Valerian Empire

Days passed by since Katie saw Alexander kiss another woman and she had tried avoiding any thoughts of him.

One sunny afternoon, Katie helped with the laundry as she hung clothes at the back of the mansion with Dorthy.

Dorthy looked at Katie from a far distance as the girl picked up a dress and went to hang it on the rope in a daze. Instead of the rope she saw her friend hanging the dress in midair before she realized what she was doing. It seemed like her friend had been like this since morning, lost in her thoughts.

“Did something happen to her?” Corey asked Dorthy in the evening while they worked in the kitchen.

“I don’t know. I wonder if she got scolded by Martin for being late,” she whispered to him, “That man can be scary.”

“How about we go out and visit the village tonight? The carnival is going to end tomorrow,” Corey suggested seeing Katie knead the dough with both her hands.

“The carnival is here!” Dorthy’s eyes lit up but a worried look dawned her face, “They’ll close it by the time we reach.”

“You needn’t worry about it. It’s open until eleven in the night. If we leave here by nine we should make it in time to look around what they have set up,” Corey said giving a thumbs up.

Katie washed her hand and went up to take the folded clothes to Lord Alexander’s room. She met Cynthia at the stairs and smiled before going on her way.

She pulled the closet door and placed the clothes inside.

The view shouldn’t have upset her, yet it did and she knew it wasn’t right the way she felt.

The Lord she was attracted to was of a high status. It was obvious that he would find a woman of his equal status. She was just one among many women who was charmed with the way he was.

He had protected her, provided a roof over her head and spoken to her nicely but that didn’t mean he would fall for her. She was as plain as a canvas and a human.

The time of life was a tricky thing. Humans took birth and died when their time came, unlike vampires who lived longer in eons. Pure blooded vampires lived longer than normal vampires.

The Lord of Valerian had stopped visiting her when she had begun to live with her relatives. Truth was he did stop visiting her after all she was a mere human child. Elliot was the one who made sure to keep eyes on her to make sure the little girl was in good state as he had grown an attachment towards her. It wasn’t until Elliot had brought a picture of Katie to Sylvia that Alexander had got a glimpse of the young lady who was seventeen.

Katie missed her family dearly, especially her aunt. The woman had answered her curious questions as she grew up, taking the role of her mother.

She wanted to see them and therefore had informed the butler. As she dressed and was ready to leave her room someone knocked.

“Come in,” Katie answered the door and in came Dorthy who was dressed too.

“Where are you going?” Dorthy asked puzzled looking at Katie.

“I thought of visiting the cemetery.”

“This late?”

Katie nodded, “Are you going somewhere too?” she asked.

“Actually yes. Corey and few of us are going to the carnival hosted and it’s not that far,” Dorthy paused and then continued, “The cemetery is on the way. We could wait for you and then go together to the carnival,” she offered.

“I’m fine with that,” Katie replied before they headed to meet others who were accompanying them.

Reaching the cemetery, Katie went alone to see her family while others waited outside for her.

The Lord of Valeria had taken the responsibility of giving the dead space. Both Katie’s parents and her relatives resided in the same cemetery.

After going to her relatives grave, she bent down reaching her parents grave and pushed the dead leaves to place a single lily flower on each. She didn’t have enough memories except for the horrific night that took place twelve years ago. It haunted her even now because of which she had trouble sleeping at night.

“Mama,” she whispered, “I hope you’re doing well wherever you are…I miss you,” she spoke to her, telling about her work at the mansion and the theater she had gone to.

The wind howled in the forest and she looked in its direction as she headed back towards the carriage. They took the old carriage that was used by the workers occasionally. It was rather a large carriage to fit six people in it.

Apart from Katherine, there was Corey, Dorthy, Matilda, Cynthia and Fay. The journey even though short was a lively one. Katie only listened while Matilda seemed uninterested and looked outside. She played with the wooden stick she had picked from the grave.

“I saved money this time so that I could buy things from the carnival,” Fay said feeling proud. She had small slant eyes and straight shoulder length hair.

“This one was bought last year,” Cynthia showed off a bracelet on her hand which looked like gold with brilliant looking stones on it.

“Waah! How much did it cost?” asked Dorthy.

“My whole two months’ earning,” Cynthia smirked making Matilda roll her eyes in the corner.

Katie didn’t know what to expect from the carnival of Valerian Empire. She had been with her aunt when she was on the human land but that was a long time ago. The carnivals held there ended by evening closing all the shops. The travelers who passed by her village told stories of how exquisite the carnival was on the land of vampires.

Arriving at the destination Cynthia and Fay went ahead while Corey said he was meeting a friend of his leaving Katie, Matilda and Dorthy on their own.

The carnival was set amidst the forest with lanterns hanging everywhere brightening the entire perimeter. It looked like a festive season. Men, women and children flocked around in front of every store looking at what was being offered.

“Come on, you can’t be saying it. I will take it if you offer it for a cheaper price,” Katie heard a woman argue.

“Papa, come there! There’s a big bear there. Can we buy it!” a boy asked his father’s pulling the cloak he wore. The boy’s father was a vampire with his evident pale skin and dark clothes which he wore. His greasy hair combed back in an old fashion.

“Not now Benny,” his father said curtly before going on to speak to the man in front of him.

“But we don’t have bears,” the little boy pleaded before puffing his cheeks.

At one corner she saw a woman selling butterflies that left a small trail of light behind them as they fluttered in the glass boxes. Next to it was a liquor shop and Matilda went towards it to buy a bottle of wine and brandy saying it was cheap compared to the town.

They stopped by to look at clothes for Dorthy as she brought few of them after bargaining for a whole twelve minutes.

As Katie went ahead, her eyes caught sight of a small tent that had women and men sitting like dolls in display. The men were clothed much better compared to the women there to gain attention.

“I didn’t know carnivals had this,” Katie said softly. A male from the tent caught her looking and winked at her making her turn away with eyes wide.

“You’ll be surprised with what the carnival here has to offer,” Matilda replied as they went ahead, “This is a place where if a wrong person finds a thing or person he or she shall trick them so let’s stay where there are people.”

“When you say trick do you mean like a witch’s trick?” Katie questioned.

“Yes, and even there’s risk of slavery where they are sent to a different land.”

Corey had come after half an hour to join the sight seeing of the stores. Dorthy later dragged him to a store to show him something.

Katie went ahead with Matilda and saw a small narrow store where a couple was going through the items. The Caterer seemed to be no where in sight. She walked towards it and saw it was an accessories store. There were delicate bracelets, rings, necklaces, pendants and few other things which she didn’t know.

She picked one of the pendant that was displayed, placing it on her hand.

It was a royal blue stone that had gold designs around it with few tiny pale stones. Though she had come across similar ones like this, this one in particular looked different. On a closer look, something moved inside the stone magically. Strange, Katie thought to herself.

“It’s a charm stone,” an old man popped at the counter with long stranded hair that covered most part of his face like a curtain, “Would you like to buy one?”

“What is the price?” Katie asked the old man.

“Usually I sell it for high prices but today I have priced it low. It will be only thirty nine coins of gold,” he said as he adjusted items around him.

Katie and Matilda both looked at each others face once he revealed the cost of it. Only a rich person could afford thirty nine gold coins.

“Old man, are you kidding?” Matilda narrowed her eyes in question.

“Hmm,” the man thought to himself as he looked at Katie and then spoke, “How about this, I am ready to trade something you might have to offer. Don’t misunderstand me. I am speaking about the chain on your neck.”

“This?” Katie put her hand on the chain and bringing out the metallic silver cross out that had a tiny red stone at the center. She always kept the cross hidden under her clothes and was curious as to how the old man knew about it.

“That’s the one. An equivalent exchange or you’ll have to buy me a soul. I can see that it is meant to be yours,” the man said leaning forward.

“Did you look at that?” the couple who had been in the store spoke looking at the cross.

“Yes, and seeing her clothes I can bet she stole it,” the man spoke in a whisper but Katie heard it with others.

“Excuse me, kind Sir,” Katie said turning to speak to the man, “Do you know me?”

“What? No, I don’t,” the man replied cautiously.

“Then may I ask, how you can imply that I stole this when you have no idea of who I am?” she asked her raising her brow and lifting her chin up.

“Is she a Duke’s daughter?” another man asked worriedly who stood next to him.

“Of course she’s not. Look at her tattered dress,” the man said haughtily.

“So if we tear the dress you are wearing, you will be a bigger thief with that face like your’s,” Katie said making the man angry. They were gathering a crowd around them.

“H-how dare you. You have the character of-” the man began but Katie interrupted her.

“I have a better character than you will ever have. For a person who judges an individual with what is worn, you have no right to speak. You are a man with a shallow character,” Katie said folding her arms.

“Let’s see who is shallow now,” the man said grabbing her hand tightly as his fangs grew.

“That’s enough.”

Katie heard the familiar voice and turned around to see who it was. Seeing Elliot and Sylvia surprised her but her eyes widened seeing the Lord of Valeria standing there with a grim expression on his face.