A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,58

those who served as ‘food’ don’t know about this. Tired of drinking animal blood, the elites enslaved some of the people—stripped them of their lands, pushed them into poverty. They basically forced them into slavery. There were thousands of them, forced to live like this, with chains, waiting for the empire’s soldiers to come and collect blood to feed the nation…”

The kids ran around and giggled and splashed water at each other. They didn’t yet understand what their futures held, and I felt equal parts sorry and relieved for them. The former because the day would come when they would grasp their true reality, when they would see their blood taken from them—whether they wanted to give it or not. The latter because they were still innocent and laughing, enjoying the sun’s warmth on their faces and the ocean’s cool embrace.

“I’m Jacinda Arneth,” Valaine continued, as an Aeternae woman emerged from one of the red clay houses. She wore simple and modest linen clothes, her hair black and braided down her back. Barefooted and smiling, she joined the Aeternae who kept an eye on their children. “I’m a refugee of sorts…”

They all seemed to like her, even though she didn’t wear iron cuffs. They smiled when she was around. One of the women put an arm around her shoulder as Jacinda settled in front of the fire.

“Where’s your uncle?” the woman asked.

“Inside, weaving a shirt,” Jacinda replied. “He made himself a new spindle, and he’s eager to try it.”

“Good. Galle can’t be without his craft for too long.” The woman chuckled. “Idleness makes him stir-crazy.”

Valaine smiled. “My uncle Galle and I fled the city because we refused to drink Aeternae slave blood, as was the new custom. The slaves welcomed us into their village when the elite Aeternae shunned us. So we became refugees. No one wanted us. Not our own bourgeoisie, anyway.”

“You seemed happy here,” I said.

“My joy and serenity were short-lived,” she replied, as Jacinda’s conversation with the slaves continued in the background.

The image warped again, but only slightly this time. It was an early morning, and the tide was gradually withdrawing. The foaming waters revealed golden sands littered with oddly shaped seashells and turtle-like creatures stumbling and struggling to get back into the ocean.

Vision horses neighed, their hooves thundering down the narrow, battered road. There were dozens of them with silver guards on their backs. They were led by a gold guard with a somber look on his face as they stormed the village.

The Aeternae slaves ran from their path, the children hiding in the red clay houses and peeking out from the windows. The gold guard—a lieutenant, I suspected—stopped in the middle of the village and shouted so everyone could hear him. “Galle and Jacinda Arneth! Come out, now!”

The silver guards dismounted their horses, hands resting on their sheathed swords. They still carried weapons in this age. No one dared object to their presence. How could they, when the slaves were visibly traumatized and terrified of any Aeternae representing the empire?

“Galle and Jacinda Arneth!” the gold guard called out again. “You have ten seconds to comply before we start killing people!”

A moment later, Jacinda ran out of one of the houses with her hands up in a defensive gesture. “Please don’t! They’re innocent! They didn’t do anything wrong!”

“There you are,” the gold guard said with a sneer. “Where’s your uncle?”

“He’s not here, I swear! He’s out by the shore collecting seashells,” Jacinda explained. She was shaking, as afraid of the guards as the slaves were.

“They scared me,” Valaine mumbled. “They filled me with coldness and dread. I’d chosen not to live at the expense of my fellow Aeternae, and they resented and punished me for it. They were bullies.”

“You were accused of consorting with the blood slaves,” the gold guard said, not hiding his disgust as he looked around. “I see the rumors are true.”

“I live here. Is that considered consorting?” Jacinda shot back.

“We feed off them. We don’t live with them,” he replied firmly. “Has your exile taught you nothing, stupid girl?”

Jacinda’s expression shifted from fearful to angry. Her hands balled into fists as she stared the gold guard down. “Is that why you’re here? To tell me that I’m supposed to drink their blood?”

“It’s either that or we take you and your uncle to prison.”

“That’s ridiculous! You can’t force me to drink Aeternae blood!” Jacinda shouted.

The gold guard slipped off his horse and reached her in less than a breath. She didn’t see it