Enchanted World: Elves and Vampires

9: Home

*****

Nora leaned back against her seat, clutching the seatbelt while staring at passing cars, people and buildings. The drive would take quite a few hours given that they were driving into a completely different part of the continent. The longer they drove, the more surreal she found the beauty of elves. It was like it was part of each elf’s genetics to be flawlessly beautiful and walk like they were gliding. All of them wore beautiful jewels and expensive-looking clothing. It was basically impossible to tell which social class they were a part of just by looking at them. If she had not already met Arwin, it would be hard not to assume that every elf was royalty.

The palace was huge from the outside, but it felt bigger from the inside and it was painted white with grey finishes making it look quite modern despite the ages of the elves that lived there. Arwin had taken her hand to lead her out of the room and had not let go until they were in the car, she was somewhat relieved about that because they had been surrounded by lots of guards with new faces and she did not exactly feel comfortable or safe around them after what had happened in the evening; would not have felt safe anyway… but his hand was somewhat comforting. Nora trusted that he would not let her get hurt despite a constant reminder in the back of her mind that she knew barely anything about him so it did not make sense to trust him.

Leaning her head back against the headrest, she focused on the seat in front of her where the familiar guard or maybe Arwin’s butler Cullum sat. They had been driving for a few hours, Arwin had said they would arrive just after dark which meant at least ten more hours of driving. She was going to point out that that city was not safe at night but then remembered they were incredibly powerful elves, which made them basically untouchable even in their own cities and country.

“Are you okay?” She turned her head to the elf beside her. He was wearing another elven crown, this one with sapphires lining his forehead before the silver framing disappeared into jet black hair that hung half tied back. He wore a black coat, the style matching the one he forced her to wear because he thought it was chilly enough to need one over his white mandarin collared shirt and black trousers. Nora wore an oversized long-sleeved t-shirt she found in one of the drawers that Arwin later informed her was his but had ended up wearing it anyway because she did not feel comfortable in the expensive silk shirts that she was still afraid of somehow ruining and possibly having to pay for, along with her own ripped jeans from the night when they found her. It had been washed, as had her t-shirt but Arwin said that was too damaged not to throw out. The rips in the denim looked like they were made purposefully for style so he allowed that. Allowed. A weird word… but it was true, she could not do anything without his consent. She gave a nod in response to his question and looked back in front of them as her grip tightened on the seatbelt.

Nora could not wait to see her siblings and the rest of their friends. Although hopeful they were all okay, there was still some anxiety in her chest caused by the possibility that Arwin had lied – even though he claimed he did not lie – and her brother and possibly more of their friends were still hurt… or worse… The thought made her shudder slightly and she tried to block it out but it seemed impossible until there was a sudden light tap against her temple that made her realise that she had not been breathing while staring at the headrest ahead, it caused her to turn to Arwin.

“What –?” Nora stopped herself when she realised the tight anxious feeling in her chest was gone, which only caused more panic and alarm, “What-what did you just do to me?”

“I calmed you down.”

“Don’t.” Arwin seemed surprised by the reaction raising his brows slightly, “Don’t do that. Don’t –” her voice caught in her throat when she noticed the elf in the driver’s seat glaring at her through narrowed glowing icy-blue eyes in the rear-view mirror, his hands were glowing as well and clenched tightly around the steering wheel. Right, she had forgotten where they were, and who she was with and speaking to. Not only was Arwin an elf, but he was also their prince. The driver’s change in eye colour was something she assumed meant he was about to attack, the elf the previous night had glowing eyes when he tried to stab her and Arwin’s eyes glowed when he used his magic sometimes too. She swallowed nervously and looked down onto her lap. Her mind urged an apology, maybe it would calm them down, but she could not seem to form the words or open her mouth.

“Stop the car.” Arwin’s command was met by the car instantly swerving off the road. “Get out.” Nora immediately reached for the seatbelt buckle but froze when Arwin’s hand clasped over it to keep her from unclipping it, “Leave us.” She glanced up through her lashes hearing the front doors open and watched the men climb out, leaving the two of them alone in the back seat of the car. “Do you want to finish what you were saying?” She shook her head but looked up slowly when Arwin let out a soft, amused breath. “It is kind of late to start biting your tongue around me, Nora. It only has to get worse from here.”

“Worse?”

“'Don’t' what?” Nora bit her lip considering lying to him but decided against it figuring that she would rather not have a repeat of what just happened… if that was an option.

“Don’t use your magic on me without my permission,” she spoke cautiously.

“I promise I will never do that again.” He looked sincere and even though it felt like believing him would be stupid she gave a small smile, “And about Igor and Cullum’s reactions; people just do not normally speak to me the way I let you speak to me and you are a human so they were ready to reprimand you. Do not worry, no one is going to hurt you, especially when I am right here and if I am not, I will know when to appear, okay?” He tapped the bracelet on her wrist lightly, “Perhaps just calm your tone a little though.” She gave a nod. Fair enough, he was royal.

“Are you stronger than everyone else?” Nora asked. She figured he was, it was generally known that royal elves and vampires were the strongest of their kind. She just wanted to confirm it now that she was actually speaking to one.

“Yes.”

“Then why do you need so many guards?” She glanced at the cars that had parked in front of them, the two guards that had been in the front of the car they were currently in now standing a few feet away watching the road and poised as if they were ready to fight.

“It would still be hard to fight a lot of powerful elves or vampires at once even if I am powerful.” He shrugged slightly. “Has never happened to me, but it is how my grandfather died.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was a few thousand years ago, I was not born yet.” Nora’s eyes widened.

“How old are you?”

“Two hundred and twenty-four in a few months.”

Nora looked at her lap trying to comprehend how anyone could live that long. There was so much she did not know about things beyond the little city they lived in. “Wow...” she mumbled about to follow it by asking how long elves lived exactly but he spoke up again.

“How old do I look?” Her eyes returned to Arwin, he was smiling, almost smirking smugly and she was sure it was because he knew he did not look a day over twenty-five. She did not want to admit that the attempt to hide his smugness was adorable.

“Um… at least five hundred, you look pretty… dusty.” She let out a laugh when he gasped lifting a dramatic hand to his chest as if it physically hurt before he turned to slide his window down slightly and motioned to the men standing further down the sidewalk.

The pair returned to the car and then they were back on the road.

The rest of the drive went by mostly silent as the men in the front seats occasionally mumbled some words in a language Nora did not understand but assumed to be elvish as she drifted in and out of sleep.

By the time they reached the city, the sky was turning navy as the violet streaks of late sunset disappeared behind them. Nora sat up excitedly and began to watch the familiarity of the city until they came to a stop in the darkness that was her neighbourhood. She immediately tried to open the door but it was locked.

“Arwi –” He had already climbed out of his side with the help of Igor. Turning back to her door showed that it was already unlocked, but Nora still could not open it and yet when Arwin had made his way around the car, he pried it open with ease. “Were you keeping it closed?” She frowned up at him, ignoring the hand he held out to her.

“It’s very dark here.” As he said that the street lit up with a blue glow that slowly faded to white, lighting up the area around her home clearly. She looked over to see that the elves had planted huge arrows into the ground that were letting off the light. It was beyond beautiful despite how the buildings looked with their broken or boarded-up windows and graffiti. Nora had barely felt Arwin’s hand take hers before it was shoved away as someone else grabbed hold of her arm but the grip was immediately ripped away when an elf basically speared the person onto the ground.

“Kevin –” Nora had no time to try to help him as another hand gripped her wrist to pull her from the car into a tight hug.

“Stop.” Arwin’s command made all the elves halt and with them, Nora's friends paused their fighting. She could see Kevin still pinned on the ground and Zachary pinned against the wall beside their house. Gianna was the person currently hugging her. Nora felt the worry that had been eating at her disappear seeing that her sibling and friends were clearly alive and looked completely uninjured.

“Nora –” Zachary tried to shove against the elf holding him and Nora let out a shocked shout when an arrow suddenly shot at him but it turned to dust in mid-air.

“Did I not command you to stop?” Nora felt her jaw drop open when she looked at the glare on Arwin’s face. His eyes had changed colour like they had when he made the bracelet, it was the same shade of icy blue that Igor’s had been in the car earlier but it seemed more threatening because he was clearly upset and looked terrifying.

“You did, your highness. I sincerely apologise. Please forgive me.” The elf that had shot the arrow fell onto his knees, bowing his head. Arwin just stared down at the man before looking at the other elves.

“Let them go, step away.” The guards immediately obeyed, letting her brother and the other teenagers go and climbing off Kevin who immediately shoved onto his feet and moved between Nora and Arwin. She noticed Arwin’s jaw clench at that but he made no attempt to move or shove Kevin out of the way.

“Your highness?” Gianna whispered sounding shocked as her grip on Nora loosened slightly.

“What is that?” Everyone’s heads seemed to follow the little voice.

“Zia, go back inside,” Nora said, the younger kids did not need to see it if another fight was going to break out.

“Nora!” Zia yelled happily.

“Go inside,” Nora repeated.

“But –”

“Go inside now, Zia,” Zachary spoke leaving no room for argument. Zia pouted as she looked at her sister before running into the house. Nora watched their brother glance over at her before he gave a harsh shove against the guards that had pinned him to the wall, intentionally bumping their shoulders to get by them which visibly annoyed them and then he walked up to Arwin. “Your highness?” Zachary spoke as if he was asking if the title was real.

“Arwin, Prince of Iscana. You are?”

“If you’re looking for ransom you’re not going to get any here, I’m sure you can observe that much and if you think you found a lifemate, you’re wrong. I take it you’ve realised that and have brought her back. We’ll be quiet about it if you just leave right now.” Nora tensed as Igor stepped closer to the pair of men once Zachary finished speaking but Arwin lifted his hand to indicate that the guard should stop.

“You know what lifemates are?” Arwin asked, when he received no response he gave a nod as he looked at Nora, “She is my lifemate. When I leave here, I will be taking her with me again.”

“Wait –” Nora stepped forward to grab Kevin’s arm as he began to advance towards Arwin. “Arwin, please stay here?” She looked at the prince. He gave a gentle smile nodding without questioning her and she grabbed Zachary’s arm to pull both him and Kevin towards the house while calling for Gianna and the others to follow.

Once they were inside the candle-lit room, Gianna shut the door and Nora let her brother and Kevin go.

“They’re dangerous. I don’t know what you’re doing but they are dangerous, Nora.” Zachary spoke immediately.

“It’s okay. They won’t hurt me – well, he won’t –”

“You can’t tell me you’re seriously considering being with someone that literally kidn*pped you two days ago, someone you know nothing about –” Zachary was saying.

“I know he’s an elf and elves have lifemates… and power… he’s their prince…” She could not believe she had actually said that out loud despite having dismissed the thought of being with him just for that reason in her mind, but it made more sense than ‘For some reason, I trust him so much that I agreed to stay with him for a year to see where it goes.’ Now that she thought about it, accepting that deal was stupid of her, even if she did not really have a choice. She didn’t know why it was so easy to trust him when there was no rational reason for it.

“Nora. No.” She raised her brows at Zachary as he laughed, “We’re not doing that and I know you.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s not that, is it? Is he threatening you?”

“I am not.” They looked towards the doors hearing Arwin on the other side, “But I am a prince, I can offer power.”

“She’s not for sale, you asshole.” Kevin spat.

“He was kidding,” Nora mumbled, although not knowing exactly how she knew that by just hearing his voice but Arwin had not been serious. He must have heard what she said, it sounded like he was right outside the door, eavesdropping.

“Nora,” Kevin said slowly. She bit her lip glancing away and turned around seeing a small figure run towards the door.

“Zia, what are you –?” Nora began.

“Come in!”

“Zia, don’t –” The nine-year-old had already pulled the door open and Arwin smiled down at her.

“Thank you, Kiddo. What is your name?” Zia looked up to run her eyes over the prince suspiciously.

“Zia,” she mumbled eventually.

“Nora’s little sister. The three of you look a lot alike.” Nora noticed Zachary’s fist clench when Arwin looked at him.

“You’re an... elf. You have magic, right? Can you do something?” Zia asked looking more excited than she had initially.

“He’s quite busy being outside though, Zia,” Gianna spoke.

“I was actually very bored, hence the eavesdropping.”

“You must think you’re being funny right now.” Arwin had to raise his hand to stop the guards again as they tried to push by him to enter the house, “I’m sorry if we’re not very inviting but you did kidnap our sister and try to kill several of us.” Zachary's voice wasn't apologetic at all as he glared at Arwin.

“Fair enough… but it would not hurt anyone if I just…” Everyone seemed to gasp as Arwin pointed his finger and a jolt of light shot out of it to hit the wall and then seemingly run sparks of electricity all over it from the point where it had touched the first brick leaving everyone’s jaws dropped while the room lit up before it went dim again as the sparks disappeared.

“Do it again!” Nora bit her lip feeling slightly embarrassed as Zia yelled at Arwin, bouncing with excitement. Her sister was cute though.

“Alright, alright.” Arwin chuckled before he did it again.

“That must pack some kind of punch when it hits someone,” Jaxton said from nearby.

“It does.” Arwin did not turn to them as he answered, instead kneeling down in front of Zia and Mike who were still urging him to do another trick.

“What are you doing?” Nora asked seeing the prince open his hand. He looked over and smiled. “Arwin –”

“I am obviously not going to create anything dangerous, Nora.” She felt herself smile as he gave her a petty-looking frown before his palm began to glow. He turned back to it as the kids and some of the teenagers gathered around to watch whatever he was planning on doing. Nora guessed that he was making another sphere of light like the one he had made when they were on the balcony at the palace.

She looked up feeling someone take hold of her arm to pull her from the room, outside into the alleyway and towards the road.

“Zac?”

“What’s going on? He just brought you back and now you’re cool with these… elves?” Zachary glanced over at the guards that stood beside the cars and then back down to the few that were watching Arwin from the door of their house.

“They won’t hurt me, Zac.” She sighed, “The truth… I agreed to stay with him for a year instead of being forced to stay there forever… I agreed to try to understand the lifemate thing… and if I don’t in a year, I can leave.” She left out the little bit about her doubting the last part and was just going to have to hope Arwin kept to his word.

“Essentially, you don’t have a choice, right?” She bit the inside of her cheek as her brother gave a breath of dry laughter throwing his head back so he was looking at the sky. He shook his head returning his gaze to her, “After mom and dad… I promised myself I would always take care of you and Zia… but we’re all still so weak, I still can’t do anything but watch.” he muttered, his voice and disappointment in himself making Nora feel pained. She knew exactly how he felt, which was why she had considered staying with Arwin because of his status.

“Zac… this isn’t on you and I’m okay… He’s not that bad, he’s actually…” She drifted, “I just know he won’t hurt me. Which is enough right now, considering the circumstances. Don’t you think?” she whispered.

“I guess.” Zachary glanced over at the door again and Nora’s eyes followed as she saw the guards move to give way to Arwin who walked out accompanied by Gianna and Kevin right behind him. They walked until they were right beside Zachary and Nora. “You want to leave,” Zachary stated staring at Arwin through narrowed eyes.

“Come with us.” Nora’s mouth dropped open slightly as she looked at Arwin. “You can live close by, I will take care of everything. You would not have to worry about having trouble with any elves… or vampires… anything else.” Arwin said.

“What?” Nora asked. Zachary gave a chuckle.

“You’re amazing, your highness. So gracious and generous. Thank you so so much for the help you're offering.” he said sarcastically.

“This is not some kind of trade, Zachary.” Arwin said, “I just know that you being closer would benefit Nora which is why I am suggesting this. She is leaving with me whether you agree to move or not. I suggest all of you do though.” Nora could tell her brother and their friends were getting angrier with each word Arwin spoke so she took his wrist to stop his talking as she started.

“Arw –” Her voice disappeared from her throat as movement from the corner of her eye made her head snap to look down the street. There seemed to be nothing but her heart stopped because she knew it was not nothing. Kevin seemed to have noticed it too and immediately tried to shove everyone back into the alleyway.

“Get inside –!”

They barely had time to move and Nora was frozen as she saw a familiar pair of eyes catch a bit of light before one of the large arrows was pulled from the ground and thrown directly towards them at lightning speed.

*****