13 Caroline

She didn't know Ender had returned to the study until she heard his lilting accent from the doorway. The vampire's reappearance somehow both calmed and terrified her. Caroline didn't know how the situation had escalated so quickly. It was only this morning she was getting ready for a long day of planting radishes with Nim. Now, in light of the setting sun dissipating through the window at Castle Mont, Caroline was about to sign a contract binding herself to a vampire.

She supposed if she had to pick either of the two brothers standing in the room with her, Ender was the less threatening force. Even though he outmatched his brother in strength and size, she felt somehow she could trust the younger vampire more than his flamboyant brother. Both were startling to look upon.

Ender might have been the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, but Lucian was equally as beautiful. His features acted in the almost complete opposite of Enders but beautiful none the less. Looks meant nothing to her, though when it came to signing something as binding as what Lucian had described to her.

She had studied Lucian for a long moment before Ender had returned. Noting his dark eyes set in a long face, it's centerpiece a charming smile. His tendency toward the dramatic and ability to see glimpses into the future gave her pause, though. She could tell he was cunning in a way his brother wasn't. There was a slyness to him she found both enchanting and unsettling all at once. Caroline wasn't sure if that was a favorable attribute or not. She could not deny, though, that she had felt a brief moment of relief when Ender had interjected to offer himself as the holder of her contract.

While the concept of signing her life away was abhorrent, Caroline had come swiftly to the conclusion that it was she who had put the brothers in this position in the first, accidentally or not. The young woman had decided she would not be responsible for their deaths because she could not control a power she didn't even know she had possessed.

Ender moved to the front of the room and stood next to his brother behind the desk. For as tall as the Ender was, his brother stood half a head taller. Lanky and lengthy, where his sibling was muscular and broad. She wondered briefly how they could be related. The witch studied their faces side by side, noting that Ender's eyes had returned to a more muted red, a sharp contrast to the almost black appearance they had held earlier.

She shuddered, thinking about the vampire's diet and what he had done to satiate it in his absence. He nodded to Caroline, a melancholy look in his eye. Turning to his brother, his voice rang out low and melodic, "Lucian, do you have the required materials?"

"Of course I do. I am nothing if not prepared." the older brother quipped. With a flourish, Lucian reached into the desk producing a rather odd-looking parchment and a quill for writing. Slowly rising from his seat, Lucian turned and gestured for Ender to take his place. "It doesn't matter who she signs it with, as long as the mark is upon her neck within the hour," he commented somewhat flatly.

Caroline could sense an air of disappointment in the vampire's tone, almost as if he had just lost at some game but was reluctant to admit outright defeat. Lucian moved to the fireplace once again and leaned against the mantle with an audible sigh. Resigning himself to a spectator, for the time being, he waved his hand as if to say move the process along.

Caroline stood hesitantly in front of the desk, there was no chair in front of it for her to sit on, and she felt awkward waiting for Ender to take his seat and begin the proceedings. Her palms were sweating, and she tried to find a comfortable way to stand.

Apprehension filled her, not knowing what to expect from the negotiations, and fear began to creep in. Her breathing felt rather shallow. She watched as Ender adjusted himself to his surroundings, noting how out of place he looked behind the pine desk. Even though he had changed into a fresh linen shirt, Ender still looked more prepared for a battle than any clerical work.

Pale red eyes set behind rose-copper curls returned her worried expression with what she thought might be a look of sympathy. Gripping a quill in his hand, he asked briskly, "What are your terms?"

"Um...I don't have any," she said. For the life of her, Caroline could not think of anything she wanted from the vampire sitting before her.

He stared at her, quizzically, "You don't want money? Food? Shelter?" he asked, a frown settling on his near-perfect face.

"I've never done this before. I guess a place to sleep and some food while I'm here, which hopefully won't be for long. I need to return home as soon as possible. But no, I don't want your money." Caroline clutched her hands together in front of her. The conversation was so foreign to her. She recalled haggling with farmers about the cost of a cow or sheep a dozen times but never imagined having to do it for herself.

A part of her felt like little more than an object to the men before her. Is that really all she was? A commodity? Caroline thought with indignation. For a moment, she thought of demanding every penny they had and their land as well but quickly realized there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to be home in her own bed with Nim singing in the kitchen below.

"Agreed," Ender replied, looking down at the parchment scribbling the words in place. The paper he was writing on appeared to be regular parchment at first glance, but if she turned her head just so, she could make out a faint metallic sheen to it.

"For my terms," Ender began in his lilting accent, "I only have two conditions. In exchange for room and board, you will first learn how to use your magic properly. I will help find someone to teach you."

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief at his first request, not realizing she was holding her breath, to begin with. His terms sounded quite fair in her estimation. Still coming to terms with her identity as a witch, she thought that if the pair were right about her powers, she should at least learn the basics of using them. "I agree," she told him while tilting her chin upwards, trying to exude a modicum of confidence.

"Secondly, you are free to use your abilities in whatever manner you wish with only one exception; you will never use your magic on me, Caroline," he told her, looking up from his writing. Caroline drew in a sharp intake of breath. It was the first time he had said her name aloud. Even though it was she looking down upon him from her current position, a sense of overwhelming authority exuded from the vampire. This was not a term she would be able to negotiate.

"What about me?" Lucian broke in displeased, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you just going to let her maltreat me with her unbeknownst-until-today magical ability?"

"I don't care what she does to you," Ender said flatly, returning to his writing. Caroline could see the corner of his mouth pulling up in a small smile, though. Lucian let out an overly loud sigh and flopped into one of the sitting chairs, splaying his arms and legs in all directions.

"Fine, let the witch run amok, see how well that works out for you, my dear brother, but when the army comes knocking at our door, you will have to explain to them why she's completely out of control." Lucian lamented.

"Caroline will learn how to control her power." the younger vampire told him while staring directly into her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was exhausting or the vampire's stare that made her knees feel week. "Do you agree?" he pressed.

Caroline nodded. Frankly, she was ready for the whole ordeal to be over. Her mind and body were both tired, and she was not sure how much longer she could endure Ender's piercing gaze. While not a physically demanding day, it had been emotionally strenuous. The young witch didn't know if she could trust the two vampires, but they hadn't tried to feed on her, Which was more than could be said for the only other people she had come across in this strange land.

Consigning herself to fate, Caroline decided these were two requests she could deal with for the time being, if it meant she stayed alive long enough to get back to Nim.

"Yes, I agree." she heard herself say. The words coming out of her mouth did not feel like her own. The entire situation was surreal.

"Good. We'll keep to the terms for one year-" Ender began.

"A year?!" Caroline cut in. "There is no way I will be here for an entire year. I'm going home as soon as humanly possible."

"You're not human, and a year is standard for the first signing. Should you be able to return home in the interim, I will gladly release you from the bindings of our agreement." Ender folded his hands on the desk awaiting the girl's response, giving every indication the conversation was over.

Exasperation won out as she threw her hands up in the air, "Oh fine, what's the difference between a week and year when you're selling your soul to a vampire." Caroline replied, the exhaustion overtaking her was loosening her tongue.

"Your soul was not included in the contract, but I can add an addendum if you like," Ender said without hesitation, his eyes peeking up at her through the chin-length curls hanging in front of his forehead.

"Was that a...joke?" Caroline couldn't help but laugh at the vampire's attempt. The absurdity of all that was happening washed over her as she fell into peals of laughter.

Ender shrugged. The vampire had managed to relieve some of her nervousness and a tad of the resentment she was feeling. However, Caroline had a feeling that bitterness might linger for some time.

"Let's move this along, shall we?" Lucian moaned from his chair. "We have guests arriving if neither have you have forgotten. Sign it. Quickly." With a flick of his wrist, Lucian threw his dagger. The blade darted across the room at Ender. The younger vampire picked it out of the air with lightning reflexes.

Caroline rolled her eyes, thoroughly exasperated by them both and their propensity towards knives. Understanding flooded her cheeks red when she saw Ender stand and look down upon the document. In one swift motion, he ran the blade across his palm. Caroline gasped silently. Holding his clenched fist above the paper, Ender let a few drops of blood leak onto the page.

"The contract has to be signed in blood," Lucian said into her ear. Caroline jumped, startled she hadn't heard him move up behind her. "The document was imbued with magic long before your arrival, only with blood will the agreement be binding."

Caroline nudged herself toward the desk, "It won't send you two into some sort of...frenzy, will it?" she asked hesitantly. She felt stupid for putting forth the question, but the memory of Ender's reaction when the faerie had bitten her earlier that day was still fresh in her mind.

"You're safe here, Caroline," Ender told her while he extended his hand from across the desk to her. Caroline nodded. She could tell by his expression that his words were genuine. She reached out tentatively, unable to hide the shaking of her hand, and placed it in his. With a quick motion, Ender used the knife to puncture the tip of her index finger, swiping the drop of blood across the document quickly as if to minimize any exposure he might have to the liquid.

His hand was cool in hers but not cold, the skin of his palm softer than she would have expected of the warrior. She looked to his face for a moment as their hands joined and could see a brief moment of tension in his crimson eyes. The expression quickly faded as Caroline began to pull her hand back, and the vampire released his grip, almost hesitantly. Shifting his gaze to the document below them, Caroline followed suit and looked down as well.

The words began to melt into the paper, disappearing entirely as the parchment began to glow with a soft purple hue that quickly grew to fill the whole room with its light.

Caroline suddenly didn't feel right. She let out a small gurgle, trying to draw air into her constricting lungs as a feeling of warmth penetrated the skin on the right side of her neck. The sensation grew in intensity as the heat spread down her shoulder. Soon white-hot pain was traveling down her arm, sending her knees crashing into the ornate rug beneath her. She cried out as the sensation culminated in her right hand, as her shrill scream reached out into the night.

Almost as quickly as the pain started, did it leave her body, flowing out like a river after the dam had broken. Caroline knelt shaking on the rug, blonde waves of hair coming loose from their braid, sweat matting it to her forehead. Gasping for breath on the ground, she clutched her hand to her chest and let out a single sob.

Eyes bleary from the pain, she could begin to make out intricate light blue lines swirling in a pattern of shapes climbing into her dress sleeve. Mesmerized by the design pulsating on her skin, the witch pulled up the sleeve as far as it would go. It was evident in the fading light of the day that the tattoo extended up to her shoulder. She felt the area just below her right ear with her left hand, wondering if the blue lines had made their way there too.

"It's on your neck as well," Lucian said, confirming her suspicion. "Looks quite lovely too, a very nice shade of blue that matches your eyes. How interesting, I've never seen a contract mark so extensive."

Ender shook his head at his older brother and moved from around the desk to offer her his hand. This time she accepted gratefully, letting him pull her up from her seated position and tuck her into his chest with an embrace she hadn't seen coming. Caroline noticed the discomfort had left her body. While the pain from the tattoo was drifting from memory, she realized the encounter had left her even more drained. "Are you alright, brundah? " He whispered into her ear.

Caroline nodded slowly, regaining her senses and releasing herself, somewhat reluctantly from the vampire's arms. Massaging the area on her neck, she began assessing for any magical changes. She didn't feel any different than before the tattoo had sprawled it's way down her extremity. Examining the details more closely, she could see the swirls of circles and triangles came together in what Caroline would have considered a beautiful pattern if it weren't permanently imprinted onto her skin.

The vampires were both looking at her expectantly. She wasn't sure how to reply. The only thought forming in her mind was how tired she had become and her growling belly. "I'm hungry...and tired. I want that room and board I signed up for now," she said to them both.

"That will have to wait, I'm afraid. Our guests have arrived." Lucian said the moment before a loud knock was heard at the door.