Chapter 5

THAT NIGHT, AS his car pulled into the entrance archway lit by iron torches, Blake stepped out of the car and met Vivienne by the entrance to her home. He had never been to Cairn Castle before although he had seen pictures. It was built in a foreboding medieval style of architecture with what he was sure, was a heating and electric system to match. Although he didn't suffer from the cold anymore, he still preferred having modern comforts. As Blake regarded the dilapidated gothic castle, he decided he wouldn't house animals in such a place, never mind his wife and son.

As he approached her, in the cold night, he wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders. He brought her into his embrace and held her for a moment. Her body felt so small and delicate against him. She embraced him back and the moment seemed to go on forever. He felt her every breath enter and leave her body and the rapid beating of her heart. It was obvious she was frightened. Not of him. Of what they would do to him.

"You hate it, don't you?" Vivienne asked, with a forced smile. "I can tell. You do that thing where you slightly wrinkle your nose."

"No, of course not. I'm sure it is lovely to live here . . . if one's family were a pack of feral dogs."

She laughed softly although she sounded different. She was no longer the wild, carefree girl with the ripped stockings who dreamed of being rescued by a prince. She was more like a caged bird being forced to spend its days staring into the face of a hungry cat.

"It's not exactly The Shangri-La, my love."

He followed her through the dreary and bare main hall. The only adornment was some childish stick figures drawn into the wall with coal. He imagined Kezair was responsible for that. There was a run down pipe organ in the grand entrance for added eerie effect. The rooms smelled of a foul, sickly sweet scent, like decaying bodies. Vivienne noticed it too.

"Gabriel sometimes burns the flesh of his conquered victims to fuel the torches here. He does it to remind the slaves to fear him."

"I don't understand why you didn't escape from this place," Blake said as he saw a rat wandering across the dining room table.

"I wanted to find out about my family," Vivienne said. "Also, I spent part of my time with Gabriel abroad. I learned a good deal about my mother's homeland, perhaps more than I ever wanted to know. Let me go announce to my father that you're here. Will you wait here for me?"

Without another word, she slipped out of sight, leaving him alone in the Balan's dining hall. Blake walked over to the drawings on the wall and stared at them. He noticed Kezair had drawn a winged snake with bright yellow eyes. That made sense even for a simpleton; after all, the Balan crest was a fire breathing dragon. Blake squinted in the torchlight. Maybe his demonic vision wasn't what it had been, but he could almost swear that sitting underneath the dragon were two little boys, both with green eyes and coal black hair.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of grunting. Blake looked up and saw Kezair Balan standing directly behind him, a wide, eerie smile on his blank face.

"Oh, Kezair," Blake said and gestured to the boy in the drawing. "Are you looking after Orion?"

Maybe it was his imagination, but Kezair seemed to nod as though he understood what was being asked of him. Kezair picked up a piece of coal and dug it deep into the sandstone walls. He drew one slanted line and then angled another one against it. He continued to trace the drawing over and over. It was a V. Blake frowned. Was Kezair trying to tell him something?

"Vivienne?" He asked, but Kezair shook his head. Kezair angrily retraced the V. Footsteps approached, and Kezair dropped the coal and backed away in fear.

Gabriel Balan appeared with his wife Ermina and their daughter following close behind.

"Kezair," Vivienne said with affectionate amusement in her voice. "How did you get out?" She quickly ran over and took her half-brother by the hand. Blake heard the outpouring of affection in her voice as she addressed the simpleton. Poor girl, she really must have been lonely here to greet the half-wit with such unbridled joy.

"Come, Blake," Gabriel said, completely ignoring his own son. "Let's discuss our plans going forward."

"What plans?" Blake asked, angrily. "Oh, Gabriel, Gabriel - is that the price for a visit from your daughter? Tell me, how many sexual favors will perform for me to declare war on Nivarrin?"

Gabriel slowly drew the sword at his hip and held the golden blade up at Blake's chest. "If I drive this into your heart, boy, you will die. So, I will advise you to speak with a small amount of courtesy."

"You would cut me down with a sword that my son's powers forged?" Blake asked, barely concealing his rage.

As Gabriel placed the flat of his palm over the hilt of the blade intending to strike, Blake sighed and drew his gun from his jacket. The sound of him cocking it seemed to echo through the Cairn hallways. Blake pointed it wearily at Gabriel's chest and could barely suppress a slight smile. For a long time, he had dreamed of this moment. His anger was so great that it hardly even bothered him that they could both end up mortally wounded in this showdown. 

"Father," Vivienne said with a strained smile on her face as she immediately took Blake's gun hand and eased herself between the two men. "Why don't we sit down and talk this over? Is this really necessary?"

Gabriel's resolve softened as Vivienne continued to speak lovingly and sweetly. Blake wondered when she learned to be so diplomatic. Was this really the same girl who had gotten into a cat fight with the girls in Remin on her first day of school? Maybe, Julian was prone to exaggerating. As Gabriel lowered his blade and sheathed it, Blake relaxed his gun hand as well. Vivienne wrapped her slender fingers around the nozzle of the gun and pulled it out of Blake's grasp. She gave him a disapproving glare as she did so.

"If a foolish boy is our only defense against the Nivarrins, perhaps our city is already doomed," Gabriel said and turned away. "Let me tell you this Blake; it doesn't matter if I allow my daughter to marry the Nivarrin Duke. They will attack, and when they do, they will kill whoever sits on that throne. She is merely a claim. Whether she is alive or dead, they will attack."

"How do you suggest I defend our city?" Blake asked in exasperation. "It's not as though I will bring anything to the throne that Alesandra couldn't. Even if I wanted your daughter's hand, I can't make an army appear out of thin air."

"If you do not help me then I only ask that you not interfere when they attack," Gabriel said. "I know Alesandra would surrender to them without so much as a whimper."

"Very well, I'll turn a blind eye. I suppose there's nothing more to discuss."

As Blake turned to leave Gabriel cleared his throat. "Did you see the scars on her back?"

Blake slowly turned, feeling his blood run cold. So, Gabriel was going to play dirty. He should have known. As Blake glanced at Vivienne, he noticed she was glaring at her father.

"I left her in Duke Mighell's company for a week, and when she was returned to me, she had been whipped and tortured. So, if you truly don't care, I will send her back to her future husband for the time being."

"Gabriel," Blake said, carefully, and then realized he couldn't find the words to fit a situation such as this. He took a step toward the older man and imagined himself wrapping his hands around the man's bullish neck, strangling him. He didn't care if the older man was holding a legendary sword. At that moment, he wouldn't even have felt it if Gabriel had set him on fire.

"Blake, stop it!" Vivienne snapped as she wrapped her arms around him. "I can protect myself. This has nothing to do with you."

Blake shoved her aside, but she wouldn't relent. "Stop it you idiot," she snapped again. This time, she slapped him across the face. Blake blinked and finally took notice of her. She had tears in her eyes now. Vivienne flexed and shook her hand painfully as thought the slap had hurt her more than it had injured him. "I'm not your wife. I never loved you." Vivienne stepped back and placed her fist up to her mouth to hide her trembling lips.

"Oh Blake," Gabriel said with a sigh. "So easily disarmed by a simple woman. One word from her and you back down with your tail between your legs. Now I see why you've always lost her to a stronger man."

Blake ripped the gun out of Vivienne's hands and shot in the direction of Gabriel's knees. Without a seconds hesitation, Gabriel swung his sword in an arc of gold light in Blake's direction. It would have sliced him cleanly across the chest if it didn't hit a shield of Dragon Fire. Clearly, she had decided it was time to use force to intercept between the two men. Holding her palm out, she was finally revealing the full extent of her incredible power. Gabriel snarled and continued to attack. With each blow against her shield, Vivienne was forced backward, again Blake's body.

With the last blow from her father's sword, blood came pouring out of Vivienne's nose and mouth, flowing down her neck and the front of her dress. Gabriel was breathing hard as he finally relented. Vivienne collapsed to her knees.

"Get out, Thorne," Gabriel snarled. "You will never see my daughter again."

Blake chuckled and cocked his gun, holding it to the back of Vivienne's head. "In that case, I'll shoot her here and now."

"Will you?" Gabriel asked in disbelief. Blake wrapped his arm around Vivienne's waist and dragged her into a standing position. The royal guards were swarming Cairn at that precise moment, having been alerted to the conflict within by the gunshots. Blake hoped that Gabriel was too infuriated to notice that he had far more than just the King's Guard with him. He had his own miniature army of snipers with him.

"Do you want to waste your men fighting mine?" Blake asked as he dragged Vivienne toward the door. "I'm taking her with me. I'll be back for my son."

Blake picked her up in his arms as he walked out of the castle and descended the stairs into the darkness of the winter night. Within minutes, Blake saw a fleet of his cars waiting in the Cairn driveway. There was no protest from Vivienne as he settled her into the back seat. She had passed out from her injuries in the battle. As Blake sat down beside her and stroked her dark ebony hair, he thought about what a relief it was now that she was finally quiet.