A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,39

would handle things from her end, and that we, the living, should stay out of the affairs of the dead.

Her whole attitude about this didn’t feel at all encouraging. Unfortunately, Amane and Amal were right. Death needed to be told about the Black Fever. She had to clarify some things before it was too late to fix it. The Aeternae’s lives were in danger, starting with the twenty patients already locked in the quarantine area.

During its last outbreak, the Black Fever had claimed the lives of over a million Aeternae. We didn’t want people to die in such numbers ever again.

Esme

The night was quiet. Kalon and I were given separate rooms at the inn, and the rest of Orvis silently accepted our presence. Pavlos and Ember were charged with guarding us until dawn while other young Aeternae kept the night’s watch.

Kalon left Ansel tied to a chair in his room and joined me outside on the porch. There were no other residents currently occupying the inn, so we had the place mostly to ourselves. Kalla brought over a pitcher of fresh animal blood—the hunters had returned with plenty of game in their leather sacks.

“Don’t consider yourself above us,” Kalla told him, noticing that Kalon’s lips twisted as he looked at the pitcher. “It’s still food. It’ll get you through the night.”

“It’ll weaken me,” Kalon replied.

“It’ll feed you,” I cut in. “You should save some for your brother, as well.”

“Ansel would rather die of hunger than touch animal blood,” Kalon said. He took a sip, taking a moment to fully take in the taste. “This isn’t half bad, actually,” he added, gulping down some more before he passed me the pitcher.

Kalla grinned. “The strength of an Aeternae is relative. Our people here don’t need to feel superior to anyone. They don’t need the blood of Rimians or Naloreans to thrive. This isn’t a micro-empire, after all. It’s just a village of outcasts and misfits.”

“You’ve been living here for, what, four thousand years?” I asked, clutching the vessel in my hands.

Above us, the moon shone like a pearl beyond a thin haze. Stars glimmered like diamonds on a dark purple blanket. After the afternoon rain, the sky had cleared. The wind blew strong, though, likely to bring more showers later tonight or early in the morning. Howls echoed in the woods around the village as nocturnal predators came out to hunt.

I heard the Visions neighing in their stables. The steel stone fence surrounding Orvis did a decent job of keeping the deadly animals at bay. For everything else, the watchtower stood tall, overlooking the entire village.

“About four millennia, yes. Some of the first to arrive and settle here were Aeternae, actually. They’re the village elders now, and I consult with them on many issues,” Kalla said. “They’re supportive of every new chief. Always. On occasion, some of them end up being chosen as chiefs again. But they never submit their own candidacy. We ask, and they answer.”

“Is this your way of telling us that the Aeternae living here do not demand eternal rule over Orvis?” Kalon chuckled.

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Kalla replied. “I know you find it hard to believe, but people actually get along here. This one simple rule about the Aeternae’s feeding has changed everything.”

“Imagine if the imperial city learned about this,” I told Kalon. “It’s a good example to set.”

Kalla’s smile faded, her expression suddenly somber and dark. “I’d rather you kept our existence to yourselves. We like our privacy too much to let it go.”

“You are self-proclaimed outcasts, though,” I said. “The empire has no business getting involved in your affairs.”

Kalon cleared his throat. “Well, that’s open to debate, actually. The Aeternae who founded Orvis were cast from the cities because they refused to drink Nalorean and Rimian blood. The fact that they’ve started a society here might be deemed a threat to the empire’s ethos. Imagine if what goes on in Orvis spread across the continent. The empire would never allow it. The Rimians and the Naloreans are subjects, and they were subjugated for their blood.”

“Kalon is right,” Kalla replied. “We like our life here. We don’t want to risk the empire’s involvement.”

I sympathized with Kalla on this one. The fact that they’d achieved such a beautiful balance here was proof that the empire’s hold over Nalore and Rimia could be broken. But I knew the Aeternae would never accept it. No, Orvis had to be protected from the outside world, and I was determined