Now that we had a taste of what may lurk in the darkness of the north, everyone was on edge and eager to get behind the safety of the walls before nightfall. The trip back was filled with silence, with everyone was dealing with Rosethorne in their own way. Even Kit was strangely quiet. I remained reserved as I reflected on what the event’s emotional toll had been on me.

Rosethorne’s vampires were largely what I was familiar with from fictional stories back home: monstrous mindless thralls, who may or may not have been controlled by a master. The thralls had the increased strength and speed I expected, though seeing it in action had been jarring. I shuddered as I remembered the crunching and tearing sounds as the vampire had bitten a soldier’s head in two while he had screamed in agony. I much rather preferred observing these once mythical creatures on a screen or in the pages of a book.

Duncan’s belief that they could have been part of a larger pack or the results of a separate roaming party of other thralls was not unrealistic. What did stick out about their behavior, however, was that they chose when to spring their trap. Someone did anyway. If the thralls had just been waiting and lurking for food, we wouldn’t have been able to freely roam the town looking for clues without stumbling on them much sooner. No, someone or something had directed them to wait until the right moment. Duncan was right. There was something else going on behind the scenes, and we needed more.

Much to Duncan and the group’s relief, we made it back to Blackwall with a couple of hours to spare before we lost the light. As we got closer to the fort, I saw that a contingent of troops stood in formation, eagerly awaiting our return. Once we were within a few hundred paces of the formation, a large and heavily armored woman pushed her way through to the head and stood, hand resting on the hilt of a sword strapped at her side.

She was tall, at least as tall as I had been as Amelia, if not taller. Most of her hair was cut short, extending barely past her jawline, but it flared up wildly at its edges. It was roughly the same shade as Kit’s, however as we got closer, I noticed the tips were tinted red, like they had been dipped in blood. She wore it a bit longer in the back, tying it together with a simple ribbon. Where Kit’s hair was shaggy and borderline unkempt, hers was straight and swayed easily in the cooling breeze. She also bore Kit’s eye color, but her red was more subdued, if not still intimidating. She had a small scar torn up from the left side of her upper lip that extended about an inch up her face and filled the armor she was wearing. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she wasn’t as physically chiseled as Kit or Duncan underneath it all.

There was no mistaking her. She was a Zannister.

She saluted as Duncan dismounted and approached her. “General, I am pleased at your safe return from the north, and with time to spare before the loss of daylight. She scanned our group, “I take it you found something, given your riderless horses? My condolences on the loss of some of your men.” Duncan nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder in greeting.

“At ease, Commander Zannister. We have much to discuss, and we wish to do behind the comfort of your high walls.”

The commander nodded and turned back to the formation. With a glance, they broke ranks and began retreating into the fort. Once we were all inside, Duncan informed all the soldiers in our group that they were dismissed for the day and they were encouraged to rest up and get their fill of food and ale, as we had another early, long day tomorrow. He then turned to the boys and me.

“The rest of us still have a meeting to attend.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all crammed into a small room that looked half an office, half armory storage. The eight of us filed into the space as Commander Zannister stowed her sword on a rack, then walked to a large table in the middle of the room.

“Please, forgive the space limitations. As I am sure you are aware, we Zannisters have post rotations between the three major forts, and we don’t really like to share space. This means we all claim our own rooms.” She paused a moment, “I am… not as well admired amongst my brethren, so my quarters tend to be a little lacking. However, I’m not one to complain. I find a quiet corner with a small bed suits me just fine.”

“Find a man willing to share that small bed with you yet, Carmilla?” Kit mouthed off.

Carmilla Zannister stopped and looked back over her shoulder at him, her red eyes smoldering as she stared him down.

“You will address me as ‘Commander’. I am the current Zannister representative of this fort, as well as leader of this exercise, and you will show me the proper respect of my rank.” she hissed.

Kit just shrugged and continued to press.

“Whatever. Glad to see ya finally upgraded from a broom closet in some fort that hell forgot. Being a Zannister has its perks.”

She finally turned, the rest of us momentarily forgotten.

“If you have concerns at my qualifications for this posting, you may take it up with our father when next you see him, brother. Until then, I am still your Commander, and you will give me the respect I am due, or you may consider yourself dismissed.”

She held Kit’s hard gaze, neither of them blinking or giving ground.

Duncan finally interjected.

“Enough! We have more pressing matters to address. Kit, you will do as the ranking officer of Blackwall says. Either show some level of professionalism that I know you still possess or leave this briefing.”

Kit didn’t acknowledge Duncan and only broke eye contact with his sister to turn and leave the room. No one tried to stop him.

Carmilla sighed as he slammed the door behind him, and I felt some of the tension leave with it. It wasn’t the first sibling squabble I had experienced amongst the children of the four houses, but it was far and away the most hot-blooded. Max and Chad had at least been cordial in their teasing on the stairs, but Max also did mention Chad had a more intense relationship with his brother, Horrick.

Not having any siblings, myself, I didn’t have any way to relate to these exchanges of sibling rivalry. In hindsight though, it should have been obvious that, in such a family where the future of the kingdom was at stake, their unfortunate places as pieces on a board weighed heavily on all of them.

“My apologies.” She gave a small, sad smile. “As his companions, you know how difficult my brother can be to get along with. Our father is the eldest of his kin, and as his eldest, I endure quite a lot of friction from my younger siblings.”

At this, my mouth dropped. Kit wasn’t the oldest Zannister child? I had assumed this because he was supposed to be the heir of their house. When instead, the actual eldest was a woman being overlooked simply because she was missing something swinging between her legs. She obviously strived extremely hard to earn the position she held now, making every effort to be the model Zannister, but all for nothing? She must have had a hell of a chip on her shoulder.

With the distraction passed, we crowded around a table with a sprawling map of the north. It had a couple of pins stuck in it for points of interest, but otherwise the map was very empty of specific details. The shape of the land itself was shaped without much form, and merely faded up to the top of the parchment. Nothing about most of the topography appeared set in stone once the map traveled into the black pines of the north, with only a rare village or a large landmark in random spots that sprawled away from the only location with any definitive markings: Rosethorne.

It occurred to me that the people of Monera actually knew very little about what lay beyond the dense forest tree line. I noticed there wasn’t even a designated location for the vampire castle Duncan had mentioned. They didn’t even know where the lair was! The further out the details spread from Rosethorne, the more infrequent and less specific they became. If this was all the information we had to go on for planning a scouting mission into the Black Hills, our task had gotten much more challenging.

We summarized what we had discovered in Rosethorne to Carmilla: the unnerving state of the town, the surprise ambush by the thralls, the tragic loss of some of our own, the thrall that got away. She absorbed all the key points without speaking or interjecting until we were finished. We then turned our attention back to the vague chart on the table.

Duncan summed up what we were all thinking as we leaned over it, “How much do we know about the lands surrounding Rosethorne and further into the Hills? Are the map details this empty because it’s mostly devoid of life or because what’s there is unknown?”

Carmilla frowned, obviously unhappy about the response she was forced to give. “Next to nothing. I also haven’t been at this post long, so I’m learning about it at the same speed you are when it comes to our situation. Unfortunately, my cousin who was stationed here last was more than content to squat and ignore the situation. Due to my unfamiliarity at this post, the Crown and my father ordered me to not send scouts into the north for any purpose until you arrived and were able to lead any expedition. Not even for mapping out the area.”

She crossed her arms and huffed in frustration, “Unfortunately, this means I have very little to offer to prepare you for pushing further through the dense pine, other than more men of course.”

Duncan pulled at his mustache and looked at each of us in thought. “As much as it pains me to ask others to risk their lives for this mission, this type of danger is something required at this post. Prince Chadwick, thoughts?”

Chad sighed deeply, eyes fixed on the map. “I don’t like it, Duncan. Any of it. Pushing further into that strange forest, we won’t know what’s beyond a few feet in front of us, and the risk of stumbling into an ambush or some other danger will be very high.”

Chad furrowed his brow and gestured loosely at generic dense tree markings throughout the map. “Time will be against us for any deep exploration if we wish to be back at the fort before sunset, thus a preference on speed with a smaller group. But then that runs the risk of being outnumbered should we encounter thralls again, or something worse.” He hung his head before continuing, “Which I assume is our aim, yes?”

Duncan briskly nodded, “Indeed. Julius, you’re usually one with all sorts of unasked for opinions. Please, share your thoughts of our situation”

Julius pushed his glasses up his nose. “They’re not positive. That said, I’m not as dedicated to this mission as you or the prince seem to be. The parameters of our task were to determine if vampires had again become a threat in the north. The sinister clouds and ill change in the weather, as well as our ambush at Rosethorne, should fill enough of a report to satisfy the king and council. Even if we don’t know the exact extent of their reawakening, what we discovered today leaves obvious proof that, left unchecked, events in the north will only become more ominous.” He gave a broad sweeping gesture at the map, “Let King Chadwick send in an army en masse and burn the north to the ground.”

Duncan dismissed this recommendation with a wave of his hand. “Not an option. The king will need more confirmation of their threat for Chadwick or myself to convince him to muster a force great enough to penetrate the forest and attempt an extermination of the vampires lurking in it.” At this, Julius warmed a hand, tiny flames licking his pristine gloved fingertips. Duncan understood the intent and denied the request. “We aren’t taking it upon ourselves to burn the Black Hills either.”

He then looked at me, “What do you think, Amelia?”

Startled on hearing my name called, I didn’t immediately respond. Carmilla took the break in the debate to address my presence. “I’m glad someone decided to bring attention to her. Who exactly is this again?”

Like he had when Julius and Kit had inquired about why I was an allowed tagalong, Chad spoke up for my attendance at this debriefing. “This is Amy. She is a recent addition to our group and brings along her own special viewpoint to our situation.”

I blushed as Chad looked at me. It was the first time since my transformation he had acknowledged my existence to others without obvious frustration or a backhanded insult. Duncan also noticed the prince’s change in demeanor, as he chimed in, “You would do well to not underestimate her, Commander. She slew one of the vampires who ambushed us at Rosethorne.” He winked at me, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “She is cunning and fierce, and we are fortunate to have her in our company.”

Carmilla raised her hands to stop the platitudes. “At ease, boys. No need to lay it on so thick, or have you forgotten I am the last person at this table who needs to be convinced not to take a woman just at face value?”

She, too, smiled at me, and it was nice to see a kindred spirit in her expression. She reminded me much of Noelle in that moment, a woman doing everything within her power to carve a name for herself in a man’s world. The two of them would have gotten along swimmingly if they ever met. She gestured to me, “Well, Amelia? What are your thoughts on the matter?”

I gulped loudly, all the attention now on me. “Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Chadwick about the risks in the Black Hills. We run a fine line on taking larger numbers to prevent catastrophe on further enemy contact, but risk slower travel with time as an obstacle.”

I’d had the time on the ride back to review what I thought I knew about our predicament, and I blew air out of my cheeks as I decided what to share next.

“As for what our discoveries in Rosethorne mean, it honestly could be anything. It’s unlikely the vampires were just roaming hungry thralls. Had that been the case, the attack would have felt less planned. We numbered nearly 20 and couldn’t find any trace of them while actively searching.” I took off my glasses and rubbed my tired eyes. I was still mentally getting used to this detective work, especially since the boys seemed to be strangely valuing my input as of late.

I put my glasses back on and continued. “No, they attacked with timing. They were controlled by something, or someone. There would have been less precision otherwise. There is something else out there with the power and capabilities to bolster the vampire’s influence in the north. That is the threat the king sent us out here to confirm. We need to know their numbers and true capabilities, and the only way we find that is another expedition into the Hills.”

I looked around for a response of some kind. Either someone telling me I was crazy or dismissing my observations off hand. Instead, there were raised eyebrows and side glances between everyone at the table. Carmilla was first to speak up.

“Alright then, sounds like we still have work to do. Everyone, consider yourselves dismissed. Please go freshen up and get some rest for tomorrow. Duncan, when you are ready later this evening, you and I should further discuss our plans for tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded and we headed for the door, eager to wash the grime and gore of the day away and get some food in our stomachs.

“Except you, Amelia,” Carmilla called out. “You and I aren’t quite finished.”