Children of the Goddesses (completed)

Pawns

Lem’s POV

            “Two nights from now, you will leave your post exactly 10 minutes before the sun rises to go to the bathroom and you will come back 15 minutes later. You will not remember having spoken with me nor will you remember why you left your post.” 

            The black pupils of the vampire before me dilated before returning to normal after I had given him my command. Panic gripped his pale face as he lowered his eyes, breaking eye contact with me. 

            “I-I’m sorry, Sir, I c-can’t quite remember what I’m doing in this wing of the fortress,” he stammered nervously. 

            Relief flooded through me and I knew that the compulsion must have worked. It was a gamble that I had to take after seeing it had worked on Hanna days ago, and if it didn’t work, then a pawn on the chessboard would just have to be sacrificed. 

            “Leave and don’t let me see your face in this wing of the fortress again,” I commanded sternly. Without another word, the vampire nodded and fled down the hallway towards the entrance of my wing of the fortress. My newly acquired ability to compel less powerful vampires took care of the guard standing between us and freedom. The next thing that I had to procure was a cloaking spell to hide our scent, long enough before the King’s witch could try to unravel the spell, and with some luck, that conniving witch might not be able to break a light magic spell. As luck would have it, there was an auction at the auction house tomorrow and the King had once again tasked me to procure female vampires for him. It was the perfect opportunity for me to try and purchase a cloaking spell for Laila and myself.

            All that was left to do now was to create a distraction to buy us more time to get Laila to safety but the best idea I had was risky. We had learned in school that the enemy of your enemy is your friend and common interests could motivate old foes to bury the hatchet, even for just a short time. Two heads were better than one, I thought as I headed to the examination room to seek out Laila’s opinion. 

            “Hey, Knight,” chirped Laila as I entered the room. Her aura lit up the room like the morning sun, warm and welcoming, and I had to resist the urge to pull her into my arms. It was strange hearing someone call me Knight again, after so many years. When we were children, the only form of entertainment that was allowed was chess, because it was one of the few leisure activities that served the purpose of the army. Laila had insisted on being the Queen, the most powerful and versatile piece on the chessboard and both Lovis and I loved her too much to say otherwise. Lovis was the bishop, formidable in open positions where he was free to fight with all that he had, while I was the Knight, realizing my full potential in closed positions when we were left with little room to maneuver, much like the predicament that we were in right now.

            “You sound exceptionally happy, my Queen,” I stated in amusement as I sat down beside Laila on her bed. 

            “Of course I am, you silly boy! I found you, Lem! Once we leave this place and reunite with Lovis, we will be the unstoppable trio again!”

            “Until your father shows up and tells us all to go to bed, you mean,” I chuckled as we reminisced about our childhood together. 

            “True, but Father never said no to me! Don’t forget to factor that in,” Laila pointed out proudly. 

            “You and your wiles,” I said in mock disapproval before taking on a more serious tone. “I need to discuss something with you, Laila. It’s about our escape plan.” 

            Laila’s smile faded as she turned to look at me. “Are you sure we can talk here? Like this?” 

            “Don’t worry, no one comes to this wing of the fortress. It belongs to me and Loki is only allowed here if I summoned him,” I assured her.

            “Alright,” she said quietly, a little too quietly. “What is your rank within the King’s army or whatever he’s calling this?” 

            My heart pounded as I contemplated what to tell Laila and suddenly, I felt like it was a bad idea to discuss my idea with her. In battle, the pawns would always go first but she would never agree to that, let alone when the pawn that I had in mind was someone that she wanted to take with us. 

            “Lem,” a gentle voice brought me out of the cold prison cell of my mind. “You can tell me anything, and it won’t make me think any less of you, I promise.” 

            Slowly, I lifted my eyes to meet the dark blue orbs that held my entire world and I saw nothing but sincerity and love in them. “I’m the King’s bio-research unit, the only vampire left in the world who could still serve this purpose, but I’m not naive. I know that if there was something worth more to him, he would trade me for it in a heartbeat. I’ve done things, many things, that you would never agree with, Laila. I’m not the same boy chasing your tail and needing you to stand up for me, but my heart has never and will never change, Laila. You are the most important person to me and for you, I’ll do anything.” 

            Warmth engulfed me as my head pressed against something soft while a pair of strong arms enveloped me. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to snuggle closer to Laila’s chest. This was how she had held me the night news of Dad’s death was delivered to us. 

            “I don’t care who you’ve become, Lem, and maybe that makes me a bad person, but you’re a piece of my heart, so tell me, how could I hate you even if I don’t agree with you or what you’ve done? Besides, once we’re out of here, you’d have a fresh lease of life! You could do whatever you want and we would support you. With your talent, I’m sure that there’s nothing you can’t do! Didn’t you want to become a medic, just like your father? It’s not too late, and I know someone who could help you. I have friends who are looking for me, witches and werewolves who accept us for who we are.” 

            My heart sank as Laila’s voice echoed in my head. I had no intention to change my life or anything that I had planned, but I decided that was a battle for another day. The important task ahead of us now was to make sure that we got out of this fortress in two nights’ time. With every ounce of strength in my body, I gently pushed Laila away as I sat up and took on a more serious tone again. 

            “In two nights, we will leave this place Laila. 10 minutes before sunrise, we will leave by the enchanted oak tree and I will try to procure a cloaking spell at the auction house tomorrow to mask our tracks. I have hidden a motorbike in the forest and it’d be our getaway vehicle until we can get our hands on a car. Now I need you to listen carefully to this part of the plan because I’m going to need your help on this. Lady Reina or whatever she fancies calling herself is our best bet for creating a distraction that would buy us more time for our escape. She wants to be queen and you’re obviously standing in her way, so I have no doubt that she’d be more than happy to see you gone.” 

                Laila’s brows furrowed together making her look like an adorable confused squirrel. “I need you to request to see her tomorrow. Let Hanna pass the message and I’ve no doubt that queen bee wannabe will see you, and when you see her, be friendly. Make her think that you’re afraid of what the King has planned for you and casually reveal that the King plans to let you bear him an heir. When I’m back from the auction tomorrow, I’ll give Reina something that I brought back from the auction to help her bear the King an heir, but it’d only be effective on the night of our escape. After your provocation, she’d be too desperate to think straight and she would be the distraction that we need on the night of our escape.” 

            “Are you sure that would work? And what about Hanna? I don’t want her to get into trouble, Lem. Could we bring her along with us?” 

            “We’re leaving at the break of dawn, Laila. I have a sun ring and you’re invulnerable to sunlight, but Hanna isn’t. If we manage to get out, one day, I promise you, I’d put an end to all of this.” 

        Hesitation clouded my sweetheart’s eyes before a resolve took over those dark blue orbs. “Ok, I’ll do as you say, Lem, but once we’re out of here, we’ll do things my way. We’ll end this s**t show and give everyone a choice to live their lives in freedom, to be a slave to no one.”