XXXV. The King

Cara

His lips were strong and demanding against mine. He kissed me with passion. With need. And I reciprocated every one of his emotions. I tightened my arms around him and deepened the connection between us. For moments it felt like I fed off his passion and he fed off mine.

My hunger grew and I became more aggressive, taking the lead. And he let me.

Footsteps sounded around me, breaking through the barrier that had been created the second my lips met Ivan's. I tried to pull away but Ivan held me tighter and growled at my attempts to leave his arms.

"Someone's coming," I warned, my lips brushing against his as I spoke. He was only a breath away. I was tempted to ignore whoever was coming our way and close the small gap between us.

"Am I not allowed to kiss my own chosen in my own house?" He groaned, his hands running smoothly down my backside.  For a second I'd thought he'd untie the knots that held my dress closed. " I shall have you when I want."

You  definetely shall , I thought. I could not name someone as determined as the man standing in front of me. What he said goes. What he wanted, he got. Besides, who had it in them to actually deny him? I myself did not.

"I'm not stopping you,  just pausing." I stepped away from him just as two men, fully clad in black, approached. They slowed their pace as they neared the top of the flight of stairs, looking down at us.

Ivan did not acknowledge their presence but instead averted his attention to the shiny Tag Heuer watch wrapped around his wrist. He checked the time.

Stop being so surprised. Did you expect him to tell time by observing the positioning of the sun?  Or what, shadows?

He looked up at the men who ,I realized just then, were twins. " Ah, the Mac a' Bhàird men."

"Your Ma-" they began, speaking in tandem. I had identified their surname as Gaelic but as far as I could tell, they had no Scottish accents.

Ivan cut them off just, as they started to bow. "Excuse us, now. Twenty minutes." They obeyed his command, exiting quickly.

"There is something I must explain to you. Follow me," he said. He took my wrist and pulled me down a hall that was on the side of the staircase. Under the stairs were more stairs leading down to huge wooden double doors. We descended the stairs. I studied the symbol on the doors. It looked like a wolf's head arising from the outline of a large circle, a moon. The wolf's eyes were shining black stones.

I came to realize that the doors had no knobs or handles.

"Is that the insignia of your clan?" I asked Ivan. My fingers now traced over the carving of the symbol, delicately feeling its artistry. My hand flew to my neck and touching the pendant handing around it, I came to realize that it held the same symbol as the one on the door.

He averted his eyes, a strong emotion washing over his features. " It is the insignia of my rule. I have no clan, not anymore.

I wanted to ask more on the topic but the pained expression on his visage discouraged me. Never had I seen him like this. There was something in his eyes. Had I known any better I would have said it was guilt.

What would he be guilty for?

He went on to say, " you are my clan now."

Though I was not fully aware of the magnitude of his gesture, I was grateful.

He reached over to the glass shelf hanging on the wall and retrieved a blade. Suddenly a fire lit at the side of the door. The flames were lilac and scary.

Without any hesitation, he pressed the sharp knife to his palm, successfully drawing blood.

" What are you doing?" He poured the scarlet fluid into the flame which reactively ignited further.

"It's the only way to open the doors," he explained and as if on cue the doors were thrown open by a invisible force. "Only my blood is the key."

"The cut..."I  breath, seeing that blood was still flowing from the wound. He raised his hand, showing me the incision on his palm as it healed. The process was short. I found myself intrigued and stepped closer to see but no sooner had I touched his palm than the cut was gone, all signs of any injury gone. It was like it had never happened, a new layer of skin replacing the one that was gone.

I wondered whether the ability to heal at extraordinary rates was something he could control. Could he tell his body to heal itself or was it something innate, coming as naturally to him as it was for me to breath? If he indeed had that sort of power over his own body, then could he refuse it to heal?

It never seized to amaze me how gifted his kind was but I also never forgot how dangerous they were. Always, at the back of my mind, I remembered how fast this man standing before had torn apart my vampire attacker. I never forgot how quickly he could do the same to me, no matter how much my heart reminded me that he was safety. My safe haven.

He gently took my hand, leading me inside the heavily secured room.

On one side of the room was a small round table with six chairs around it and a simple chandelier above it. The other side was empty and there was no wall there. In the wall's place was an empty space that allowed me to view the unending forest around the house.

Two curving white marble stones caught my eye. They lay on opposite sides, curving in away that made them look like they collectively formed part of the circumference of a great circle.

"I've something to tell you. I meant to inform you sooner but it never seemed to be the right time," he cupped my cheeks, desperately searching my eyes for a reaction. I waited for him to continue.

The air was heavy with anticipation. The suspense nearly chocked me as I waited on what he would say next.

"I am taking you somewhere far, very far but not too far. It will be unlike anywhere you have ever been. It is the only place where my kind and other creatures like vampires, witches and werewolves are open with their true nature. No one knows of this place, few humans, only those who serve the us, like Meredith." I remembered the red-haired doctor who had treated me after my injuries in the forest. That was the same day I met Ivan. Her memory was still fresh in my mind.

Ivan continued," it is called Hyrath or Hirath . And I rule there."

"What?"

"It is called Hyrath and I reign as their king and someday, you'll be its queen and rule by my side," he said. He stared deeply into my eyes, gauging my reaction. Frankly,  I had no definite reaction. I was neither happy nor sad. Just confused. I hated this. I hated being confused.

It is called Hyrath and I reign as their king and someday, you'll be its queen and rule by my side.

His words repeated in my head, over and over again like music on a broken record player. Still could not fully grasp what he meant. It was one of those moments where you are trying to understand something but your mind simply won't get it. I struggled to wrap my mind around what he was saying.

It was simple, what he said, it just did not make sense. Then it made sense.

I was reminded of Aeren's words. When he spoke of 'up North' , he'd meant Hyrath. They all called Ivan 'lord' or 'master' or 'sire' even. Because he was their king.