The Bride and Her Bloodlust

“No, James. Ball your fists like this and spread your feet further apart.” I said despairingly. “Your back foot should act as your stopper which will make it harder for you to be knocked off your feet.”

James spread his feet further apart and his expression back more focused. “Like this?”

I tilted my head and gave a half-hearted grunt. “It will do.”

He grinned at my mild praise. “So when do I get to fight for our Clan?” He asked excitedly with shining eyes.

I raised my eyebrows. “You’ve only begun battle training two days ago.”

“That must be enough?”

“No, it isn’t. You need years of training before you can even think of facing a hostile immortal.”

“Years?” He groaned. “I want to fight something now.” He punched at the air, practicing the stance he had been learning. “I bet I could take on you, Aunt Susan.”

I laughed loudly then corrected myself quickly and let my scowl return. “You will need a lot of training and time before you can take me on, James.”

He snorted. “I don’t.” He paused, stuck his tongue out in thought then gave me a slow mischievous grin.

He darted forward and balled his fists then took a sharp punch at my leg. I however knew what he intended to do. I saw his blatant movements. With a quick step out of the way, James’ fist punched only the air and cried out in surprise as I stuck my foot out in front of him. He fell hard to the wooden floor and lay there, winded.

“Your movement is slow, clumsy and obvious.” I said calmly as I watched him get to his feet with a slight glare. “It will take time and training before you’re polished and ready to fight me.”

He huffed, his cheeks red with embarrassment. “I’ll train hard then. I bet that when I am grown, I can take you down.”

I genuine smile broke my scowl. “Really now. You bet me that?”

“I do.” He said firmly then pointed a finger in a meaningful manner at my face. “I challenge you, Aunt Susan, that when I am grown up I will beat you in a fair-and-square fight.”

I tried my best not to laugh at the boy. He looked so serious. I knew that, even in fifteen years time, he wouldn’t be able to beat me. “I accept this challenge of yours.”

“Good. Don’t you go and forget it.” He said, puffing out his chest.

“I won’t.” I said and glanced at the time. “It’s been an hour now. You can go mess about with those silly cousins of yours.”

The serious expression on James’ face suddenly morphed into a grin. “I can?”

“You can?”

He grinned and charged for the door, muttering something about a prank he and the boys were planning. I felt a twinge of pity for the poor mortal that was going to be almost scared to death this evening.

The door opened just before he got there. A tall woman, whose black hair was now thick with grey streaks, held the door open and let James charge under her arm. She poked her head outside to watch the boy charge off deeper into the house before she stepped inside and let the door of the empty room swing shut.

I approached her, smiling faintly. “Mo.”

She smiled in welcome and the wrinkles on her face thickened. It was odd to think we were similar ages. While I remained as I did at the age of twenty-one, she had continued onwards to show her fifty years.

“Hello, Susan.” She said, glancing back at the door. “So you did go ahead and start training him then?”

“I did.”

“I still think it is a bit early. Don’t you immortals learn how to flee from battle at his age?”

“That’s right but I think it is better for him to start learning how to defend himself.”

Mo’s dark eyes scrunched up with suspicion. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I replied bluntly and almost honestly.

Mo knew me well though. She knew of my strange logic about honesty and half-truths. “Okay then, what do you think is going on? You wouldn’t be training up James for battle years before he is due to.”

I shifted my weight, going over what Lucius said. He had ensured that we promised not to spread unnecessary panic. We were to keep the knowledge from the young ones until we knew for certain if the threat had returned. Mo wasn’t a young one though. She was human and my oldest friend. She wasn’t on the quota of who not to tell.

“We think this old threat to the Old World is returning.” I said in a calm hushed voice. “So the Master and I just want to ensure James is safe.”

“I thought they only wanted Pure Blood children?”

“They do but James is so close to being Pure it’s quite likely that they may think he is.”

Mo hummed. “You have a point.” She paused. “Does the Master think it is likely they’re back?”

“He doesn’t want to admit it but he does.”

She sighed sharply. “Damn it. Those crazy twisted humans.” She bit her lip hard. “I still remember when you came back from that fight years back, when all those parasites were running loose. You came back white as a ghost and couldn’t sleep for days.” I didn’t say a word. Moments of weakness were nothing I liked to admit but there was no point in denying it. “If something can strike such fear into your heart then they’re something everyone should be scared of. Hell, even Morrigan didn’t scare you that much.”

“She just pissed me off, is all.” I grumbled stiffly, a little embarrassed by her praise.

“Well I hope he’s wrong. Things have been fine for the last few years. I don’t want anything to screw it up.” She said, giving me a meaningful look.

I knew what she meant. She was talking about my success at hiding myself so far. If something like a war were to pop up near home, she knew I wouldn’t be able to stand by. I’d get involved and risk being found out.

“I have work to get back to.” Mo said heavily. “The Master wondered if we could anything with this room. We could make it into James’ personal training spot, I guess.” She said with a shrug. “The current room has apparatuses that are too big for him.”

“It is an idea.” I approved.

“I’ll see what the Master says.”

“I can pass the idea on if you’re busy.” Mo smiled in thanks. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

Mo paused for a moment in thought. “You can sweep the patios and paths again. It’s too cold for me to do it and the others detest it.”

A normal task. I was often asked to work outside, not that I minded. It meant I could have my solitude.

“I’ll get on with it.”

“Thank you. Now I must go. I have a couple of new ones to kick up the bum or calm. It varies from day to day.” She said then wondered out of the room slowly.

Once she had gone, I closed my eyes to seek out the Master. I was pleased that I sensed him outside. So, as I ventured through the house, passing servants and a couple of youngsters I managed to chase off from a poor terrified maid, I grabbed a broom from a cupboard then marched outside.

The Master wasn’t that hard to find. He was sitting on the steps with his eyes fixed on the sky. I didn’t need to say anything to let him know I was there. He had sensed me searching him and smelt me before I even stepped outside.

“It’s cloudless tonight.” He stated contentedly. “The stars are bright.”

I didn’t say a word at first. My focus was absorbed by watching the wind trying to tug at his short hair and the broadness of his back. His words were slowly to sink in and, once they had, I turned my gaze skyward.

He was right. The sky was cloudless. It was a blanket of inky blank with thousands of shining lights.

“Mo suggested the room be turned into James’ personal training room.”

The Master glanced over his shoulder then hummed in thought. “That’s an idea. Most of the equipment will be too big for him.”

I paused, wondering about Mo’s confusion to James’ training. “Do you think it is a good idea to teach him how to fight?” I asked. “Wouldn’t put all his attentions on running be better?”

“As I said before, I think it is best he learns both. He may not be able to fight witches but he could take on humans, even adults. His strength would match theirs.” He said calmly. “Besides, is he enjoying it?”

“He is.”

“Then he can continue to learn. Even as the youngest member of this Clan’s Core, I think it is best for him to learn early. Every Core member has far more threats to deal with than a Branch.” He turned, holding out his hand to me and giving me that smile that always made me want to jump him. “Come sit with me for a while. I want to see if you remember the constellations I taught you as a child.”

I scowled. “You always find some way to test me.”

He laughed and waved me closer. Just as I was about to take his hand and let him pull me to sit next to him, there was a flutter of wings.

I turned sharply and, perched on a deckchair, was an owl. It was a fluffy creature with great oval eyes. It tilted its head, hooted at me, and then dropped something on the floor. It clattered lightly, barely making any sound. Intrigued, I stepped to pick it up and the owl took off in a flurry of feathers, screaming in the cold night air as it soared away.

The Master came to stand next to me as I stared down at what the owl had delivered.

“What did it give you?”

“A bracelet.” I muttered and held it out for him to see. “It looks old.”

The Master peered at the wooden beaded bracelet with scrutiny. “There’s old blood on it.”

I knew that. Not only could I smell it but I could see it. Black brown splotches littered the thing.

“Do you recognise the scent?” I asked.

“No.” He replied. “I take it you don’t either.”

I shook my head. I peered closer at it, inhaling deeply, but, whoever this once belong to I hadn’t known.

“Why did that owl bring it here?”

“I don’t know.” I mumbled. “Maybe it got it wrong. Some owls get confused when delivering. The old ones especially.” I held it out for him to take. “Here. Look after it. It’s safer with you than me.”

He took it without a word and pocketed it and smiled. “Now, come sit with me please.”

I glared at him. “An owl just gave me a random bloodied bracelet and you still want to test me?”

“I do.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the step.

I grudgingly allowed him but, even as the Master talked to me with that voice I annoyingly loved to hear, I still found my mind wandering back to that bracelet. It had confused me. Worried me a little. I didn’t know whose it was or who sent it to me.

But I didn’t realise the significance of the bracelet until too late. It was a warning. A threat. A declaration of war. A cry of vengeance. It was many things.

None of them good.