Lush green foliage, thick with brambles and tangled branches, dotted the mountainside, the ground, muddied from recent rain, uneven and densely populated with rocks that made walking unappealing, and in her present mood, the last thing on earth Asteria wanted to do was trek around the forest looking for help from someone who should’ve been seeking her out. She was the Vampire Queen, after all. So why in the world would she need to suffer the degradation of climbing up and down mountain trails looking for one who should feel blessed to be considered a potential use to someone of her stature?
“Please try not to worry, Your Majesty,” the stooped man called Nelo said over his shoulder as they wound their way up a nearly undetectable trail. “I am certain we will find him today.”
“That is what you said yesterday,” Asteria reminded him. After two days of searching for Daunator, they had come up empty handed. Asteria had announced earlier that morning that she was done, that she would go home to Melbourne and handle the situation herself, but once that insipid girl was able to interfere with her minions in Missouri, and that wretched Guardian Leader pushed her out of his head, she knew she’d have to continue to seek assistance from someone. Hines insisted that Daunator would be able to help them, that he had met the mysterious Vampire once before, but Asteria was beginning to have her doubts, and the longer she chased the shadow, the more convinced she became that there were other less strenuous options.
“I’m sorry, my Queen,” Hines said, his hair slightly deflated from the long journey. “If I could do it myself, I would. But the last time I was privileged enough to speak to the knower, he said, ‘He who feels the burn must extinguish the fire.’ I believe that means whoever has the problem must be the one to come and speak to him, and though I am more than a little involved at this point, I am fairly certain he would refuse to confide the answers to me.”
“All of that is fine and good, Hines,” she said, running a hand over her bulging belly. It seemed to grow an inch or two each day, and at this rate, she felt she might be giving birth within the week. “But I am not convinced he will even be able to help us.”
Hines stopped, one hand on a tree trunk he’d been using to steady himself, and looked at her. “Does that mean you think our cause is hopeless?” His eyes were wide behind his thick spectacles, and the worry caused his mouth to crinkle.
“No, of course not,” she replied quickly. Despite recent setbacks, she was determined to find a way. “I only mean I do not think he could be any wiser than I am. I have travelled to hell and back. I know the forces of nature, the movement of things unseen, more than anyone else. What can he possibly know that I do not?”
“Oh, Your Majesty,” Venette said, her face seeming to pale beneath the black hooded cloak she wore. “I beg you not to speak ill of the great Daunator. He is quite powerful. His wisdom reaches far beyond our understanding.”
Asteria couldn’t help but laugh. “If he is so great and powerful that he has heard me speak against him, perhaps he will show himself, and then I can defend myself face to face with the all-knowing one. Otherwise, I will continue to have my doubts about his power.”
There was an exchange of glances between the others, expressions Asteria chose to ignore. They could mutter about as if speaking ill of one who was clearly not in their presence would bring certain destruction upon the lot of them, but Asteria was at the end of her rope. Knowing she’d left an incompetent in charge back at the asylum did not make her feel better, though now that Perses was gone, there was no one else she would’ve trusted in her absence anyway—and she wasn’t completely sure she would’ve trusted him for that matter. Still, since she and Hines were both here, she’d called upon an acquaintance from her first existence to watch over things, a muscular Vampire named Bossley with icy blond hair and the sort of eyes that make a women’s heart flutter, if she is still alive. He did not affect Asteria the same way since she was not. Her hope was that he would at least be competent enough to hold back any forces that may try to invade while she was gone, but hoping that Aaron’s depression and her own ability to confuse the enemy about the location would be enough to keep them all at bay was slowly fading. The longer she spent wandering around a mountainside, the more she began to see her dreams slipping through her fingers, especially since she was quite sure the Guardian Leader would want to press against her forces now that he was thinking for himself, and she had no idea if her armies were ready.
“Hines,” she called, still traveling up the side of a steep hill despite her better judgment. “Are the rooms prepared at least? Can Bossley at least hold them if he can’t change them?”
“Yes, they are ready. I assure you, Your Majesty, I have been over all of that with Bossley and with my assistant, Joanna. If there is an attack while we are gone, measures are ready. Trust your accomplices.”
Asteria nodded, and he turned back to face the way they were going, but she still felt uneasy. Joanna was a simpleton, by all accounts. A tall, dark-haired, newly turned nurse’s assistant who knew about as much about administering a shot of sedative as performing brain surgery. Yet, Hines liked her because when he’d asked her to stomp a litter of newly born kittens, the woman hadn’t hesitated. However, LIGHTS would be a lot harder to squish, and the fact that she could be cruel to helpless creatures meant nothing, as far as Asteria was concerned. If they were attacked while the queen was away, she’d need all of her strength to mentally empower her soldiers to fight off the invaders, and she didn’t know how she could possibly do that after trekking around the woods for days looking for someone she did not need.
A sharp pain in her lower abdomen had her clutching her bulging stomach and crying out. The other three stopped and stared at her. “Are you all right, Your Majesty?” Venette asked, her eyes wide with concern.
“I’m fine,” Asteria assured them, taking deep breaths. Why she didn’t change form and fly away on wings like an owl or float away in a mist she wasn’t sure, but even her unborn child thought this was a poor idea. “We must be heading back soon.”
“Just a bit further,” Nelo prodded. “I am beginning to sense something.”
Asteria’s protests stayed inside of her. She was certain this was a waste of time and resources, and if she wasn’t careful, she would end up losing her empire because of it. Her feet kept moving forward, nonetheless.
