“You have a witch’s broom? Fascinating. What are you two up to?” Zaul asked.
“We ask the same of you. Why are you here?” Eldrich asked.
“Sweetheart, have you seen gold in the forest lately?” Zaul asked, staring at Lela.
Lela came from behind Eldrich. She’d not let this vampire humiliate her.
“A dusting of gold among leaves does not constitute a golden ball,” she said.
“My, my, she’s brave. Very nice,” Zaul said.
“Unless you see a golden ball here, get on your way,” Lela said and swallowed. Keep still knees, keep still.
“We may not be able to claim you yet, but don’t think the golden ball isn’t coming for you. The dusting you saw is its way of letting you know it’s finding its way back,” Zaul said.
All of the vampires then rose into the air, hovering over Lela and Eldrich.
“By the look on your face, you had no idea some vampires can fly,” Zaul said to Lela. “Oh, Eldrich, you disappoint. Have you told her nothing about our kind?”
“Let us be,” Eldrich said.
“Ah, yes, for now, only for now,” Zaul said.
“Can you fly?” Lela asked Eldrich after Zaul and the other vampires flew off.
“No,” he said, taking her hand.
“Are you keeping anything from me?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She let go of his hand and locked eyes with him. “Tell me.”
“I love you. I would give my life for you.”
“And I would do the same for you. But if we’re to live together, I must know what secret you’re keeping from me.”
“I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.” He got on his knees.
Lela was tempted to tell him that whatever he was hiding from her wouldn’t make a difference. That she would stay with him no matter what he told her. But she couldn’t bring herself to say those words.
His eyes welling up, he said, “I’m the Prince of the Barmoth vampires.”
Stepping back, she said, “What? What does that mean?”
Bloody hell!
He put his face in his hands and stood. “I wanted to tell you.”
“Why didn’t you? For bloody hell, blessed Gods’ sake, you’re a prince, a real prince.” She picked up a stick and threw it against a tree.
“I was going to tell you the night I came to your room. But I just couldn’t do it. I was falling in love with you. I was afraid if I told you who I was…”
“That I would throw you out, spit in your face. Is that what you thought?”
“I needed to protect you,” he said.
Lela walked up to him and slapped him. “You disgust me.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“Did you have anything to do with my mother’s disappearance? Oh, Gods, did you drink from her?” She burst into tears. Please tell me you didn’t!
“I…was the one who made the pact with your mother. She came to me and begged me to let you live. My kind wanted to kill you from the moment they discovered that the golden ball was following you.”
Coughing and gagging, Lela tried to keep from fainting. He had broken her very soul.
“You evil, despicable creature! Get away from me!
“Let me finish my words, please, Lela, you have to let me tell you everything.”
“If I had a stake, I’d pierce your heart.”
“I tried to keep my kind from trying to hurt you. I swear it. They wouldn’t listen to me.”
“You’re their bloody prince!” She gagged again.
“And the golden ball is our God. How could I ask them to ignore our God? Vampires despise who they are. We want to be human again. To fall in love. Have children. Walk in the sun. And die from old age. The golden ball chose you.”
“Oh, Gods, I can’t hear this.”
“Your mother visited me and asked me for my help. I knew that if she offered herself to my kind, they would leave you alone for a while. Her blood saved you.”
“I hate you.”
“It was either her or you. Do you understand what I’m saying? There was nothing I could do.”
“My poor mother.”
“She saved you,” he said.
“Did you drink from her?” she asked, sobbing.
“No. I swear it. I swear it on the love I have for you. I swear it on my life. May the sun come up now and strike me down. I swear I did not drink from your mother. The night she gave herself to us, I renounced my crown. I walked away from my kind. I was ashamed.”
“I can’t be with you.”
“I turned from my kind. What they did was wrong. I wish I could have prevented it,” he said.
“But you didn’t. You let it happen and then because you were ashamed, you walked away from it all. Do you think that makes you a hero?”
“My deed did not go unpunished. The same night I abandoned my kind, a witch cursed me…turned me into a frog.”
“And stupidly, I helped you break the curse and then I actually fell in love with you. Oh, hell, did you know who I was when you found me in the well?”
He raised his eyes to the moon.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“I lived in the forest, the same forest which you visited often. How could I not know who you were? Bloody hell, Lela, I was guilt-ridden. There were so many times I thought about coming up to you and telling you everything. I was a frog! What was I supposed to do? Hop over to you and start talking to you? You would have run away screaming.”
“So you waited until I fell in the well. How very sweet of you.”
“No! The golden ball decided to make itself known to you that day. I knew that vampires were going to come after you. They would not have hesitated to drain you. The ball led you to the well. It wanted you to fall in.”
“Hold your tongue!”
“Listen to me. The ball wanted to keep you trapped until sundown. It was holding you captive for vampires.”
“Luckily, you were there to help get me out,” she said.
“I don’t expect you to believe me. But I’m telling you the truth. I couldn’t let what happened to your mother happen to you,” he said.
“What about the witch’s curse?”
“It sounds absurd but it’s the truth. In order to break her curse I had to lie with a princess. I knew you would agree to anything I asked for. You were at the bottom of a well. I had to try.”
“You’re disgusting.”
I wanted to protect you. How could I defend you as a frog? I needed to redeem myself.”
“You and I are no more,” she said, hoping the earth would open below her and swallow her.
“I can’t breathe without you,” he said.
“Then you will die,” she said.
“Enough!” a woman’s voice said.
“You’re here to ask my forgiveness. I will not stand here for a second more listening to a spoiled princess and a pathetic, guilty vampire arguing about things I care not about. Now, both of you kneel in front of me.”
“Are you Stiltz,” Lela asked.
“If you say my name again, you’ll never see your father again!”
The witch was not at all how Lela imagined her. She was beautiful with long black hair, soft facial features and a curvy body.
“Forgive us, “Eldrich said, kneeling.
“Seeing you like this makes me wonder why I ever wanted to lie with you. A vampire kneeling in front of a witch. Sad, so very sad. Yet here you’re,” the witch said to Eldrich.
“Forgive us, please forgive us for hurting you,” Lela said.
“Do you have a problem following orders? You’re not a princess here. The mountains belong to witches.”
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Lela said, getting on her knees.
“That’s better. Now then, let’s get started,” she said.
“You’re here to beg me to return your father and the rest of your people. It’s all rather easy. I despise you both. I used to think I hated Eldrich more for rejecting me. But then, I decided that indeed, I hate you both equally. You see, although witches are secretive creatures we cannot stand rejection. It drives us mad. And when we don’t get what we want, well, someone has to suffer for it.”