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Her next question surprised me. “Has that ever happened to you?”
“Me?” I echoed.
“Mhm,” she nodded, turned to me, watching me with an expression of deep curiosity.
“No,” I denied it. “I’ve never felt such hunger. Mine has always been kept under control, thanks to my human parents.”
“Is that why you believe in the peace between humans and vampires?” she asked again. I wasn’t expecting to have this conversation right now, but I didn’t want to make it seem as if I had something to hide.
“I don’t,” I answered. “I honestly don’t know if such a thing is even possible. The only thing that is possible is peace among most of us. Because I do believe most of us want to live in peace, without fear. But as long as there are vampires like Constantine to instigate this hatred, there will be wars and attacks on both sides, because when there is an attack, there is defense, and there is also retribution.”
“Eye for an eye?” she asked.
“Will leave the whole world blind,” I nodded. “But we will only realize this when it becomes completely dark.”
She didn’t say anything to that. She seemed to ponder the weight of my words, as I did as well. Now, we were facing adilemma. Should we tell the king? I knew we should. But at the same time, it was my fault that we were out here in the first place. Admitting that might make him trust me less, when the truth was that I was now more adamant than ever to keep Lilith safe. I had proved it twice already.
But at the same time, this was a direct disobeying of the king’s order. One of us would get in trouble if we told him. Or both of us. She seemed to be able to read my mind because her next question was exactly that.
“Do we tell Father this?” Her voice was soft and melodious. There was no more fear in it. Maybe now she was finally certain that I would keep her safe no matter what, even at the expense of my own life.
I didn’t even know it before, but the thought of something happening to Lilith threw me in a pit of rage. I would maul anyone responsible for plucking even a single hair on her body. I would set fire on villages and cities alike. I would take as many lives as necessary to avenge her. And yet, I couldn’t say any of this aloud. Maybe that didn’t matter. Maybe hearing it aloud wasn’t important.
“I think we should,” I told her, my morals winning over. She didn’t seem to like that.
“I’ll tell him it was all my fault,” she said calmly.
“No,” I shake my head.
“But it is,” she answered stubbornly. “Why would you get in trouble for something I did?”
That question resonated in me. The first time I showed myself to her at the cemetery, she didn’t care about who would get into trouble for something she did. Now, she was proving exactly the opposite of that. I could sense the burden of guilt in her, something I didn’t think she was capable of feeling.
“We have to tell him what happened,” I instruct. “Exactly what happened.”
I was also tempted to keep it a secret, all the more so because there was no evidence. But someone could have seen us from the castle. And lying to the king would not be a good thing.
“I want to be there when you tell him,” she said determinedly, and something told me that she would not take no for an answer.
“Alright,” I nodded. “You may join me tomorrow morning.”
Just as she was about to head back inside, I couldn’t prevent myself from saying. “I know how that feels.”
She stopped mid-step and turned around with a puzzling look in her eyes.
“About your mom,” I continued. “Everything changed after she died.”
She walked back to me, curiosity in her every movement. I looked at her, wondering how many more things I didn’t know about her, and how many more I wanted to know. Because everyone carried their own hidden truth. I wanted to learn hers.
“What happened?” she asked tenderly.
My expression softened. I opened this can of worms, and although it was difficult to talk about it, I knew that my mother would have loved Lilith. They shared the same passion for life, the same stubbornness, the same fire.
“She was the best mother a child could ever want,” I told her with a sigh. “They couldn’t have children of their own, so when they found me abandoned by the side of the road one morning on their way to the mountains, I was fortunate enough that they took me along with them. My father was a police officer, so it was easy to check the records for missing children. Of course, he didn’t find anything. They were left with two choices, keep me or let the state take care of me, which I think you’ll agree is something no one wants for any child.” I pauseda little, then continued. Talking about this proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be.
“They provided me with everything a child could ever want, and one day, they found out the truth,” I told her. This was my least favorite memory, but it was crucial for her understanding the depth of my parents’ love and devotion to a small vampire child. “They caught me sucking blood out of the neighbor’s parrot, which had mistakenly flown over to our backyard. Luckily, mom got home before anyone else could see me with my mouth all bloodied. I remember her taking me into her arms, I was only five at the time. I didn’t even know what was happening, whether I had done something wrong. She never made it seem like that. She took me to the bathroom and gave me a bath. Then, a few days later, the pills and the special drinks started. She always told me it was vitamins for a growing boy. I liked when she said it.” I smiled at this memory. It was bittersweet.
“I think your mother and my mother would have been best friends if they had known each other,” she smiled back at me, looking at me in a way she had never done before. This made me bold enough to continue this story, which was baring me more than ever before, leaving me vulnerable.
