CHAPTER NINE

The day broke brisk and cold, and Caitlin woke up excited. Aiden had told her that the wedding preparations would begin immediately, on this day. She had woken Caleb when she’d returned and told him she’d be thrilled to marry him right away, and he’d been ecstatic. She’d slept the whole night in his arms, eager for dawn to break so that the preparations could begin.

Aiden had told her that the traditional vampire wedding was preceded by a day of tournaments, of jousting and sparring to test each other’s skills. She was so curious to learn more about all the vampire rituals surrounding a wedding, and excited to begin the first step towards actually getting married. It still felt surreal to her.

As Caitlin walked out the castle, dressed in her sparring gear, she held Caleb’s hand as they crossed the expansive castle grounds in the cold October morning, Scarlet and Ruth right behind them. In the distance, Caitlin could see the entire coven was already out and waiting—dozens of Aiden’s vampires, mixed with dozens of McCleod’s human warriors. Standing among them were also Sam and Polly, beaming as they watched them approach. There must have been a hundred warriors in total, forming a large rectangle on the tournament field, all dressed in full battle gear, standing quietly, waiting.

Clearly, Caitlin and Caleb were the guests of honor today. Two warriors sounded a trumpet at their arrival, and the crowd parted ways as they walked through, and were prompted into the center of the open field. As Caitlin and Caleb stood there, Aiden slowly stepped forward and faced them. The crowd remained silent in the early morning, the only noise the slight rustling of the wind, and the flapping of banners.

“No vampire wedding may begin without a full day of tournaments. It is an ancient ritual. The tournaments are our way of keeping in mind that a vampire union is a union based on blood. Husband and wife are also a warrior team. Which is why we begin our day with you two fighting together. You will fight as a team, back to back. Against you will be pitted our best warriors. Together, you must protect each other, and fight your way through.”

Aiden stepped back out of the circle, and slowly nodded to his men.

Caitlin stood in the center of the circle, back to back with Caleb, and felt a nervous rush as they were each suddenly thrown weapons. She caught hers in midair: wooden swords. She was relieved that they wouldn’t be using live, deadly weapons; she wasn’t worried about her own fighting skills, or Caleb’s, but she was worried about hurting someone else.

There was little time to think. Within moments, they were charged by a dozen vampire and human warriors, coming at them from every direction. They, too, wielded wooden weapons—spears, swords, shields, lances, and other weapons she couldn’t recognize at first. She felt Caleb’s back flush up against hers, felt his muscles tense up, and felt reassured to have him at her side.

Within moments, the first attackers were in her face, swinging, slashing.

Caitlin’s instincts took over. Her vampire speed and reflexes, all her years of training with Aiden, took. She found herself parrying and slashing back, kicking and dodging and rolling. As three vampires charged and brought down their swords at the same time in a well-coordinated attack, she spun and slashed all three swords away as she came back around, and kicked one hard with a spinning roundhouse kick, knocking him hard into the other warriors—who all landed on top of each other.

Caitlin looked up to see another warrior—this one a human—charging her with a large, wooden battle ax. He brought it down with two hands, aiming straight for her head, and she could tell that if he’d hit, the blow would really hurt. She was surprised at these human warriors’ speed; if she hadn’t been looking, he would have caught her.

But Caitlin’s reflexes again kicked in, and she dodged out of the way at the last second, the wood whistling by her ear. As the warrior rushed past her, she leaned back and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him to the ground.

Caitlin turned just in time to see a long wooden chain and mace being swung right for her chest. She jumped back, and it missed by a hair, as it grazed the tip of her clothing. She imagined what that mace would have done to her—even though it was wood. The warrior swung again, and this time, she could see he was aiming for Caleb.

Caleb, his back to her, had his hands full, slashing and parrying with two vampires and one human warrior. He didn’t see the mace being swung right for him. The mace was coming down hard, and it was about to strike a hard blow on his shoulder.

Caitlin reached her sword high in the air and intercepting it before it reached Caleb. The chain, instead, wrapped several times around her sword, entangled in it. She then yanked it hard, and as she did, the warrior was pulled close to her; she then leaned back and sidekicked him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Caitlin turned and leapt into the air, somersaulting over Caleb, and landing a double front kick on the chest of his opponent. She then reached down and grabbed his sword, swung around, and cracked one of Caleb’s other opponents hard behind his knees, buckling him to the floor. Caleb followed up by kicking him in the chest, and sending him to the ground. The third warrior swung around and was about to crack Caitlin hard in the back with his wooden sword. She had made a stupid mistake—she had been too preoccupied with Caleb’s other two warriors, and now she braced herself for a blow.

But at the last second, she heard the sound of wood on wood, and spun to see that Caleb had blocked the blow for her, then reached over and kicked him, knocking him to the ground.

Caitlin looked at Caleb with gratitude, and he exchanged the same grateful look. She could really feel that they were in this together.

Dozens more warriors prepared to charge, but suddenly there was the blow of a loud whistle, and everyone stopped.

Aiden stepped forward.

“Well done,” he said, as Caitlin and Caleb stood there, out of breath. “Now, we switch to jousting.”

The warriors immediately repositioned themselves, as servants brought out horses from the castle grounds. These horses were beautifully bedecked, covered in jewels, and the kings’ men, wearing chainmail, handed out several shining lances.

Caitlin found herself led to a horse, which she mounted, then found herself handed a huge lance.

On the far side of the field, facing her, a vampire warrior mounted a horse and scowled back at her. She recognized him immediately. Cain.

Another whistle sounded, and Caitlin’s horse charged forward at a gallop. The warriors all cheered, as the two galloped right for each other. Caitlin could feel the wind in her hair, out of breath at the speed of the horse, doing her best to wield the heavy lance. She saw the expression in Cain’s face, bearing down on her, and tried instead to focus not on his eyes, but on his chest. On where to place the lance. He was taller than her, and had the advantage. But she decided not to rely on her senses.

Caitlin closed her eyes, and tuned in. She sensed the spirit of the horse, felt its minute movements, its breathing; she sensed her opponent’s horse, her opponent’s weaknesses. She felt every muscle in the horse as they ran, felt the indents in the terrain, the cool feel of her lance’s hilt. When she opened her eyes again, she was but feet away—and she let her arm guide the lance to its proper place.

It was a direct hit. She hit Cain on his rib cage, a split-second before he reached her. Cain fell off his horse, tumbling to the ground hard, and the crowd cheered.

Caitlin jousted again and again, for what felt like hours, against vampire warriors, against human warriors….Time and again, she was victorious.

Simultaneously, several more jousting lanes were opened and more horses were brought out, so that Caleb was jousting other opponents beside her, and others were jousting beside him. It became a jovial atmosphere, as dozens of horses were charging each other at any given time, the air filled with the sound of clanging. The royal musicians came out and played on their trumpets and lutes, adding a festive, medieval flare to the festival. Eventually vats of wine were also rolled out, along with vats of blood, and people drank freely throughout the day.

As Caitlin took a break at one point, she noticed that her brother Sam was up on a horse, jousting opponents. He knocked one off easily, looking graceful as he did. She marveled at how far he had come.

She noticed that Polly was jousting, too. After defeating one opponent, she came around, and found herself pared off with Sam.

Caitlin could see the look of anxiety in Sam’s eyes: it was clear he did not want to fight her.

But they were pitted against each other, and as the crowd screamed out, they had no choice but to gallop towards one another. At the last second, Sam raised his lance just enough to miss her, allowing her to strike him square in the chest. Caitlin watched as, for the first time that day, Sam fell from his horse, hitting the ground hard. She then noticed the confused and surprised expression on Polly’s face. Clearly, Sam had taken a fall for her.

As the day grew long, the jousting eventually subsided, and was replaced with other contests and games. There were games of throwing small metal balls into circular targets; games of lifting heavy boulders and throwing them; games with slingshots, with bows and arrows, and even games with spears, aiming for fish in a flowing creek.

Scarlet came running up to Caitlin when they took out the bows and arrows. “Please, Mommy, can I try?” she pleaded.

Caleb looked down at her. “I don’t see why not.”

Scarlet ran off with a delighted squeal, Ruth following. She grabbed the bows and arrows and took aim, with all the other warriors, at distant targets.

An amazed crowd began to gather around the girl, as one by one, warriors stopped what they were doing and stared. Caitlin, too was in shock. Scarlet hit every target perfectly, putting the grown warriors to shame. Caitlin couldn’t believe it. Clearly, Scarlet had an innate skill. Caitlin wondered where it came from, and she felt more proud of her than ever.

As a never-ending stream of games and competitions came and went, the day grew more and more festive. Competitions started to peter out, replaced with banter, laughter and camaraderie, as more food and wine and blood were rolled out into the fields. As the sun slowly began to set, painting the sky in a blanket of orange, it transitioned to a full-fledged party, the day’s former opponents all hugging each other, sharing drinks and huge pieces of meat over roasting fires. The tournaments transitioned to a feast.

Caitlin found Caleb, and the two shared drinks and food, laughing with human and vampire opponents they had fought on the field, surrounded by dozens of well-wishers, as torches were lit, the music grew louder, and the feast seemed to grow bigger and bigger. Caitlin fell her heart warm, surrounded by so many people she loved. It had not only been a fun day, but also a productive one, sharpening her skills in many ways, and teaching her much about Scarlet, too. It had also brought her and Caleb so much closer. She felt his love for her, and she felt the same. She was excited to think that the first step to their wedding day was now behind them, and that now they were that much closer to being wed.

“Now it’s time to plan the wedding!” she yelled out excitedly, and a chorus of girls cheered their approval.

“It’s going to be the most beautiful wedding you’ve ever seen,” Polly said.

“I already have ideas about the flowers,” Taylor chimed in.

Caitlin felt a bit overwhelmed, as all the girls suddenly began to chime in with their opinions. Before she could respond, she noticed something in the distance, over their shoulders, that made her stop in her tracks.

At first she thought she was seeing things, that it was an apparition. But then, as she watched, she saw it was real.

She felt the glass goblet slip from her fingers and crash to the ground, as she stood there, frozen, not believing what she saw.

There, in the distance, standing at the edge of the wood, watching her with his intense eyes, was a man she could never forget.

It was Blake.