“Tobias, can you hear me?” I shoved the noise away from me. All I wanted was to sleep where I could hide from reality and the things he had forced my body to do. I had no control over anything but my thoughts and in a way, he had those too. He made me insane so I could escape him and not try to escape for real.
“Tobias, wake up.” That was an order I couldn’t ignore so I rolled over and buried my head in the covers.
“Go-way. Lemme sleep,” I said and was astonished that I could speak it all. Standing next to my bed was the round and decidedly short figure of the Borderland Lord called Belgrave. The Healer. He was dressed in silvery robes that twisted the eyes and made him hard to see. He held in his hands a cup and I could smell the pure blood from it. It shone like a beacon in the darkness.
“What time is it?” I asked and felt as if I were inside a skin that was too tight, and not my own.
“The witching hour,” he grinned. “Drink this.” He held out the cup and I snatched it before he could blink, afraid that he would tease me and retract the offer. I didn’t spill a drop but drained the cup. I knew it was pure blood, not tainted or diluted or poisoned. My eyebrows lifted. It was his blood, his and a close relative. His daughter.
As it hit my stomach, the cold that had encircled me pushed back a little and I was able to sit up, swing my legs over and take back control of my body.
“It will only last a few hours, Tobias, but it will allow you time to think of some way to break this unnatural geas he has on you. To escape.”
“Escape where? There is no place on this earth that is free from the Emperor’s touch and Lyr Averon’s control.”
“When you were Under-the-Hill, he could not sense you.”
“I won’t live my life in the ground like a worm. I’d rather die burned by the sun than do that. How can I escape? I don’t even have control of my body.”
“There are those among the Elassa who do not wish to war against the Newlanders. We will help you. Your food will be changed as much as we can under the Lyr’s nose and we will send messages to your shield sharer.”
“My horses?”
He hesitated, “I am sorry, Tobias. One of the first things Averon did was to turn your blood frenzy loose and you killed both of them, drinking their blood until not a drop was left. Then, he has been feeding you their flesh for months, taunting you with it.”
I gagged and vomited but my stomach refused to empty. I rose up, paced the room ranting and raving in a true madness that left me sobbing and spent in his arms. He made me drink from another cup he conjured out of the air and this one sank deep into my belly as a nugget of heat that made me limp and boneless.
He carried me back to bed and arranged me on it if as if I were corpse. Truly, I wished I were one, I wished I were dead where nothing could bother me and all my cares would disappear. An endless nothingness. It sounded like paradise.
In the morning I woke, toileted, bathed under the eyes and commands of the household staff. Once again, I was just a secondary rider who looked out of my eyes and heard with my ears. I even felt the sensation of warm water on my skin and the warmth of food hitting my stomach. To my delight, I was able to express my discomfort with the idea of eating Diomed or Beau and puked up the food. This disconcerted the staff and they conferred with the head of the detail who sent a message to the King. His reply was curt and to call the physician. Within minutes of my attack, the portly Wizard of Healing was standing before me. Dressed in sober blue, he looked both taller and older.
“What ails the child?” He snapped and the valet explained. He proceeded to examine me and pulled out one of his many cups. I eyed his robes.
“How many pockets does that thing have? How come you don’t spill anything?” I asked and my hand went to my mouth in astonishment.
“Stomach upset?” I nodded and the smells set off another bout of retching. This time, the valet was ready with a pan under my chin to catch the bloody sputum.
“Drink.” I swallowed the foamy pink stuff and instantly my stomach calmed, my throat quit burning and I sank back down on the bed.
“Don’t give him anything to eat or drink for at least twenty-four hours,” he ordered. “Something is poisoning his system and it will take me that long to figure out what that is.”
“Lyr Averon was insistent he eat the special diet he has prepared for him,” one protested and Belgrave stretched himself to his full 5’6”.
“Do you presume to know more than I, the Royal physician? Good, then do as I say. I will speak to Lyr Averon.” He turned back to me. “Toby, you will sleep. When you wake, I will feed you. Take nothing from anyone’s hand but mine. Nothing.” He repeated and I nodded before closing my eyes and sleeping.
I woke starving. Felt the urgent need, the craving sneaking up on me, a tide that I could not push back. Got up, paced the room conscious of the smell of bodies and blood all around me. Clawed at the walls and left eight deep scratches in the wood as if my nails were made of sharp daggers instead of keratinized flesh. I felt a strong as a bull and just knew I could pound holes in the tree trunk if I truly wanted. My body ached, skin sensitive and even my teeth ached. When I rubbed them, I could feel the points of my canines elongate and pulse as if they would draw up fluid. If any human were to step into the room, I didn’t know if I would drain them or eat them.
It was Belgrave’s daughter who approached me. As if I were a wild beast, she circled me slowly with a cup in one hand and a belt wand in the other. “Sit,” she said and there was a quiver of fear in it. Controlling myself, I sat on the stool and watched her hands with greedy eyes. I was drooling and swallowed it, making my stomach cramp in anticipation. “Dad couldn’t come. Too busy with casualties from the war. He sent me. Said to tell you that the wand is charged with straight silver and would kill you before you could touch me. I brought your…medicine.”
I could see her great, glistening heart pumping gallons of fine rich blood that tasted like no other. Certainly not like the humans on the other side of the Wall.
No, these Elassa had blood spiced with a quality I suspected was magic; its taste and scent drove me nearly insane with lust. I wanted to fuck her until she came and then sink my teeth deep into her throat as she spasmed and died.
Stood up, whirled around and forced my head into the wall. “Go away,” I said in strangled tones. “Go away if you value your life.” I heard the door close and when I looked up, she was gone leaving behind both the wand and the cup. I wasted no time in either pursuit–I drank the cup dry and turned the wand onto my chains blasting them into pieces small enough to qualify as bullets. Stuck my head out the window and saw that it was nearly evening, the sun was just going down and provided some shadows.
I let myself fall but before I hit the safety net, I turned the wand on the ground triggering the net device, lines shot out and arrested my fall before it could trigger the sensor that brought the condorla.
Once on the ground, I headed for the stables. My eyes immediately went towards the stalls where my two horses had been and seeing them empty, I averted my eyes in sorrow. I wasn’t sure how to handle one of their sylphs but that was all that were inside. Bridling one riding animal was much like another, yet like my own, these creatures did not care for my scent and reacted much the same as Diomed had. A swift jerk of the reins made the mare stop and I led her quietly out in the dark heading for the forest and the Wall.