It was hard to read the king’s expression as he stared down at me. Was it disbelief in his eyes? Contemplation?
Finally, his grip loosened. He turned his back on me and bellowed, “Anselm! Come here!”
Another ogre—if he could be considered an ogre—appeared at the door. The resemblance between the two of them was striking, although Anselm was younger. I assumed that he was the king’s son. The king gripped Anselm’s shoulder and pointed down at me.
“This girl claims she is a witch without powers. She tells me she wants to become a servant here. Would you have use for her?” the king asked.
Anselm crossed his arms over his chest.
“Hm. Witch offspring is vile, so she wouldn’t be able to provide us with food.”
Anselm paused and looked at me again. My heart beat thrice its usual pace.
“You can’t do magic,” Anselm said. “Your eggs are of no use. What can you do?”
“I’ll be a loyal servant,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’ll do any menial work that needs to be done around here. All I ask is that you offer me shelter in your kingdom.”
They both exchanged glances, took a few steps back and began whispering.
“Elyse!” Anselm called after a few moments.
A tall female stepped out, dressed in an emerald silken gown. Again, like the two males, she had straighter, more elegant features than a normal ogre. She looked down at me with cold grey eyes.
Perhaps the royal family is a different, more intelligent race of ogres.
“What is it?” she asked.
Anselm took her by the hand and pulled her toward him. Elyse’s eyes never left mine as Anselm whispered into her ear. Those eyes got cooler and cooler each second they lay on me.
Anselm stepped back and looked at Elyse.
She nodded curtly and said, “We can try her out, I suppose. Though I’m not sure that a scrawny little thing like her could ever handle our children. Mogda, take this witch to their quarters and explain to her what to do. She will serve Elsbeth and Dorian. Attend to their every whim. And dismiss the current minder—she isn’t doing a satisfactory job and there is another occupation I have in mind for her.”
Mogda nodded. Although she glared at me, she didn’t have any choice.
The fat ogress caught hold of my wrist and led me away.
As we left that hall, the king chuckled. “Let’s see how long this one lasts with my grandchildren…”
I need to always remember that no matter how bad things get here, it will still be better than the life I risk living if he finds me.
Chapter 5: Kiev
It was close to dawn by the time I arrived at the coordinates Matteo had given me. But I saw nothing but black ocean for miles. Being protected by the witches’ spell—at least, if it was the same spell that had been cast over The Shade back in the human world—I wasn’t able to detect any sounds either. There were no signs of life anywhere. No boat that might indicate I was near their residence.
It was clear that the only way I stood a chance of discovering the island and reaching those witches was to get the vampires’ attention and trick my way inside—something neither Matteo nor his men had ever dared to do.
Matteo always spoke of these vampire as grave enemies. But, at least in theory, they had no way of knowing that I was affiliated with him. I would have to lie that I’d just escaped Aviary or Cruor and was seeking to join their clan. Of course, if they had heard that I’d joined Matteo and Saira, or if they had the slightest suspicion that I might have come to spy on them, they would show me no mercy.
It was a gamble I decided to take.
I made sure that I was directly in the center of the coordinates Matteo had given me for the best chance of being heard. Then I began shouting at the top of my voice:
“I, Kiev Novalic, request entrance.”
Despite my shouts, nothing stirred. I considered the possibility that Matteo had got the wrong coordinates entirely. How would he even know the coordinates? They would be almost impossible to calculate accurately, unless he followed their ship up close.
I was about to rein in the dolphins and move to another spot nearby when I heard a loud bump. The boat jerked forward and I almost my balance. I whirled around. A rowing boat had crept up behind me and rammed into the stern of my vessel.
A tall cloaked figure stood in the center of the narrow boat, his long hood casting a shadow over his face. I stood still, tensing my hands and extending my claws, preparing for a fight. But when he displayed no signs of gearing up to attack me, I relaxed my fists a little.
“Show yourself,” I demanded.
Clasping his hood between long fingers, he lowered it, revealing the face of a pale, balding old man with a white beard.
A vampire.
“Novalic.” His voice rasped. He bowed his head as he spoke my name.
I stared at him, barely blinking. I tried to remember if I had ever seen him before, and what I could have possibly done to deserve his reverence. But I couldn’t find his face in any memory I had. I could only assume that he knew that Kiev Novalic was one of the Elders’ original children.
“You’re a vampire of The Black Bell?” I asked.
He nodded, his eyes still fixed on me, almost in wonderment.
“You want entrance into The Shade?”
“What?” My insides flipped.
“The Shade,” he replied. “Our island.”
Oh… So that’s what they call it. I felt sure that the Novaks’ island in the human realm predated the time these vampires would have set up here, so they must have named it after the legend.
“Yes,” I replied, brushing aside my surprise and composing myself. “Take me there.”
I expected him to ask me why and on what grounds I wanted entrance. But he asked not a single question. Instead, he stepped back and gestured to the point where our boats were touching.
I shot one more stare at him, then fastened the dolphins securely to my boat so they wouldn’t separate from it. I hoped that these animals were trained enough to not wander too far from where their master left them. Mona’s dolphins had been.
Then, without further delay, I stepped on board his boat. He gave me a half smile and sat down on a bench in the center of the boat. He grabbed two oars and began rowing. I stood at the stern so I could keep an eye on him whilst at the same time looking around at our surroundings.
He rowed in silence for about half a mile before he stopped. He let the boat drift on the waves as he engineered a ninety-degree turn. Then he continued rowing in that direction for several more minutes. Finally, in the blink of an eye, where there had been nothing but an endless expanse of dark ocean, there was the silhouette of a large dark island surrounded by tall, thick trees. A gust of wind caught my hair, bringing with it a strong scent of tree bark.