Page 38 of Elegy of Twilight
I’d done much worse in my prime, when I was a gallant knight with a heart full of evil deeds inservice to the sorceress. She twisted words, made my work sound meaningful, when all I did was harm those who looked to me for refuge and safety and salvation. Leaving to become the master of my own destiny and choose another path had been my goal, but darkness dragged me down regardless of what I did, and with me fell my brother.
Slowly, I untangled myself from the richness of Lucia. She did not wake, even when I pressed a kiss against her temple. Barefoot, I padded across the carpet. Her room was modest, plain, without a need for wealth or riches, as expected from one who had dedicated their life to the service of the people. It was a deep contrast to the caverns Sylvester and I had filled with the goods we’d stolen, traded, or bargained for, wealth we assumed would give us comfort while we rotted in the darkness, waiting for the day of salvation.
I’d assumed that Sylvester had given up the pursuit of light, that he was comfortable dwelling in the darkness, focused on his sculptures and paintings. I forgot he, too, carried his secrets, and why wouldn’t he seek the answer right at our fingertips? Apparently, he had, and he’d forced my hand. All this time, I’d assumed he was focused on his selfishinterests when he was trying to save us. For there was only one person who would write those letters, demanding goods in exchange for one soul.
V.K.
Lucia assumed it stood for Vampire King, and perhaps that had been his intent all along. I knew there was no such thing as a vampire king and the initials stood for Vester Kane. The name of our shared father. Sylvester was named for him, and when I was younger, I called him Vester, but he left that name behind when we entered our days of cursed darkness.
He was better than I, refusing to succumb to drinking fresh blood or trying to regain what was lost. Instead, he poured himself into his studies and artistic pursuits, finally having the time to do exactly what he wished.
And then there was the mine.
We’d tunneled deeper into the mountainside and had awakened the vampires. Or rather, freed them. They came for blood, they grew and morphed, and only my lute and sunlight kept them at bay. But that was not entirely true either.
I glanced at the curtains covering the window, the strip of sunlight bleeding through. Would it hurt if Istood within it? Would it reduce me to dust as I deserved, or had Lucia healed me and broken my curse?
I took another step toward it, willing myself to try. The vampires hadn’t devoured Sylvester and me because we were gods to them, the ones who freed them from captivity.
What a mistake.
That sin had haunted me, and then I’d morphed, realizing how similar I was to those shadows that worshipped me, who mimicked my actions and trailed after me in the dark like a dog seeking its master. It was only by chance I discovered my lute kept them at bay, and it led me to play more. I discovered that music also calmed my soul, made me clear-headed and less likely to act with impulse.
Sylvester hadn’t been interested in the vampires nor in figuring out how to stop them from devouring the village. Now I wondered if he’d trailed me too, seen my habits, and knew my weakness. Knew I’d save the priestess with the glowing runes, guessed that I’d be unable to help myself, drawn to her light. Using her for her goodness, a welcome distraction, a lovely distraction. And then. . .only then, when I’d gotten to know her, had I fallen.
Ironic how I was the one trapped in an abbeywhile he was out there, the master of chaos, bringing wrath and ruin to all who tread in his path. I did not blame him, but for once, I saw from his perspective the unfairness of being cursed because of actions outside of his control, the calmness with which he hatched his plan, and his patience as he waited for the finale.
I’d played my part out of ignorance, and now, I’d choose. Choose to walk in the light, to save others, to save her because I was past redeeming, past saving. Hadn’t I fought so hard for my freedom, only for it to come to naught?
Boldly, I stepped into the light. Closing my eyes, I opened my hands wide, letting heat inflame my skin.
It hurt.
After years spent in darkness, avoiding the light from the sun, living by the insignificant replication of light held by a multitude of candles, the heat of the sun was like a fire blazing over my skin.
Painful, but it did not consume me. I stepped more fully into the light, soaking it in, letting it take my darkness, erase it, and make me whole.
A soft gasp came from the bed. Lucia had awoken and seen me, bathed in the glory of daylight. My lips moved in reverent prayer, for I wasn’t burning up or turning to dust. Despite the agonywith which the light held me, it slowly receded, bit by bit.
Tears streamed down my face, and I took deep breaths, chest heaving.
I was whole. I was clean. Healed. She had broken my curse.
20
LUCIA
Iwasn’t sure what startled me awake, my heart pounding in my chest as though I needed to flee. My gaze darted about the room and finally landed on Titus, standing in front of the open window in the light. His hands were lifted, head tilted back, and eyes closed. A cry of fear tore from my lips.
It was too late to leap out of bed and tackle him to the floor. He was fully immersed in sunlight. Even though light radiated through him, he wasn’t screaming with pain or burning or melting or whatever happened to vampires when daylight touched their skin.
In fact, he was drinking it in as though the light was burning away all the darkness and impurities within him. Wasn’t he cursed to walk in thedarkness with a hunger for blood that would turn him into a monster? Had he overcome that sway toward evil and broken his curse?
Emotion overwhelmed me, and I could not say whether it was joy or sorrow or both. Joy that he was free, sorrow because it meant he would leave and I’d have to choose.
Yet before I had a chance to fully remark on it, to mull through my thoughts and reach out to him, the door burst open.
“I tried to stop them!” Edith shouted from somewhere in the back, but knights surged in, followed by Captain Elory and High Priestess Merci.
