Living quarters within the sealed court lacked the luxury of the rest of the castle but with some persuasion, Stefan had managed to make his private study homely. A log fire crackled in the hearth, casting dancing shadows on the walls of the dimly lit room. It had been a long day in the chamber with several witnesses called forward. Checking over the timeline and list of names, he knew that Jem would be called the following day or the day after at the latest. He was the final witness.
A knock at the door broke into his thoughts, startling him back to the present. Before he could grant the visitor permission to enter, the door opened just long enough to allow Meryn and Trine to slip into the room.
“Good evening,” he greeted them warmly. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
“Evening, Stefan,” greeted Meryn brusquely as she took a seat beside the fire. “We need to talk.”
“Trine,” began Stefan, noticing his daughter’s worried expression. “If this is about Jem testifying tomorrow….”
“It’s not,” interrupted Meryn sharply.
Kneeling on the floor beside her father’s chair, Trine whispered, “I’m pregnant.”
Momentarily lost for words, Stefan stared at her in disbelief.
“Well, say something,” snapped Meryn impatiently.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a very long time, my dear,” said Stefan taking his daughter’s hand. “You know the risks?”
Trine nodded.
“When is the baby due?”
“September,” replied Trine softly. “Mid-September.”
“So, you’ve known about this for a while?”
Again, Trine nodded, “Jem knows too.”
“I assumed he did,” commented Stefan gruffly. “The trial will be over long before them. You’ll both be safely back in your beach hut.”
“Stefan, that’s not the pressing issue for now,” interrupted Meryn. “This baby is a pure blood. The first of the new bloodline. Trine has advised me that she thought she felt it moving earlier. Her first trimester is complete. This child is now a child in its own right. It counts….”
“It counts as one of The Thirteen,” finished Stefan, realising where the vampiress was going with the train of thought. “It’ll break the wards over The Thirteen. The trial will be declared void.”
“Exactly!” stated Meryn. “We’ve put too much time and effort into this to let Anna simply walk away on a technicality.”
“I agree. We’re so close to the adjournment for a decision,” agreed Stefan, sharing their anxiety. “Is there a way to safely conceal Trine’s condition from the others?”
“Stefan, you know I can’t practice magic down here!” Meryn reminded him bluntly. “It would trigger the wards sealing the court.”
“True.”
“If we can’t weave magic, is there a potion that could help?” asked Trine quietly.
“Potions are dangerous,” cautioned Meryn. “I don’t want to risk causing any harm to you or my grandchild.”
“Well, we need to come up with something, Meryn!” barked Stefan. “And fast!”
“Crystals,” suggested Trine calmly. “If we can use a potion to enhance the tranquil properties of the crystals, it might be enough to quieten the baby as long as I remain calm too.”
Meryn nodded her approval, “Not a bad suggestion. In fact, right now, I suspect it’s our only one. But, Trine, how can do you think you can remain calm while Jem gives his evidence?”
“I can only try.”
“Do we have access to the crystals that we need for this?” asked Stefan.
“Possibly not but they should be available on request from the guards if I feign insomnia or mild anxiety at the prospect of my son giving evidence. Even assuming that they check with Jefferson, he’s hardly likely to refuse my request,” replied Meryn. “I have the basic ingredients for a sleeping draft in my travel trunk. If I can enhance that and soak the crystals in it overnight, this might just work.”
“So, how will this actually work?” asked Trine.
“You’ll need to secrete the crystals in your robe as close to your womb as you can,” advised Meryn.
“I can do that,” promised the younger vampiress.
“Fine. We have a plan,” nodded Stefan, trying to hide his anxiety from his daughter.
“Agreed,” said Meryn as she got to her feet. “Trine, come to my chamber an hour before dawn.”
Having said goodnight to both Stefan and Trine, Meryn returned to her own small chamber. In her absence the fire had burned down and, as she tossed a fresh log into the hearth, an idea struck her. She could use the energy from the flames to enhance the power of the crystals. Hurriedly she opened the catch on her travel trunk then opened a small hidden compartment concealed in the lid and pulled out a small black velvet pouch. She tipped the contents into the palm of her hand. Gazing down at the selection of small crystals, she picked out a piece of smoky quartz, black tourmaline, and clear quartz. As an afterthought, she added a piece of haematite and a piece of amethyst. Slipping the polished stones into the deep pocket of her robes, Meryn then rang the bell to summon one of the court servants.
“Good evening, Mistress Meryn,” greeted the junior official when she opened the door a few minutes later.
“Good evening,” she replied warmly. “I’m hoping you can help me with a little something.”
“If I can, ma’am.”
“I’ve not been sleeping well. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. I’ve run out of my nighttime tea and seem to have misplaced some of my crystals.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. What do you need me to bring you?”
“Some lavender and chamomile tea with some valerian added for good measure. I also need a piece of selenite and some moonstone,” requested Meryn with an innocent smile. “Oh! And a piece of labradorite if you have one.”
“Leave it with me, Mistress Meryn. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as the young man prepared to leave the room.
Less than ten minutes later, there was a soft knock at her door, before the junior official entered carrying a round tray. A small tea kettle and cup sat in the centre, a black pouch containing the crystals lay beside it. There was a fresh sprig of lavender lying on the tray too.
“I took the liberty of adding some freshly cut lavender,” the servant explained as he laid the tray on the small table beside the fire. “My grandmother swore by it. She slept with a fresh sprig of lavender under her pillow every night.”
“Thank you. That was truly considerate of you,” replied Meryn graciously.
“Sleep we’ll, Mistress Meryn,” said the servant as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Instead of pouring the tea into the cup, Meryn gathered the crystals together and added them to the tea kettle. Deciding to take a chance, she chanted a simple sleep enhancing spell over the hot liquid, praying that if the light magic was detected that she could pass it off as a desperate act to get a good night’s rest. Carefully she hung the small kettle on the hook over the fire. Taking the lavender spray in her hands, she inhaled its distinctive aroma before crushing it and tossing it into the flames.
With her work complete, the senior vampiress retired to her bedchamber for the night.
As arranged, Trine slipped unseen through the corridors to Meryn’s chamber before dawn. Both vampiresses were dressed in their blue robes ready for the long day ahead in the courtroom.
“Did you manage to get any rest, my dear?” asked Meryn as she reach out to retrieve the tea kettle from its hook.
“Some,” replied Trine, the dark shadows beneath her eyes suggesting otherwise. “I had a thought.” She paused. “I brought some white silk. Perhaps we could soak it with the tea as an additional layer of protection.”
“We could,” agreed Meryn. “But we’ll need to be quick, if it’s to dry before you need to enter court.”
Working quickly, Meryn drizzled the cold lavender tea over the centre section of the band of white silk. She then fished out the crystals and laid them in a grid on the damp silk.
“How will we hold them in place?” asked Trine recognising that the grid formation strengthened the crystals’ powers as long as they didn’t touch.
“I’ll stitch a layer of silk over them and stitch them in place. It’ll create little pockets for them,” explained Meryn, already snipping a section from the end of the piece of cloth.
Deftly, the older woman sewed the crystals in place then carefully bound the silk cloth around Trine’s hips.
“Sew it in place,” suggested the younger woman. “That removes the risk of it coming undone.”
With a nod, Meryn added a row of stitches to the cloth, keeping it flush with Trine’s still slender body. Once Trine let her blue robe cascade down, the band was easily concealed.
“Pray this works, child,” said Meryn, sounding a little anxious. “Now, go. We’ll be collected and escorted to the chamber in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” replied Trine, hugging the older woman on impulse.
“Thank me when this is all over.”
Sleep had eluded Jem and he yawned as he took his seat in the courtroom. Gazing round, he took in the now familiar scene. Over the weeks and months, he’d grown accustomed to seeing his fellow witnesses, the court officials, The Thirteen in their blue robes and Anna. However, as The Thirteen entered to take their seats, Anna turned round to face him. Their eyes met. Their gazes locked. He shivered as he felt the dark angel stare into his very soul.
“Court is now in session,” boomed one of the officials.
Anna turned back to face The Thirteen, the moment past.
“I’d like to invite our final witness to come forward,” began Jefferson calmly.
With sweating palms, Jem walked the short distance to the chair that had been placed to the left of The Thirteen.
“Jeremiah, know that circle you are about to enter binds you to tell your whole truth,” reminded Jefferson.
Feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Jem took a seat and sat facing The Thirteen ready to answer their questions.
“In your own time, please tell us how you first encountered our sister Anna.”
“I first saw her one Halloween. I was out running, and she appeared in the road in front of me,” began Jem slowly.
“Did she speak to you?” asked William.
“Actually, I spoke first. I thought she was in fancy dress for trick or treating. Said something like “good costume”.”
“Did she reply?”
“All she said was “soon” then she flew off into the night,” he replied, recalling the scene vividly.
“And when did you next meet our sister Anna?” asked Alessandro.
“Not for about eight months. Was around the middle of June. I was out running after dinner with a friend. I’d got ahead of him on the trail. I spotted a dead deer in the middle of the path. Its throat had been ripped out. I was looking back to see where my friend was and when I turned back round Anna was in front of me. She was close. She reached out and touched the tattoo I have on my arm. I closed my eyes for a second then I heard my friend coming up the path behind me. When I opened my eyes, she was gone,” explained Jem. “Turned out she’d bitten me, but I never felt it.”
“Bitten you? Drunk from you?” quizzed Miguel sharply.
“She’d pierced the skin at my neck. If she fed, it could only have been a few drops,” replied Jem. “The next time I saw her, Anna …she referred to me as “forbidden fruit” then said we needed to talk. We didn’t have that talk for a couple of months. She was waiting for me at the graveyard in the village where I live. She said she needed to tell me a story. Turned out the tip of her fang had broken off in my neck which was why the wound wouldn’t heal. Anna also said my blood had poisoned her. She said we were related. Said in over two hundred years, she’d not seen anything like it. Then she offered me a choice.”
“A choice?” echoed Jefferson.
Jem nodded, “The choice to either be like her or to kill her. I asked why I would want to be like her. She proposed a partial transformation that would mean I’d age more slowly, run faster and be able to keep running for years. She gave me a week to decide.”
“A partial transformation is rare,” commented Jai, who had rarely spoken in court. “It takes nurturing to sustain. It’s a delicate balance. It has to come from a place of deep love.”
Jem shivered at the memory of the conversation where Ann had pressed him for an answer. Clearing his throat, he said, “Anna advised against a full transformation. I was married. I had young children at the time. She suggested a full transformation might increase the risk that I’d harm one of my kids.” He paused. “I get I got sucked in. Got caught up in the mystique of it all.”
“When did this partial transformation take place?” asked Stefan calmly.
“One week later. She said it needed to happen after the moon had risen on the night of the next full moon. She called it the Blessing Moon. Cursed moon more like.”
“I’m intrigued,” interrupted Amelie. “Describe to the court how Anna completed this partial transformation, please.”
“I’ll try,” said Jem. “It was a long time ago.” He paused again then continued, “I met her at the graveyard, and she transported me to her mausoleum. Her home. She had things laid out on a black cloth. She put some holy water in the cup to keep the transformation pure. I thought that was strange. She added moonstone dust, white agate powder, opal dust, oak and mugwort. She then added some of my blood. We took the cup out and under the light of the full moon, she filled the cup with her blood and told me to drink it.”
“Then what happened?” prodded Amelie.
“She transported me home. Told me to sleep,” continued Jem. “She gave me some mugwort to take every day and pouch with the remains of the stones she’d scraped the powder from. Told me to carry it always.”
“And did you?” asked Meryn out of curiosity.
Slipping his hand into his trouser pocket, Jem withdrew a worn green velvet bag. “Yes.”
“Interesting,” mused Jefferson. “How long did this partial transformation suffice, Jeremiah?”
“About four months.”
“Then what happened?” prompted Jefferson.
“I developed a blood rage. Almost attacked my son. Anna called it Rabbia Sanguigna. She then taught me how to hunt to satisfy the cravings. I kept up the mugwort to stop my wings from forming.”
“There are recognised ways to quench Rabbia Sanguigna,” commented Amelie. “I’ve studied it. Did our sister Anna try anything to stop the rage?”
Jem nodded, “She gave me a blood potion. I can’t remember what all she added but it involved the stones in the pouch plus another blue one and some oak. She also said I needed to drink the blood of my living vampire relative.”
Meryn flinched visibly at his words.
“And did you?” asked Stefan, staring intently across the room.
“Yes. Anna was gone until New Year. She brought me two flasks of blood that I drank,” he replied. “It was my mother’s blood.”
“What happened next?” encouraged Jefferson.
“I never saw her for three or four months. She turned up one night as I was leaving work and told me the partial transformation had failed.” Jem paused, unsure how to reveal the next part of his tale. “That summer my Rabbia Sanguigna flared one day. I had noticed that it got worse around the full moon but usually I could control myself. This day I didn’t. I met an injured cyclist on my way home from work. No excuses. I lost control when I saw his blood. I fed from him and killed him. Anna gave me fits that night after work for being so careless. She said I had speeded things up because I killed him at the full Buck Moon. I’d also stupidly missed a few days of the mugwort tea I drank.”
“And after that your wings began to bud,” surmised Jefferson.
Jem nodded, “Anna tried to slow their growth.”
“How?”
“She gave me a concoction to pour into the wing buds every month. She also designed a tattoo for me to have inked around the buds. Whatever was in that concoction burned like fire and hurt like hell when I poured it into the holes, I pierced in my back each time.”
“Did you get the tattoo?” asked Stefan. “I’m guessing that the design was part of the enchantment.”
Jem nodded.
“Can you please show the court?” requested Jefferson, curious to see the design.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Jem unfastened his shirt and removed it before turning his back to The Thirteen. He could feel them staring at the intricate Celtic pattern that spanned his upper back.
“Thank you,” said Jefferson warmly. “Please continue.”
Having put his shirt back on, Jem continued, “Anna sent me away with a box of glass phials and a supply of moss to cover the holes. I had to pierce two holes in the wing buds each month, pour in one phial of liquid then cover the holes with the moss. I followed that regime for twenty-five years then I ran out of phials. Once they ran out, my wings grew quite quickly. I panicked and reached out to her for help. She came but she told me I was on my own. Before she left that night, she did admit that she’d failed me.”
“Was that when you moved to your beach hut?” asked Trine, finally feeling bold enough to address her partner.
“Yes.”
“And that’s when we became aware of your existence,” added Stefan calmly.
“Jeremiah,” began Jefferson. “Did you know before you first met our sister Anna that vampire blood flowed in your veins?”
“No.”
“Even though your own birth mother is a pure blood and a member of this council?”
“I never suspected a thing until Anna mentioned that she needed my mother’s blood.”
“That’s to the credit of Meryn,” interjected Stefan bluntly. “She was keen that Jeremiah live a human existence.”
“Jem,” said Jean-Claude, who had remained silent throughout. “May I ask you a question?”
Jem nodded.
“You said you were offered a choice,” began the French vampire. “Why didn’t you kill Anna? You knew that was an option before you agreed to the partial transformation. Did you never feel tempted to do it, especially when things failed?”
“Good question,” commented Jem, stalling for some thinking time. “No, I was never tempted to kill her. I thought about it many times especially over the past year or two, but I can’t kill her.”
“Why?” pressed Jean-Claude.
“Because she created me,” replied Jem quietly. “Because a part of me remains loyal to her. Because a part of me loves her.”
“Merci.”
“Are there any further questions?” asked Jefferson.
His question was met with silence.
“Thank you, Jeremiah,” said Jefferson warmly. “I release you from the circle. Your testimony is complete.”
Once Jem had returned to his seat, Jefferson turned his attention to Anna, “You’ve listened to the testimonies of all of our witnesses, sister Anna. Do you have any mitigation to offer?”
“No,” started the dark angel calmly.
“Do you have anything you wish to say to the court?”
“No.”
“Very well,” said Jefferson with a nod. “The Thirteen will now retire to consider the evidence that has been presented to us. Please return to your chambers. A court official will fetch you when it is time to return to hear the court’s decision. I’d like to thank you all for your time and your patience throughout this trial. It has been appreciated.”
With a last glance round at the dark angel, Jem followed everyone out of the chamber with a heavy heart.
Coral McCallum 