Chapter 10
Tina propped her chin on her arms, which rested on the table. She watched Uriel move between the kitchen’s light-yellow cabinets as he cooked lunch for her. “I can make my own lunch, you know,” she said, even though it wouldn’t taste as good as Uriel’s. And then later she would have an ice cream; she hoped that Haniel, since he knew how much she liked it, didn’t forget to bring it from his trip to the city.
“I like cooking for you.” Uriel gave her a smile over his shoulder before he opened the oven and pulled out a small roasting tin. “You eat with such joy and I like watching you.”
“That’s because you make such good food.” She stretched out her arm. “Which doesn’t make sense, since none of you eat.”
“We do eat. In the first years of our lives we need to, to grow, but after the first taste of blood, the food becomes bland to us for some reason. So, when it’s not necessary anymore, we stop eating.” Uriel put the plate, which he had prepared earlier, beside the roasting tin and started to pile potatoes and vegetables on it. “And I had to learn how to cook well, if I wanted Muriel to eat; he was becoming a more and more demanding eater, and as you see, he’s not too pleased with my cooking anymore.” He picked up the plate and the cutlery and directed his step toward the table. “Haniel always complained that it wasn’t fair that I never made any meat dishes because of Muriel, but he ate everything that I put on the table, anyway.”
Tina watched as Uriel put the plate, fork and knife before her. “It must have been hard for you, being in Angelica’s care and taking care of two children?”
Uriel went around the table and sat down opposite to Tina. “I do have some good memories from that time.”
“Yeah?” Tina picked up the fork and knife and dug into the food. “I bet they were adorable children.”
“They were; Muriel was a spoiled princess and Haniel was such an obedient, shy child.”
“Really? Looking at them now, I would say it was the other way around,” Tina spoke around the food in her mouth.
“Haniel changed when he became a teenager. He became more rebellious and it seemed that he would never grow out of that phase, while Muriel...”
“Yeah?”
“Muriel changed after he saw himself in his beast form.”
Tina nodded. “That must have been a shock to him.” It had been for her, to see such a sweet boy turning into something that could only be described as a monster.
“At first he didn’t know it was himself,” Uriel said. “He was only three years old then and he ran to me, babbling about a monster, shivering and his wings flapping like mad. I removed every mirror in the house, but then a few years later, Anael called him repulsive when she saw him in that form and used water to show him his reflection. The image staring back at him frightened him even more.” He sighed. “Before, he enjoyed flying and playing chase, but after that he refused to turn into the beast voluntarily, but he couldn’t prevent the transformation. It’s triggered by emotions, you see, and as soon as he got frightened or felt threatened the beast would surface.”
It was probably the same with Damon. Tina put the utensil down. “Damon has the beast form, too. I saw it when I was in his head.”
“Yes, I know he does.”
Tina leaned forward. “Have you seen it?”
“No, but everyone in Blackdart’s direct line is born with the beast form.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“From Angelica’s notes. Damon’s great-great-grandfather wanted to become stronger; he was the turned one, and Angelica needed somebody to experiment on and she created the beast. I think she hoped he would be the one who would bring her Abbas.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Nothing,” Uriel said. “After the Lost learned about his transformation they conjured some sort of a spell that sealed the beast and banished the Blackdart family from the clan. It was Damon who forced his way back in. Actually, from what I heard, they begged him to forgive them for their transgression and take the leadership of the clan. It was that or Damon would slay them all.”
“What are you talking about?”
Uriel frowned. “I read about it in Prva’s notes. The leader of the Lost clan killed Damon’s mother, dismembered her body and gave pieces of it to the prominent families as some sort of proof of his greatness. Damon swore to get back every one of those pieces and lay his mother’s body to rest, and to kill everybody who got in his way. And he did kill a lot of people, more than a third of the Lost’s clan; everywhere he went he and his army left a trail of dead bodies behind them.”
Damon was that violent? “I know he can be dangerous, I have seen him fight, but...”
“The members of the Blackdart family have always been passionate about the things that they cared about, and they have always reacted quite savagely when those things were taken away from them. Damon is no exception.”
“And you?” Tina asked.
“Muriel is the only one who inherited that violent part, but he can keep it under control.”
“And Damon can’t?”
Uriel combed through his bangs. “I don’t know. Maybe he can; he lost Trinity but still hasn’t gone into a rage yet. He hasn’t attacked you, and from what Muriel told me about your dreams, he doesn’t seem to be hostile to you either.”
“No, not hostile, just crude. I got the feeling he gave up, that he wants to die in peace. But we can’t let that happen, not until we rescue him from Petsha.”
“Like Petsha would allow Damon to die on him; he is too valuable as a source of power,” Uriel said. “If I thought that Damon was on the verge of death, there would be no reason for us to search for him.”
“You wouldn’t have tried to save him?” Tina stared at Uriel. “He’s your father.”
“Only by blood.” Uriel leaned back and crossed his arms. “He doesn’t mean anything to me and with him out of the way...”
Tina knew that despite the time that Uriel and Damon had spent together, Uriel still held a grudge against Damon, but she hadn’t known that his resentment was this strong.
Uriel appeared beside Tina’s chair. “You were forced into the role of Damon’s Beloved.” He took hold of Tina’s hand, his emerald eyes so serious and intense. “You probably harbour feelings of affection toward Damon or believe that you are in love with him -- that’s the mark’s influence, not your real feelings. However, now I can change that, if you would let me.”
Tina frowned.
Uriel’s fingers slipped between Tina’s. “I can erase the mark of Beloved from your soul.”
With her free hand Tina rubbed her temple. He had told her that he was trying to find a safe way to remove Damon’s blood from her system before, saying that she deserved a chance. But she hadn’t even considered it, because that would mean losing her abilities, and losing her place at their side. “And change me back into a normal human being? But then I won’t be able to stay with you anymore.”
His hand cupped her neck and leaned over her. “I could change you into my Beliya.”
“Your Beliya?” Why would he want to do that? To make her burdens easier? But being Damon’s Beloved wasn’t a burden to her. Oh, yes, she did hate a few things about Damon, especially his arrogant behaviour and the way he could make a mess out of her, but... She sighed as she turned her hand and wrapped her fingers around Uriel’s. She actually wouldn’t hate becoming Uriel’s Beliya. She loved him. Like family. He was a rock and a safe haven, but could she tie herself to him the way Irene and Tristian were tied to Damon? “To be addicted to you?”
“You wouldn’t be addicted to me. Who told you that?” His fingers slipped higher on her neck and rubbed her scalp.
“Trinity.” Tina leaned back into the touch before she noticed what she was doing. She slowly wiggled her fingers out of Uriel’s. In a need to busy her hands, she grabbed the fork, bent over her plate and started to eat.
“The exchange of blood and the ritual only ensures loyalty; you are still your own person and have the same personality. The only thing that changes is your priorities; your master’s wellbeing becomes as important as your own.”
She chewed her mouthful and swallowed. “What about needing to be in the master’s presence and when you are not, your health deteriorates?”
“Aradmas feel something similar, but they don’t exactly get sick, they yearn for their master so strongly that there’s nothing else on their mind. However, they can change masters quite easily, and among the Damned there is always a demand for them.”
“I see.” Tina nodded. “So it’s not the same. But becoming a Beliya... I don’t know...” She put the fork on the plate.
“You don’t have to decide now.” Uriel gave her a ghost of a smile as his fingers threaded through the hair at her nape of her neck. “I want you to consider it, to really think about it, and to realize that you have a choice.”
“But I don’t mind being Damon’s Beloved.” She didn’t, she really didn’t mind. She furrowed her brows. She had never worried about what she felt toward Damon, quite the contrary, but... But she knew -- even though she didn’t like it -- there was something in Damon that had called to her even before Trinity had made her Damon’s Beloved and it made her feel good to know that no matter what, she had a right to claim Damon.
“Think about it. Promise me that you will consider it.”
She sighed, and nodded. “Yes, I promise.”
#
Tina pushed herself onto her toes and leaned forward, her navel pressed against the iron fence as she looked over the heads of the crowd at the far end of the room. A polished marble armchair ruled the hall from the platform there, the whiteness of the furs thrown over it almost blinding.
She glanced at Haniel who stood by her side, ready to intervene if anyone behind them tried elbow their way to the front, as he had not a moment ago. Muriel, who had his arm woven around her waist, stood on her other side.
Silence descended over the space as the door in the wall beside the platform opened and through it appeared all twenty-one Numuns. They positioned themselves behind the stone chair, with Nathanael joining them, while Michael went to the right side of the chair and Anael sat on the chair’s right arm, leaving the left side empty. Uriel and Prva, who was in a white cloak with a hood over her head, followed them. He used his arm across her shoulders to guide Prva to her seat on the throne before he stepped to the stone chair’s left side.
Why is Uriel up there? Tina couldn’t help but ask Muriel.
Prva pulled the hood down and a murmur rose in the air.
Because she has always regarded him as one of her children.
Tina strained her eyes, and she couldn’t believe that even from this distance she could see the tiredness that cut lines into Prva’s previously smooth thin gray skin, which now had more of a pale-green tone. Even her ice-blue eyes that had sparkled with life the last time Tina had seen them and had given her the feeling they were on her, even when Prva wasn’t looking, now seemed dull and small, two cracks under the brows. Why did he belong to Angelica, then?
Because Prva couldn’t go against Angelica when we were little; if she had, she wouldn’t have gotten Numuns. Later it was too late to get Uriel away from Angelica; he had already tied himself to her.
Prva spoke, “We have gathered here today...”
That sounded like they were here for a funeral, Tina thought, but as Prva’s monologue continued, it became obvious that it actually was. Prva wanted to retire and go to rest, or so she said; she had already notified the Elders about her decision and given them a chance to select a new leader of the Damned from among them.
Voices rose in protest, but Prva assured them that her estates and people wouldn’t fall into the Elders’ hands, since Nathanael was going to take charge of the household and there was still plenty of time before her final trip to the Resting Circle.
“The Elders are going to start a war among themselves,” somebody behind Tina said.
Maybe that is what Prva is counting on. Haniel leaned his elbows on the fence. Because there’s no way the Elders would leave such profitable property to the Numuns, not when they look down on them and see Numuns as nothing but a nuisance.
Like they could do anything about it, Muriel said. They are beyond old and they don’t hold any real power anymore.
Yeah, they are more for decoration than anything else, Haniel added.
Tina noticed the group that elbowed its way to the front; the Numuns with Michael in the front formed a line to prevent the people from reaching Prva, who looked as if she was about to leave the hall. What are Elders exactly? Aren’t they the same as the Damned Masters?
Of course not. Elders are part what’s left of the nobility, while Masters are common purebred Bloodeaters from the time when the Damned could still procreate, Muriel explained. And in the past Masters were nothing more than the Elders’ servants, or something similar.
Tina nodded like she understood. It seemed that the Elders had a function similar to the Lost’s Gelbeliyas, Great Lords, with the difference that their households only grew through Aradmas. And the Damned Masters, she could say that they were like Lost’s Beliyas, the Lords, only despite being under the rule of the Elders or Prva, they were more independent than Beliyas. They were similar, the Lost and the Damned, much more than she had first thought. The Bloodeaters’ relationships are too complicated.
That’s why you have us to explain things to you, Muriel said. Even though all I learned about the Lost is from Prva’s Who’s Who. She keeps a register of them.
It’s a good thing that I have you, then. She wrapped her arm around Muriel’s neck and pulled him against her side.
“What about all the Aradmas that went missing?” somebody from the group who had tried to force their way through the ranks of the Numuns shouted. “We haven’t even addressed their disappearance.”
“Yes,” a voice from the crowd yelled. “It’s like nobody cares.”
Other people also loudly expressed their opinion on that theme, but the calls and murmurs that overtook the crowd hushed down with the lifting of Prva’s hands. “I am well aware of that problem.”
In three strides Nathanael stood beside Prva. “I have been keeping a close eye on that matter and I promise you I will find out what is going on.”
Come on. Muriel wiggled out of Tina’s embrace; he turned and took hold of her hand.
Wait a minute, the gathering is still going on, and those missing Aradmas... Don’t we want to know --
We already do. Muriel’s hand on her back gently turned her around. Uriel found out a little before the meeting.
He did? Of course he did. It just that they had forgotten to mention it to her, as usual. Tina narrowed her eyes at Muriel. She wouldn’t even bother asking how Muriel knew, but she would extract what he knew later. And she knew exactly how: tickling. But for now... She looked over her shoulder at the platform where Nathanael started to explain all the precautions that the Damned had taken because of disappearances. Does Nat know?
Of course he does. Muriel pulled her behind him as he pushed his way through the crowd.
Why does he sound like he doesn’t? And who is behind it? Is it Petsha? Tina let him pull her through the large door and then up the stairs into the open.
“Yeah.” Haniel sat her on the golf-cart and as soon as Muriel sat beside them, he drove off, toward their house.
“Do we know where he is? Did we find his location? Did we?” Tina’s hand dug into Haniel’s shoulder and she couldn’t decide who to focus on. “Did we?”
“No,” Muriel said.
“No? How could we not? How do you know Petsha’s behind it then?”
“Because beside the neck injuries so specific to Deadeaters, the bodies also had thin burn marks, which could only be left there by Shadows,” Muriel explained. “And the only one who can control Shadows is Petsha.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“We?” Haniel glanced at her. “We are not going to do anything.”
“But --”
“That’s Nat’s responsibility. He and Uriel had already decided that Nat would focus on protecting the estate and the Aradmas, and finding the Deadeater among the Aradmas, while we will try to find Petsha through the Shadow and your dreams.”