An Echo of Royalty

12

    Everyone turned to the voice. Their faces were plastered with shock showing in gaping mouths and wide eyes.

    Sindy stood at the end of the group, hands on her hips, her hair flowing around her shoulders. She stared at me with a smirk. “Echo, pull the collar of your shirt down to show your birthmark. Go ahead and look everyone. See who it is that you have among you.”

    I hesitated, but curious myself, I pulled down my shirt collar. The funny freckles hadn’t changed. I knew they wouldn’t, but I viewed them differently now. I peered up at Joe. His eyes were locked on Sindy, glowering and I turned mine to her. 

    “Go ahead and look, people.” The group wasn’t moving. The shock had turned to anger as what she’d said finally dawned on them. She looked away from me and to the crowd. “Just do it. I’m not going to hurt you.” Her voice more demanding.

    A few people glanced at me, and cautiously looked back at Sindy.

    I peered up at Joe, waiting for him to look where everyone had been told. His eyes didn’t move from her. It wasn’t news to him, he’d already seen my freckles. I looked back at Sindy.

    Everyone waited for her to speak. “That is what the seal of a royal starts as. A royal birthmark for what you guys call a d-w.”

    I crinkled my face in confusion. More people regarded me and my freckles with looks of uncertainty.

     Sindy hadn’t notice and went on. “Then, when the child’s ready, our artist completes the seal. We call him the bard.” She smiled at this and began pacing. “He can tell your whole life story as he finishes your seal. It’s a beautiful process. Then.”

     I interrupted her. “Why didn’t you get yours?”

    She stopped and studied me, her eyebrows turned together as if she were mad. “For this! I chose to delay my sealing long enough to take this mission.”

    “What mission?”

    “Well…you, dear. I came here for you,” she sneered

    People started to murmur and look back and forth between me and Sindy. Someone spoke up. “Why don’t we just kill you? End your mission.”

    Sindy eyed Joe then. He wasn’t the one who spoke so I considered him too. “Did you honestly think a royal would be caught out here alone? I’ve had scouts here for weeks, keeping track of everyone.”

    A man I recognized as Richard stepped out of the crowd. “I don’t believe you. I say we stake her.” He took a step towards Sindy.

    She inspected him and her smile widened. Her hand lifted to shoulder height and snapped her fingers. A man dropped from out of nowhere and landed next to Richard causing the group to stir and jump in surprise and fear. He reached out to Richard with both hands and grabbed him by the throat. Richard, staring in shock, had no time to move away when his neck snapped and he fell to the ground.

    I took a step back as my mouth dropped open and my eyes darted from the dark haired d-w, standing over his body. The crowd began to shuffle and stumble into each other as they knitted themselves closer together, screams coming for them here and there. Their eyes darting in all directions, searching for any signs of more d-w’s.

    I swallowed, and then looked at Joe, who stared back. His hands were in fists, turning white from how tight they were. We both flashed back to Sindy. 

    When he spoke, I barely recognized him. “Why don’t you kill us all and get it over with? What’s the point of teasing us? Having trackers around our camp, why’d you let us find you out?”

    Sindy began pacing again and said, “How does the old saying go? If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead. How do you expect us to eat without humans around? We can’t kill every human we find or we’d go extinct, along with you. As I said before, I’m on a mission and I’ve needed my scouts for info and I let you capture me so I could get close to her.” Her finger darted in my direction, again.

    I felt like I was on stage with an intimidating seven year old audience. 

    “Why did you drag Rico back here? We haven’t seen him for two years. It was a little obvious that something was up.” He said, eyes blazing.

    “Yes, that was a problem,” she smacked her lips and grimaced. “If one of my scouts hadn’t been so stupid and killed him before due time, I would have been able to stay under cover longer. Seeing as he did mess everything up, I decided to end it anyway. The scout will be dealt with.

    “Now, I know I sound like one of your old movies, but you have two options. Me and my scouts can kill everyone here, maybe turn some of you. Or I can promise to leave here with all my people,” she gestured to Richards heap on the dirt. “No one else will be harmed, under one condition.” Her eyes bounced across the crowd, looking at all the faces before landing on me. She pointed at me again. It seemed a little overdramatic but I was curious so I didn’t care. “Echo has to come with me.”

    Silence. Everyone slowly turned to me, their faces unsure, showing the silent debate if they should hand me over for the greater good. Ideas ran across their faces, easy for me to see. I’ve only been here for two years. Yeah, I’ve helped them with so much, but someone could take my place, right? There are other people who can hunt and my place on the team can be filled quickly. It would be better to give me to Sindy, to save the many… right?

    I glanced at Joe. His face scrunched in confusion and worry as the same justifications crossed his as well. He glanced at the ground then up at me, his face now different. His jaw hardened in determination. He didn’t agree with the take one to save many logic that everyone was still thinking about. 

    I turned back to Sindy, who had stopped pointing, her smile replaced with wonder. I wasn’t sure if it was for me or the crowd, at the decision they still hadn’t made.

    I swallowed before speaking. “How do I know that if I leave with you, you won’t hurt them anyway?”

    “My honor…which to you doesn’t mean a lot,” she inspected her fingernails before looking back at me. “But my scouts will do as I say,” she answered.

   I smirked, “Like when they killed Rico and made a big deal out of it without your permission?”

    Her jaw tightened. “As I said before, he will be dealt with. Which only gives the rest more reason to obey.” Her eyes roamed the crowd. “So do we have a deal? Or shall I signal my scouts to start their long awaited feast.” She held up her fingers to snap them again, glancing around at everyone, then back at me.

    Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “I’ll go.” I opened them to find everyone staring at me. Trina’s were filled with worry. I turned to Joe, who didn’t look back. He seemed engrossed pushing a pebble with his shoe, hands in his pockets. I knew he wouldn’t ignore me, he just didn’t want to look at me. I could see contemplation on the visible side of his face. His eyebrows were scrunched in thought and his lips pressed tightly together. Sindy’s voice made me turn to her. 

    “Perfect. I always do hate to waste fresh meat. You have ten minutes to get whatever you want to bring.” She started playing with her fingernails again. “If you don’t come back,” then her eyes set on me over her nails, “I’ll start to turn them, and it won’t be pretty.” 

    I nodded my head and began my walk through the crowd. They flowed around me. As I stepped passed Trina, she clasped my hand and I looked in her glistening eyes. I nodded at her and kept moving. As I stepped out of the crowd, I passed Sindy, who looked behind me. 

    “Yes, you can help her.” I guessed she spoke to Joe but I didn’t care who followed me. I just wanted to get my stuff ready without making a big deal. I always knew the day of my departure would come. There was never a set plan, just the idea of leaving. I needed to know why the vamps that killed my parents left me alive. Maybe this would help me figure it out. 

    When I stepped into the tent that no longer belonged to me, it felt cold. My emotions suddenly wanted to come out. I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. I opened them and got to work. I picked my backpack up and grabbed all the items that I called my own. Not much, but it all meant something to me; all my clothes, my few books, and the blanket I had in my bag when I got to the forest. I didn’t have any jewelry or makeup. The world didn’t care about that anymore. 

    I studied my tent, wondering if I had missed anything. I had my guns in my bag, not sure if I’d end up being able to keep them. My dresser was now bare, except for dirt. I remembered when I brought it here. Joe had helped me carry it from the town over the mountain. He’d made jokes about how it was weird to have a dresser in a tent. Everybody thought so, but he at least helped me carry it. Turns out I started a new trend. Within the next two weeks almost everyone had requested a dresser to hold their stuff in. 

   I kept scanning the room. I observed my cot and I almost wanted to bring it. Who knew what type of cell they’d keep me in, but my group could use the cot. Feet appeared at the entrance of my tent. I looked into Joes eyes.

    They held a deep blue intensity, with a fear that wanted to spill out. I could feel myself to get pulled in. He stepped closer to me and kissed me. I felt tears running down my face. At first I thought they were mine. I pulled away to wipe my cheeks and saw that his eyes. They were wet. 

    I knew how scary the situation was and I didn’t want to leave or go without him. I didn’t know if Joe felt the same.

    I broke away and hugged him. He held onto me tight, his arms wrapped around me. 

    “I don’t want to let you g,” I spoke in a whisper.

    “You don’t have too. We can fight them. We could win,” he spoke low, into my hair.

     “No, we can’t and you know it. We don’t know how many of them there are. Even if we were able to kill them, how many of our people would die?” I released him. “I’m going to go.” “We always knew I would leave. This may give me the opportunity to figure things out. To find out what happened.” I tried to smile. “And hopefully to stake Sindy.” 

    “Then I’m going with you.”

    I shook my head. “No. You have to stay here and take care of everyone. They need you.”

    “They can take care of themselves. They only ever needed someone to call their leader. If they still want someone to lead them, they have James, Carter, maybe even Trina. Yes, I knew you would leave one day. I also knew that I might leave with you when that day came. I’m going.” 

    My shoulders slumped and my gaze dropped to the ground. “What if they only want to kill me? You could die.”

    “Then at least I’m with you when it happens. I’m going with you.” He grabbed my face and kissed my lips, a dampness still there from un-wiped tears . He let me go and escaped through the tent flap.

    I stared at the empty space he no longer stood in, wondering where he’d gone, why he’d left in a hurry. He probably went to get his stuff. How much time do we have? I took one more glance around the tent before stepping out to my future captors. 

    Everyone still stood in the huddled group, but there were more vamps than before. They were staring at the assembly as if wishing for a snack. I heard a rustling on the other side of me and looked to see Joe coming out of his own tent. With a pack on his shoulder he jogged to me. 

    Stopping beside me, he held his arm out. I reached for it and looked at our hands as they clasped together. I did like the idea of him being with me. I got to keep my favorite blue eyes. Sad thing is I could get him killed. 

    As we walked to Sindy, she tapped her foot. “I gave you two an extra few minutes. I had a feeling he would end up coming along, and it’s better to start it now, rather than him attempt a rescue later. Let’s go.” She turned her back to me and away from the crowd to the mountain.

    I gave one last look at the campers, saw them watching me. I nodded to Trina once more, wanting to give her hug and to have that long lasting goodbye that families used to have before this. Turning, I walked away with Joe at my side.

    As we headed through the forest, the memory of everyone’s faces swept past me and I had tears in my eyes. Jefferson had held Melissa while her and Emily huddled together. The girls had their normal looks of uncertainty and irritating awe. I know how mean that is, but we never really liked each other. I would never wish any harm upon them, that’s why I left. They just had a great way of rubbing everyone wrong with their immaturity. 

    I saw other faces and my mind automatically put names to them. It amazed me that I actually knew them. It had seemed a waste to memorize names, because my future plans didn’t include this place. Like now.

    A squeeze on my hand brought me back to reality. I looked at Joe, whose face was grim. I gave him a half hearted smile. The edges of his lips twitched as if to but didn’t curve all the way then he turned back to the ground. 

    I shifted my attention to Sindy as she prattled on. I hadn’t been listening to her she’d been talking for who knows how long. She spoke about what seemed like plans which I figured were for us. 

    “It’s a nice room; I think you’ll like it. It’s not very big. Reminds me of your tents but that’s not a problem. I can’t wait to get back, clean up in a shower and see everyone. They are going to be so thrilled I accomplished this. I can’t wait for them to meet you. Of course you are going to have shape up, this whole human act has got to change. I can’t believe they didn’t nab you sooner. Two years ago would have been best, but I guess they got side tracked.”

    At this I stopped dead. “What about two years ago?”

    Sindy didn’t stop moving but glanced back at me. “When they killed your parents they were supposed to grab you. They decided to eat someone though and forgot all about you. Naturally we disposed of them. I don’t like when my orders are not followed. My family doesn’t like it either.”

    “So you kill everyone that doesn’t do what you say?” Joe had been listening.

    “Of course! If we didn’t, our family would be overthrown. We can’t have that. Everyone here is related to the ruling family and they do what I ask. We all help each other.”

    “So you’re not the princess or something or however that works?” I asked, now curious from her wording of royal and family.

    “Well…No… I’m not the princess. None of us are in the direct line.”

    “Pardon me for not agreeing with you. Any one of us could be chosen at any time with the current state of everything.” 

    I looked to the right of me, where the voice came from. He was tall with light brown wispy hair, and a straight nosed face. I couldn’t see his eyes very well but they were dark, a deep brown. His voice sounded Australian with a hint of English. 

    He noticed me observing him and I shifted my eyes back to the ground fast. 

    Joe asked, “What do you mean?”

    “Brandon’s referring to the lack of heir at the moment. Somehow they lost the sole heir to the throne, around 17 years ago. It still amazes me that people so high up in life can lose a child.” Sindy answered, shaking her head.

    “I assume your referring to yourselves in that instance. It amazes me how creatures like you refer to themselves as people,” I said. 

    Sindy turned around at that and stepped up to me. She glowered at me trying to be intimidating.

    Having spent time with her for the past few days, listening to her rant like a child, I couldn’t help but smile at her. She wasn’t old enough or mature enough to try to be intimidating. “You do realize that being only thirteen and as immature as you are, you don’t scare me?”

    Her face didn’t change. “I can’t say everything, except that you’re really important to the royal family or I’d be dining on your corpse right now. Instead they sent me here to get you. I don’t care how immature I am to you. What’s important is that they find me mature enough to get the job done.”

    “Or that you were the only one immature enough to send,” I said, still being a smart mouth.

    She glared at me and her hands turned into fists. It made me smile. Something caught my eye and I raised my gaze to see the Australian half smiling. He turned away from me. “ “Sindy, give it a rest. Leave her alone. If you don’t want to be mocked, don’t speak.” He moved again. “Let’s go, I’m getting hungry.” 

    We walked in silence for a while. I glanced at the Australian every now and again,unsure why. 

    I hadn’t noticed how far we’d gone. I scanned the distance to see how close we were to the city. When we reached the top I gazed out at the trees, trying to catch one last glimpse of camp. The tents were set up next to trees to give them camouflage, so I couldn’t see them. 

    People who didn’t know about the camp wouldn’t notice anything. Joe saw me watching and held a hand out to me. I took it and stepped into his so he could hug me. “We’re keeping them alive for a little bit longer.” I nodded in his arms.

    “Come on. Can’t stand here all day,” the Australian said. He didn’t yell but spoke calm, watching us intently. 

    We locked eyes as I let go of Joe. They were dark brown.

    I counted our escorts. There were six including Sindy. Oddly enough there was an even number of female and male. The other two women looked a lot alike. Almost like twins so they’re probably sisters. They looked like they had Indian background, both very beautiful with their dark skin and black hair. 

   The men apart from the Aussie were also beautiful. Literally beautiful. Their skin was so perfect and their faces so perfect in shape and features, almost too pretty to be attractive. I looked back at the Aussie. He was nearly as pretty as the other guys. While their beauty made them less attractive, his features were more handsome and masculine.

  Are they super old?

    “So, I know this is a stupid question, but how old are you guys?” I asked and looked around at them. 

    The others seemed more focused on walking but Brandon turned to me. “I’m twenty.”

    “Really twenty or you just look twenty and have for a couple of years. Sorry, but I don’t understand the aging process with vamps.”

    “Don’t apologize to them.” I looked up at Joe when he said this. He didn’t look very happy with me. 

    “Why? We’re going to be around them for a while. If we go into this mean and mad, they’ll treat us similar. Besides, I am sorry that I haven’t learned the aging process.”

    Joe watched me as I spoke, and his mad expression softened. His eyes flicked to Brandon then back to me. “I can see your point.” 

    I returned my gaze to, Brandon waiting for an answer. His eyes flicked between me and Joe as if unsure to answer the question. I looked from him and Joe. “Well.”

    The corner of his mouth came up.  “I am twenty of your years, with a few extras as you said. Skylar over there is twenty one. Nia and Kania are only really only seventeen. This is their first outing, that’s why they can’t stop being serious for even a second.” He smirked and I caught sight of his fangs. He noticed and stopped smiling, but kept looking at me as if watching for my reaction. 

    “I’m not going to hurt you,” his smooth accent coming out almost a whisper.

   “Why not? You’re a vampire. You kill people. Why wouldn’t you hurt me? Besides the fact that you might get in trouble with your masters.” I tried to stare at him as we walked. I ended up looking ahead and ruining my intimidating stare for fear of running into a tree. He could walk without having problems. 

    When he didn’t answer I glanced back at him. He still watched me. “I thought you were trying to not make us angry with you so we couldn’t treat you bad.”

    “I’ve heard and seen over the past two years that honesty has always gone a long way with vamps. I’ve never met a d-w but all the vamps I have met have acted upon honesty.”

    “You were in a situation where you didn’t just shoot one in the head. You actually talked to one?” He asked surprised.

    “Not me personally. I watched Joe’s dad interrogate one. He wanted to know what the situation was like out there. If you guys were wiping humans out, were you destroying the planet, or barely surviving.”

    “Why would you believe one of us in the first place?”

    I looked up as the lighting changed and we walked into the city. I could see the building we had recently purged of vampires. The one we found Sindy in. The window I’d kicked the vampire through was visible. I looked back at Sindy, remembering the trouble that she had caused, just get into our camp.

    She looked at me as if she knew what I was thinking and smiled. Then she stuck her nose in the air and walked down the street towards a vacant building. She swung the door open. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark inside. The vamps could see very well with their vision, but I had to wait before I spotted the car. It was a limo. I smiled. 

    Joe turned to me. “What?”

    I glanced at him then back to the car. “I’ve never ridden in a limo before. I always wanted to. I tried to talk my parents into letting me and my friends rent one for a school dance, but they said no. Always wondered what it would be like.”

    “Well, now you will.” Sindy said, watching us. The door to the back of the limo opened. The garage door behind me went up. I glanced at Joe and hopped into the car. 

    Everyone piled into it with Joe sitting next to me and either Nia or Kania on either side of us. This limo had the long rows of seats in a rectangle. Brandon sat across from me next to Sindy. Skylar sat up front, along with the man who had snapped Richards neck. He drove the limo.

    Brandon caught my attention. “You didn’t answer me earlier.”

    “Oh yeah.” I looked down at my lap trying to remember what the question was. “I’m not entirely sure why I believed him. Joe’s dad had him tied to a pole and had beaten him pretty good. It was one of my first patrols. They were training me. I watched as he would ask questions and the vamp would give answers but Joe’s dad didn’t believe him. For some reason I did. I got in trouble for it too.”

    “How did you know if that vampire was telling the truth? He could have been lying.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, like he was watching an interesting lecture. 

    “I don’t know. I just knew he wasn’t lying. Ever since then, whenever we have interrogated a vamp, it was     the same. They always seemed to be honest.” I returned his stare. 

From behind me I felt Joe move and turned to see him lay his head on the headrest to gazing up at the ceiling of the vehicle. 

    My eyes wandered to my hands, then flicked to Brandon. He still watched me. “What?”

    He hesitated. “You have a question. What is it?”

    I gaped at him. “How would you know that?”

    He shrugged, but didn’t answer.

    “Is it natural for your kind to be so honest or are there some who are not always so truthful?”

    “We have no reason to lie. We are who we are and there is no changing that. Plus there’s nothing to gain in lyin’.” He kept his eyes on me as he talked.

    “Echo’s always honest.” Joe said from beside me.

    I turned to Joe. His head was still laying against the headrest, eyes closed. 

    “She’s never lied to me. If she doesn’t want to tell me the truth she just doesn’t speak or changes the subject,” he said.

    Sindy and Brandon exchanged glances. I narrowed me eyes in confusion. Brandon looked out the window. I leaned against Joe, and he put his arm around me then I looked out his window after giving Brandon one more glance.