Embrace of the Lycan - Chapter 8

Chapter 8
‘I never showed it you, but I had a pendant that I took from Sonja’s … body. I took it as a reminder of her, and of what the Vampires had taken from me.’ He looked down, and shook his head in bitterness. ‘Tibor found it while he was…’

‘…. Torturing you?’ Kirstina finished for him.

‘Yes,’ he nodded. ‘He seemed to recognise it. He demanded that I told him where I got it. He seemed to be under the impression that you gave it to me.’

‘Me!’ Krisztina had no idea what he was talking about. ‘What does this pendant look like?’

‘It is small … about this big.’ He held his thumb and forefinger up to form a circle. ‘It is made of bronze, and has a knotwork cross design carved on it with a green stone in the centre. Do you recognise the description at all?’

‘No, of course I don’t! I have never given you any pendant. Why are you asking me this?’

He placed his hands on hers to reassure her, as she seemed to be getting upset. ‘Tibor, as you told me yourself, has done some research into your family history. He said that this pendant was a seal of sorts, that belonged to your ancestors and was a symbol of your title. When your family’s lands where taken, this pendant was taken also.’ He looked at her pointedly.

‘If you got it from Sonja … where did she get it from?’

‘Viktor!’

‘Viktor! So … he must have got this from my ancestor?’ Her hands had flown up to her mouth in surprise as Lucian nodded. She could not believe what she was hearing. This ‘family estate’ that she had heard about for years, was the estate that had half the country in fear of the dark things that lived there?

‘What did you tell Tibor?’ she asked timidly.

‘I told him that you had given it me. I felt this was probably safer than the truth.’ He then mumbled to himself, ‘That pendant was all I had left of Sonja.’

She agreed, ‘Of course. You did the right thing.’

Lucian had had enough of lying about, and being nursed on. He wanted to keep himself busy. He stood up out of the bed, and then realised he was naked. ‘Where are my clothes?’

He saw his things folded on a chest, picked them up and loped out of the room, not even bothering to get dressed. He seemed angry, and Krisztina was not sure if it was at her or not. Either way, she felt it was probably not a good idea to follow him.

‘Thank you for looking after me. Oh you are welcome, it was no trouble,’ she muttered to herself. She did feel guilty though. Lucian should not have been involved in this battle of wills between her and Tibor. She had been fending him off for months now, and had realised that he was getting more desperate. He was a loathsome and petty man, but she never envisioned he would sink to these depths to remove any ‘competition’.

There was no competition really. Lucian was a far superior man in her eyes, but he barely noticed her. It did hurt her, but it hurt her more to think that she was the cause of the physical and mental anguish he was currently suffering. She resolved to rectify the situation. She got a warm cloak from her room, and went to see if she could ‘borrow’ a neighbour’s horse. She decided to go see Tibor, and offer her hand in exchange for the pendant.

She walked the horse out of the village, unnoticed. Once safely outside the perimeter, she jumped on its back, and kicked it into a gallop.

The castle of Duke Boris Kalamanos was foreboding in daylight, yet particularly sinister at night. The man had a history of harsh and swift justice. He never had any personal dealings with his subjects, and preferred to leave this to the care of his Captains, such as Tibor. Boris was very rarely in residence, as he spent much of his time at the court of Béla II. Boris was a son with dubious legitimacy of Béla’s uncle, King Kálmán, and was solely preoccupied with advancing and securing his station at court.

When she arrived, she asked at the gate for Tibor. The guard sneered and asked her to wait while a message was sent. Several minutes later, Krisztina saw the silhouette of Tibor appear in front of a torch lit portcullis and he beckoned at the guard to let her pass.

Once into the courtyard, he assisted her off the horse, which was taken by a stable boy, and he led her towards a door. She followed him into a comfortable hall that had a large fire lit, which she walked over to stand near.

‘Wine?’ This was the first word that he had said to her since she arrived. She nodded. She watched him pour two glasses of wine, and took off her cloak. She looked at his face, as he handed her the glass. She sipped her wine, and was pleased to find it was strong, and of a far superior quality than what she was used to. He looked quite smug, he obviously knew that he had succeeded in getting what he wanted.

This angered her more than she thought it would. ‘I believe that you have something of mine?’

‘Do you mean this?’ He held out a hand that had a pendant, just as Lucian described. As she reached for it, he snatched his hand back and placed it back in his pocket. ‘Ah ahhh. Not just yet.’

He swirled his wine around in the glass, savouring this moment. In the fire light, Krisztina could see the grease in his hair, and it looked even more repulsive and lank than usual. She was repulsed that she would have to spend the rest of her life with this man.

‘Before I return your property, I need some kind of guarantee that we will be wed.’

‘What guarantee can I offer?’ she asked.

‘You can stay here tonight – and give me your maidenhood.’

Krisztina was not sure how to respond. She wanted to laugh in his face, and tell him that he was too late, and that she had already given that gift to another. She then thought about how Tibor would react to this news, and feared any retribution against Lucian. Of course, Lucian was more than capable of looking after himself, which is exactly what she was afraid of.

She was not able to think of anything more repulsive, but knew that there was little she could do. She nodded her acquiescence, and he immediately gathered her cloak. He was about to take her arm, and no doubt lead her straight to a bedchamber but she stopped him and said in a low voice, ‘Bring the wine. I will need it.’

He seemed to bite back a vicious retort but picked up the jug and led her out of the hall.