“I hadn’t realized there were guest quarters.”
“By the stable,” he said in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Convenient. Where is this place?”
“East of here.”
“Hmm…” I walked to the balcony. “Are you a werewolf, too?”
I remembered Marren said everyone was, but it didn’t explain some differences I saw.
“Yes…” It sounded like a question.
“Why aren’t your eyes black like Marren’s and the rest of the servants?”
“I’m not a bloodline. I’m what they call a half-breed.”
I gazed at him quizzically.
“It means I was once human. I don’t completely belong to the therianthrope race.”
“I suppose that makes sense. Did he turn you, also?”
He nodded, almost as if he wasn’t sure if he should tell me too much.
“Was it incredibly painful for you too?”
“Excruciatingly.”
“Did it happen gradually? I mean, did your change start with senses changing and crippling spasms of pain?”
“No, mine happened all at once.” He paused with his eyebrows scrunched together, as though he worked through a complicated puzzle. “I would say your experience is partly to blame on Marren being your heart song and partly due to him changing you during the blue moon.”
“Speaking of the heart song, why are the Ancients so angered by that? It seems odd someone would be so upset by me wanting to be a part of your world.”
“It’s because of a prophecy Marren was told when our kind was first banished to the immortal realm, and because they fear he is already stronger than they are with the allies he’s accumulated. They’re worried about an uprising.”
“An uprising? Why would Marren do that?”
He acted as though he didn’t want to share more than he already had.
“Please? I want to know. It will help me to stay sane while I’m cooped up here.” I took a seat on the bench in front of the bed and waited for Enid, who stood near the balcony staring out over the trees, to begin.
“When the immortal races—non-humans—were banished from the mortal realm, there was a war against us, fueled by the fear of humans. Of course, it was them who were responsible in the first place.”
“How?” I asked.
“A group called the Denai, a powerful sect of sorcerers, grew hungry in their greed and quest for power. They formed an incantation allowing them to absorb energies of any living thing or creature, giving them more power than any other race in the world. They became the first vampires. Some continued to ascend in power, absorbing enough to become gods.”
A shiver ran up my spine, remembering the picture of the vampire from the book. “Let me guess, they were exterminating numbers too quickly, causing attention to fall on them, and because of their indiscretion, the blame fell to the immortal races.”
“Which forced us to leave this realm.” He moved to take a stand in front of me.
“The humans banned together, deciding an eye for an eye was the only way the indiscretion could be settled. Many people lost their lives. Families were ripped apart…” His voice cracked as he shifted, walking to stare at the mantle of the fireplace. A few moments passed in silence.
So that’s how he lost his family…
“As a result, the Ancients of each race came together, forming the Council of Ancients. They put their magic together to create a new realm closely mirroring this one, so the immortal races could live in peace instead of fear.”
“How has that realm remained hidden for this long? It has to be hundreds of years old, and no one has even accidentally come across it?”
“By the laws the Ancients created,” he answered. “Protections were put in place to prevent anything but our kind from going through, rules to abide by. Anyone, who wished to cross over into the mortal realm, could do so if they stated their business and abided by the time frame they were given. They had to keep our world secret from everyone and live in secrecy, which is why we live this far from Hafton—or any other town for that matter.”
“I thought you were here—”
“A lot longer than we should. Marren couldn’t risk going back without you.”
“Why? Couldn’t he just go check in and come back?”
“The heart song is what binds you to each other. You two belong together, whether you accept him or not. If he left this realm without you, there was a possibility that you would be dead by the time he would be able to come back. Especially the time between the first night he saw you and the night we took you from the Cyrs.”