Chapter 6

Van

25 years ago.

It was Eamonn's doing to always try to unite the two kingdoms. We were two types of entities living symbiotically in our beloved mystical world. It's a hard time keeping his filthy dogs on leashes; they always tend to stir up a fight with my people at rendezvous like this.

So for the peace meeting, we stood side by side. Kingdom to kingdom to consecrate Shirlon’s temple, which was built by the soldiers and financially sponsored by the Royalties.

Although no one between the two kingdoms had the nerve to speak of it, there was a thick air of an undying hatred that has been passed down for centuries. There were some wolves I could see pointing hot lasers from their eyes to the skin of my people. I'm sure my people did the same too. This act was new. We were fruits that bore grudges from a long time tree.

Eamonn stood with his people, and I, with mine. The temple that was built by quarrying and sculpting huge stones had a foundation bound with the blood of I and my brother, Eamonn. It was what separated us from each other. This was his gathering, my brother’s gathering. He was the reason we stood here on this wonderful night I should have spent in bed with Edgar.

Eamonn came forth, alongside his right-hand man, Brant, to begin his speech, “Great people of Shirlon…” He holds a rod with fire crackling at the tip. “...I welcome you all to this great gathering. It is my greatest honor to have the Thorx Coven here in the boundary we both share to consecrate our sacred temple. As you all know, this project was my idea, a very big thank you to Vanchure for his support…”

He continues to speak, but I'm zoned out. Of course, classic Eamonn would always chip in every moment he had to establish his good deeds. That was how he won the heart of our mother. There were five little girls standing behind Eamon and Brant. The five of them were all dressed in white tunic dresses, holding a candle in their left hand and a basket of flowers in their right hand. Although they had their faces to the ground as instructed by their Alpha, there was one little girl that piqued my curiosity.

Aside from Eamonn's disturbing speech, there was a quiet sob from this little girl. Her shoulders trembled, and so did her chest heave with every quiet sob; for unknown reasons, her cries got to me. What could this little child's worry be?

I pulled my attention from the little child back to Eamonn. He was done with his egotistic speech. “And now, the people of Black Pack bring an offering to the Royalties, which we all will recognize as an offering for truce. Go on, girls,” he motioned to the five little girls behind him. In every meeting with the vampires and the wolves, this was a pattern to always bring gifts ourselves hypocritically. It was a culture I never found necessary.

In one straight line did these little girls walk towards me and my people. They used little kids to bring this offering because bloodshed between the wolves and vampires is likely never to occur because of their presence. The little girl that caught my attention was the third one from the front; as they walked slowly towards me with their heads bowed, the little girl struggled to wipe the tear running down her cheek with the back of her left hand. Her actions shouldn't affect me in any way, but they did. She wasn't my people; she was born of my enemy, but still…

They formed a horizontal line a few feet apart from us, they put their candle lights to the ground, and brought forward the basket filled with flowers. Each of these flowers was a rose, tulip, carnation, orchid, and aster. From the left on how they stood was how I'd mention. The sobbing little child held the carnation flower. I ordered men to take out the flowers from each of their baskets.

“Bring the gold,” I ordered another, and he did. In return I put five gold bars in the basket of each girl. I paused on getting to the third girl, bending forward to speak into her ear, “The name, little girl.” She quivered the moment she heard my voice close to her ear. I knew her people were watching. I would make our little conversation brief so they'll know I mean no harm. She still had her head to the earth. Her whole body fidgeted. I tilted her head with my index finger, putting on a friendly smile on my face. “What is your name, friend?” Her unfocused eyes struggled to keep hold of mine; the night couldn't hide the innocence in her big blue eyes. Her chubby cheeks were wet from the tears. She's making our little conversation a little longer than it's supposed to be. “Speak, dear.” I said in a soothing whisper.

“Her…her name is Ellie, your majesty,” the fourth girl by her side said. I released my hold on the third girl's chin and turned to look at the little girl bold enough to speak to me. She shared a striking resemblance with the third girl. But she looked to be without fear, like her twin, “We're twins; she's the shy one. I'm Isla,” she continued, seeing the smile on my face. “I can see that,” I glanced back to the girl whose name I had just learned to be Ellie, “What troubles your sister, Isla?” The little girl's voice dropped as she spoke, “We just lost our parents to a brief illness.” She said, holding her empty basket to her chest. I had no idea what it felt like to lose my parents because I wanted mine dead at the time they did die. I grabbed the rest of the gold and filled it in the basket of the third, fourth, and fifth girls. Before I let them leave, I pulled out a book from my coat and placed it in Ellie's basket. “I know quiet children love to read; I read it when I'm sad; you should try it too. This is a special gift from the vampire king to you, Ellie.”

And with that, the five little girls returned back to their people. The temple was consecrated peacefully. We had both offered a truce to each other, but I had offered more to that little crying child. The book my cruel mother gave to calm her sad child.