Note to the reader: *.......* means he's saying that in his head.

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Chapter 23

Aria and I went to look around the palace to see what was going on. How did a vampire get in here? We first ran into a few knights that were busy moving bodies.

Becket:"Excuse me. What happened?"

One of the knights no longer wearing his helmet looked over at me. He had greasy brown hair and a beard.

Knight:"Vampires attacked."

Becket:"I know that. I want to know the specifics along with whether or not they are all dead."

The knight looked a little annoyed.

Knight:"Listen buddy. I'm busy right now so go somewhere else."

*Hm. Buddy? Does that mean he realized I'm a guy.*

I felt a sense of admiration towards this knight. He was the first one to think I was a guy since I got here. One of the other knights walked up to me.

Other Knight:"Sorry about him. He's just mad that you beat Felix. There was a bet going and he lost."

*Oh yeah. All the knights here know who I am.*

I lost the sense of admiration after I remembered that all the knights already knew I was a guy. I felt a little sad that I would likely be mistaken for a girl by others in the future. The first knight brought hope and the second one crushed it.

Other Knight:"Anyway if you want details ask the Warlord. She's talking with the queen and princess about what happened. I believe they're in the queens bedroom."

The knight pointed the way out to me and Aria so we headed there. Two knights in green armor guarded the door.

Knight:"Stop. Go back to your room."

The knights blocked the door with their spears.

*Hm. I haven't fought any spear knights yet.*

Aelisia:"Let him in."

Aelisia yelled from the other side of the door. Somehow she knew Aria and I were here. The knights reluctantly stepped out of the way and we went in.

Sylvia:"It's nice to meet you Sir Becket."

The queen was the first to greet me. She was sitting on her bed with her daughter right beside her and Aelisia standing in front of them. The queen and Eva were both wearing nightgowns. Eva's was pink while the queens was red making them both rather provocative looking.

Becket:"It's a pleasure to meet you."

The queen had a bewitching smile. She shared a lot of the same features with her daughter, but she had an air of maturity that Eva was lacking. This was one of the problems I've had ever since coming to this world. I've mostly been in contact with younger women so I've really been feeling my age. It's not like I'm that old since I was 47 when I came to this world and the real Beckets much older than me.

Aelisia:"So I'm guessing you're here because of the visitor you got."

Becket:"Yeah a vampire attacked me."

Aelisia:"As I was telling the queen this wasn't just stray vampires. Bram was their leader and probably their maker."

Becket:"Who's Bram?"

Aelisia:"A pure vampire and the second son of the current vampire king."

Becket:"Why did a vampire with such a high standing attack the palace?"

Aelisia:"He was after the blood of the gods."

Becket:"What! You have some of the gods blood!"

This was a good discovery for me. If I can test some of their blood maybe I can find a weakness then I'll have something to hold over their heads. I may work for them, but I don't want to be under their thumb forever.

Aelisia:"It's just called that. It's not even really blood."

Becket:"Oh."

I was a little dejected. I probably wouldn't have found what I needed anyway.

Becket:"So what is it?"

Aelisia:"It's an artifact with unparalleled healing ability. One drop can fix absolutely anything wrong with a person."

Becket:"So why would he risk war for that?"

It was obvious that if such an important person attacked another kingdom that it would definitely cause a war.

Aelisia:"I can only assume someone important to him is critically injured. It must be an injury that normal healing magic can't fix. If it could be would have hired a healer."

Becket:"That does make sense."

Aelisia:"He didn't get it though. What he got was a decoy. He was using compulsion to control my son Gideon."

Becket:"Compulsion? Vampires can control people?"

Aelisia:"Some can and Bram is one with that ability, but it's limited. Their target needs to have a weaker will and other factors."

Becket:"What other factors."

Aelisia:"Their target needs to be mentally weakened. Anything can do it, but for Gideon it was probably from all the stress he's feeling about not getting the rank of Warlord."

Becket:"I see. Well it's likely he'll come back once he realizes he didn't get what he came for."

Aelisia:"I've already sent some knights to request a few mages from the church."

Becket:"Mages huh."

I now had a much better understanding of magic thanks to the knowledge Esyn gave me, but I was still interested in seeing these mages use magic. The knowledge I have mostly revolves around neutral mana which can take any form; however, I'm still not quite sure how to fully utilize it. Maybe if I see some mages using their magic I'll get a better idea. So far I've only seen some fire magic from Tallie and wind from Aria.

Sylvia:"I think I may know why Bram needed the blood of the gods."

Becket:"Why?"

Sylvia:"I was recently setting up a trade route when some information was passed to me that said the vampire king's oldest son Radu killed the oldest daughter Carmilla."

Becket:"So he's trying to bring her back?"

Aelisia:"No the blood can't revive the dead so she must have lived. She's probably severely wounded, but I'm not sure what the injury could be since vampires have strong regeneration abilities."

Sylvia:"Radu and Carmilla were apparently competing to determine which would be the vampire kings successor and Radu won."

Aelisia:"So Bram probably ran away with his sister to prevent Radu from finishing her off."

Sylvia:"Probably."

I had forgotten until now, but I decided to ask about Gene.

Becket:"Aelisia. What happened to my friend Gene?"

Aelisia:"Him huh. I sent him back to his inn. He didn't want to go at first, but after I told him you were going to be released soon he agreed. I was suppose to tell you to visit him so he could be sure you were ok."

Becket:"Ok so he's alright. Good."

Eva:"Well I'm ready to go back to sleep."

Eva stood up from the bed and walked toward the door. Everyone agreed with the princess so we all decided that was enough for tonight and returned to our own rooms. I was a little worried about going to sleep since a god might show up, but I was feeling tired. Using neutral mana really drained me. I fell asleep almost instantly when my head hit the pillow. I didn't have any dreams that night. A kick to my ribs woke me up.

I turned my head over and saw Aria turned side ways in the bed with her knee in my side.

Becket:"I miss you being tiny."

Since I could see the sunshine pouring in I rolled off the bed and walked over to the window. After stretching a little and doing a few light exercises I picked up one of the books to read. I also decided to hover around the room while reading for more practice with my wings.

Apparently there's an island called Maleos. This island is where the headquarters of each church is located. All seven gods have a church on this island. I started to wonder why the humans only worship three of the seven gods. Maleos is also used for important meetings. When negotiations between two kingdoms needs to be done this island is used and the churches oversee it. I stopped reading when I heard a knock at the door. When I opened it there was a maid pushing a cart with food on it.

Maid:"I'm here to deliver your breakfast."

I stepped to the side to let her in.

Becket:"Come in."

She pushed the cart to the center of the room then turned around to face me.

Maid:"I'm also suppose to give you a message. The kings funeral is today so it would be best if the two of you remained in your room. Many nobles will be in the palace today and most will likely know of you."

Becket:"I understand."

*Can't have the man who attacked the princess and killed her fiancé at the kings funeral along with a fairy that's suppose to be extinct.*

Maid:"When you finish your breakfast put the cart next to your door."

Becket:"Ok."

The maid lightly bowed then left the room.

Becket:"So what should I do since I'm stuck in this room for today?"

I looked over at Aria.

Becket:"Hey Aria breakfast is here."

Aria:"Breakfast."

Aria sat up in the bed. She was sleeping like the dead a minute ago. I walked over to her and pat her hair down. I didn't have a hair brush, but it was a little better than before. There were two trays on the cart so I brought one over to Aria. They both had the same thing on them. There was two strips of bacon, two pieces of sausage, scrambled eggs and toast. The cart had two pitchers and cups on it. One with orange juice and the other had water. Aria had orange juice, but I had water.

Aria:"Ohhhh! It's so good!"

Aria was grinning while she ate. She finished before me and laid back on the bed then wrapped herself up in a blanket.

Becket:"You going back to sleep?"

Aria:"There's nothing else to do since we have to stay in here all day."

Becket:"Oh you heard. So you were already awake."

Aria rolled around in the bed for a few minutes while I finished my breakfast. I finished off my glass of water and turned to look at her rolling from one side of the bed to the other.

Becket:"What are you doing?"

Aria:"I can't sleep, and I'm bored."

Becket:"Sorry about that. I'm gonna practice my magic."

I put our trays back on the cart and pushed it outside of the room. I took the carts previous position in the center of the room. Aria sat up on the bed to watch me. So far I have a strengthening spell. The spell just came to me last night so I wasn't sure how to use anything else. Neutral mana would surely have more uses, but the knowledge on what they are exactly was still locked.

Becket:"Confirma!"

This time I could feel my body strengthening, but no bleeding. If I concentrated I could maintain the strengthening. Last night I used it twice in bursts so that may have been more damaging on my body. I was lucky to have the elves natural healing. It stayed up for 10 minutes before I felt really tired so I stopped. My head slightly hurt in a more annoying than painful way. I stood up to take a break.

Aria:"Done already?"

Becket:"Yep."

I didn't feel like practicing anymore so I decided to finish the scarf I was making. A few minutes after I started on the scarf Aria jumped up.

Aria:"I'm going out."

Becket:"Ok. Be careful not to get caught."

Aria:"I'll never be caught."

*You get caught all the time.*

Aria used the necklace to return to her tiny version then flew out the window.

*****************Bram POV***************

Inside of a windowless stone room with a single bed and chair in it. A woman was lying on the bed not moving, but she wasn't dead.

Bram:"Fake! It's fake! Those bastards!"

I threw the container as hard as I could at the wall and glass went everywhere.

Bram:"Shit!"

I punched the wall causing massive cracks to spread across it.

Bram:"Damn them."

I put my back to the wall and slid down onto my butt.

Bram:"Now what? I'll never be able to pull off another attack on the palace and even if I can I still need to know where the blood of the gods is kept."

I sighed and put my face in my hands.

Bram:"I'm sorry sister. I've failed."

I looked over at my sister and my expression shifted back to anger then I jumped up.

Bram:"I'll just turn the whole fucking city!"

I lost all of the people I turned since I got to this city during the attack on the palace so I at least need to replenish my forces.

Bram:"First we need to move."

*That Gideon guy knows where we are so once his compulsion wears off they'll all know.*

Bram:"Maybe I should try hiding in plain sight and stay at an inn."

Since the fact that I'm a vampire is apparent because of my red eyes. There's only one place I can stay at. I paid a man a lot of money to help my sister and I get I to this city. He told me he owned an inn.

*If he would keep our secret once I'm sure a little more money can convince him to help.*

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