Chapter 130: The Undying Dead

Adolph couldn’t wait for the report. He left the bed as soon as he woke up, tucked Laurel back in, dressed, and hurried out. He snagged a quick breakfast on his way to the entrance to the dungeons. The guards saluted him as he passed and told him that the guards he’d placed over Eden were still down in the depths of the dungeons.
He ran into them on the steps. They seemed shocked but saluted.
“Sir, would you prefer our report now or to see it for yourself?”
Adolph took a deep breath, centering his calm and nodding towards the lower levels, “Show me.”
They nodded, turned around, and led the way down the steps. They rounded the corner to where two other guards were. They saluted and opened the heavy gates. Once upon a time, the Raymond family held various types of people in the dungeons. He was half certain that this cell had been designed for a vampire prisoner.
Lying in the middle of the room, still and pale as if he was simply sleeping was Eden’s body. His clothing and armor were unharmed. The blood on the floor seemed dried up.
“The body has stopped bleeding. We can’t tell if that’s because there is no more blood or if the wounds are healing.”
Adolph approached and crouched beside the body. He heard nothing coming from his chest and looked into the mess of bloodied cloth from where Adolph had shoved his sword through him.
The cloth seemed dried. He reached out and found his body warm to touch. He clenched his jaw and pulled the armor apart, seeing the place where the wound had been perfectly closed.
“How did you do that?” One of them asked, “W-We haven’t been able to even touch him.”
Adolph looked down at the body with a frustrated sigh. It could have been because of his connection to the moon goddess. Laurel told him that Morrigan Ash had been Eden’s mother.
Eden’s words as he lay dying rang through his mind, *The darkness… a long time ago…* *They called it ash after the remains of a fire?*
He drew his sword and aimed to stab the body through the heat. The blade creaked and groaned against an invisible shield before shattering in his hand.
“By the moon…” someone gasped nearby.
He clenched his jaw. How could a half-human cause so much trouble in life and death? Would he ever feel at peace? He shook his head, as long as Eden’s body remained whole, he wouldn’t.
The body shifted. Eden’s chest rose as if he was breathing, but did not move otherwise.
“Keep an eye on him. He is not to be left without surveillance under any circumstance.”
“Of course, my king.”
Adolph swept from the room, making a note to speak with the priestesses about Eden’s connection to the mural at the temple and everything else that has happened. He’d mentioned it as he was dying; there had to be an answer in the story somewhere.
“Your Majesty,” Chasel called from down the hallway, “So glad I’ve found you.”
Chasel fell into step with him, “What have you found from the interrogations?”
Chasel sighed, “Well, Your Majesty, it’s the strangest thing… They aren’t at all like the vampires we faced on the border…”
“Meaning?”
Chasel held up a long scroll, “They were very forthcoming with information about Eden, their movements, and anything else we asked.”
“Are you sure they were telling the truth?”
“I’m organizing a brief for the border forces to investigate.”
“What about the werewolves who attacked the ceremony?”
He shook his head, “Nothing from them, but the vampires were forthcoming about what they knew about them… identifying them even.”
He stopped and looked at him, “What do you mean, identifying them?”
“Names, packs, descriptions, and who they were under.” Chasel said, “That information came from the werewolves on Eden’s side. I… honestly have no idea what to make of it all.”
They walked to Adolph’s office to speak. The survivors of the Gray Ash Pack had more information about how Morrigan used the werewolves who were within her lands than anything else. His stomach turned at the thought of the torture they’d been subject to. Noah Jenkins had been the only man who survived from the ten men who were taken from Adolph’s first excursion.
The blood reservoir inside the castle that helped keep the city and the citadel hidden had been fed by werewolves for several decades at this point, which was part of the reason that the castle’s defenses didn’t recognize werewolves in their wolf forms.
The half-vampires were refugees from several breeding camps Morrigan had set up in an attempt to breed an army that could fight werewolves during the day. The vampires they’d captured had once been under other generals who had been killed by Eden in various ways and flocked to Eden’s equalitarian vision for the vampire lands.
That vision had extended beyond his lands into the werewolf kingdom in response to the way humans were nearly classified as second-class citizens in some parts of the werewolf kingdom.
The critique stung a bit. Even Adolph could admit some prejudice towards humans, always in need of protecting and contributing very little outside of their numbers. It wasn’t as extreme as Morrigan’s division of her populace, but he could see how humans could be resentful of his rule.
Humans had never had their lands, always existing under the rule of vampires and werewolves. If there were truly human villages, they were in the neutral zone and they likely hired supernatural beings at a premium to defend them.
“The Wiccan Alliance–”
“The what?” Adolph groaned.
Chasel gave him a little smile, “The Wiccan Alliance borders the vampire lands on the other side.”
Adolph shook his head, “That can’t be right. There’s nothing but rock and cliffs on that side of their lands.”
Chasel sighed, “How many times had we walked past the castle thinking it was just another cliff?”
Adolph groaned and waved him on, “You’re right. Continue.”
“They share a border with the neutral zone, but not with the werewolf kingdom. If you annex the vampire’s lands, you’ll have to speak with them… I couldn’t find out how connected Eden is to the Wiccan alliance, but based on his power…”
How did Eden learn magic? Laurel had asked. It had been rhetorical, but he would have to tell her that she was right and ask her what else Eden had told her about where he came from and what they should expect.
“We’ll concern ourselves with the Wiccan Alliance and whoever else is attached to this nonsense after the sentences have been passed.” He rubbed his head. “Can you tell me what the goal was overall?”
“Eden’s forces were under the impression that they would be taking over the vampire’s lands…”
“And kidnapping Laurel?”
“An angle to drive you insane…”
Adolph froze, narrowing his gaze at Chasel.
“What does that mean?”
He winced, “This… bit came from Luna Laurel.”
“What?”
“Eden…” Chasel sighed. “Eden told her the truth about the blood aura.”
He winced, “What does she know exactly?”
Chasel swallowed thickly, “She knows that the blood aura is something that vampires can’t smell, though werewolves can and I am certain she realizes that the danger of you… falling over the edge is an ever-present one.”
Adolph chuckled, thinking it insane. If he was right, Laurel had probably already started to suspect that he had already been over the edge and barely dragged himself back. According to Chasel, the plan had been to simply let Adolph’s anxiety about their bond drive him insane, leading the ministers, those who would have been remaining, to declare him unfit. They would have rehired their old colleagues and installed Basil on the throne as a puppet.
And Laurel… Devoted Laurel, the perfect luna to have at his side…
“He was going to maneuver Laurel into the position to marry him for peace,” Adolph said finally.
Chasel nodded, “I have to admit… it’s an elegant plan.”
Adolph grit his teeth, “It is… He knows the weaknesses of my kingdom… What about the poisoning attempt?”
He shook his head, “No information on that. I can only imagine that it came through another general to their operative inside the palace.”
“And… no information about who that might be?”
“No.”
Adolph grit his teeth, “They’ll show themselves soon or fade into nothing. For now, we have a formal civil hearing for the werewolves who were citizens and attacked the wedding… Alert Basil that he will be sitting in on and aiding in sentencing.”
Chasel nodded, “And the others?”
“I will think on it.”
Based on the information that they were given, he couldn’t charge the werewolves of Eden’s forces with outright treason. They had been abandoned by the throne first, after all. An ancestor would have sentenced them all to die, but the situation was too complicated and Laurel would plead for leniency.
The werewolves who had made a mess of their wedding were something different.
By the evening, Chasel had organized the formal sentencing in the throne room. Basil sat almost sullenly at his side, but mostly sober. Laurel sat to his left as they were brought in. None of them looked penitent.
“In another life,” Adolph began. “I would have called for your heads.”
They looked spooked, likely thinking of their leader.
“But this is a new age and there has been much bloodshed,” Adolph said. “You are charged with criminal conspiracy against the throne. As you were all banished from your birth packs and found trouble beyond my borders, you will spend the next fifty years in the mines at the edge of my kingdom in service.”
They flinched.
“It is as much mercy as I am inclined to give you. Ready them for transport and tell the guards of the prison mines that if they show even a hint of disobedience they are to be killed without question.”
Basil looked queasy, but he said nothing. He glanced at Laurel for a moment, but her eyes were hard and staring ahead as a guard came into the throne room.
“Your Majesties,” he greeted with a bow.
“What is it?” Adolph asked.
“An envoy is here,” he said with a grimace. “From… the Wiccan Alliance.”
Adolph tightened his grip on Laurel’s hand just a bit before sighing, “Allow them in.”