“Arianell, where is your brother?”
“I left him patrolling the border wall. I was heading back towards the trail to find you and received your message. What is this place? What are we going to do now?”
“I’m going to find an army and take this war back to the Emperor and the wizard,” I said grimly. “Averon may be a Borderlander but he’s only protecting his land and his people. I’ll fight with him until we push Gleneden and Blackfin back across the sea to Ehrenberg,” I promised.
“What is this place?” She asked me again.
“The city of Panaculeum, it is one of the Lost Cities of the ancients. This is Laioli; he is a hologram, a computer-generated image, an avatar of a long dead human. He is our guide and my teacher. Whatever we need, he and the city will provide for us and the horses.”
“Horses? You found horses here?”
“Arianell, I found Beau and Diomed,” I said happily and her jaw dropped.
“How? I saw you tear them apart in your blood frenzy!”
“It must have been some other animals. Both of them are in the stables towards the center of the city. I couldn’t believe it when I saw them, Arianne. It was like a wish come true. I’ll never let them go again,” I said fervently. “Before I do anything, I’m taking them home to Cayden’s Valley and turning them loose in the hills where they’ll be safe.”
“It’s not safe for you to be there, Toby,” she argued and I didn’t naysay her but took her hand and led her out into the beautiful city to show her what was essentially all mine. Then, I brought her back to what had been my room and Laioli had re-furnished for me from the stores in the warehouse. It was a chamber fit for a princess – from the rich Aubusson carpets to the authentic Sheraton and Hepplewhite antiques, Elizabethan four-poster bed with canopy and the Jacobean wardrobe and chest. I didn’t know what those names meant but Laioli said they had belonged to priceless antiques from the improbable years called the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries CE. Or Christian era. All I knew was that they were beautiful and comfortable.
Arianell’s eyes widened at the exquisite clothing the hologram had ordered for her and told us that a feast was waiting in the dining room. The formal dining room.
Dressed in a sober black suit and tie, he escorted us to the room and served us a meal that rivaled any I had ever eaten even at my grandfather’s renowned table.
She stared at me over the whole meal and I dearly wanted to crush her against me, hold her tightly and love her the way I had before I had been changed yet I was afraid. Afraid that my lust and blood cravings would force me to do to her what I had done to other victims I wasn’t sure if the desire I felt for her was just that or the craving for her blood. I could see that she wanted me by her tender looks, by the way she constantly touched my hand and face with loving intent yet she was hurt when I shied away.
“Laioli, please have another bedroom set up for me,” I said after I was done eating and pushed my plate away.
“Very good, Sir Tobias,” he said and told her to follow him.
“Tobias,” she protested standing up and backing away from the table.
“No, Arianell,” I said softly, regretfully. “It’s not safe for you. Laioli, make sure she can lock her door.”
“The doors can be programmed to allow or deny anyone access, Sir Tobias,” he stated.
“Make sure I can’t get in,” I ordered and left them.