35 Ender

Ender awoke to the sound of birdsong wafting through the open window in Caroline's room. He had not planned on sleeping in her room that night and knew Mara would have a fit if she saw him here. The woman was still old fashioned in a lot of ways.

He shook red-gold curls back and forth and rubbed the scar at his temple in an attempt to dismiss the vestiges of sleep from his brain. Ender knew he was already behind schedule. While most preparations for their journey were set in place over the last week, the vampire knew there were still a few items he needed to throw in his saddlebags before departing. Snoring softly atop the bedcovers, Caroline looked so peaceful that Ender was reluctant to wake her. He would ask Mara to rouse the girl.

Gingerly getting up from the overstuffed chair, Ender exited the room quietly, leaving the witch to rest. The vampire breathed a small sigh of relief as he passed through the door into the wide stone corridor.

"Interesting choice of accommodations, brother," Lucian said, announcing his presence outside of Caroline's chambers.

"Gods Lucian," Ender said with a jump, "Do not do that. You know you are creepy, right?" Ender thought he was somewhat impervious to being taken by surprise, but only his brother managed to catch him off guard from time to time. His mind had still been turning over Caroline's words from last night, leaving him slightly distracted.

"Says the one who has watched the girl sleep for a week," Lucian said as the pair began to head downstairs.

Ender was not in the mood to deal with his brother's sarcasm this morning. Instead, he opted to give the older vampire a friendly shove into the nearby wall and continuing on his way. A few stones cracked at the impact, leaving a sizable dent in the solid rock.

"This is a new suit, Ender Mont!" Lucian called after him, catching up quickly while brushing crushed rock from the shoulder of his formerly perfect black jacket. Ender just shrugged and ignored his brother's protests.

When the two vampires arrived in the great hall, they briefly exchanged the last of the preparation plans and separated to finish their tasks then. Ender was glad to be relieved of Lucian's presence for the moment, they would be spending many days together on the road, and his mind needed a break from the older vampire's constant verbal assault.

He entered the kitchen to find Aniyoh already dressed and snacking on an apple while chatting amiably with Mara. He knew the serving woman would be sad to see them go. She had enjoyed having more than just two surly vampires to care for the last two weeks.

After asking the serving woman to wake Caroline and help the girl prepare her pack, Ender grabbed a round of bread to help curb his growing appetite. He briefly thought of going out to hunt quickly, but the time it would take to travel to the wood and return would plainly put them even further behind schedule.

"Whatcha thinking about big guy?" Aniyoh asked, taking another crunch out of her apple. He hadn't spoken more than a few words to the witch since she arrived at Castle Mont and was not sure how to respond to the forthright woman.

"Nothing, I guess," he said simply. It was true, his thoughts had been so jumbled lately, and Ender knew how, unlike himself, this was.

"More the strong and silent type I see?" Aniyoh continued when Ender refused to elaborate further. "Well, I don't know how you would get a word in edgewise with old string bean looming past every corner all the time."

Ender could not help but chuckle to himself at the witch's slight towards his brother. "That is a fair assumption," he said, "Is the new marking courtesy of the string bean?" Ender asked, nodding towards the witch. While remaining the same size, her tattoo was now patterned less concentrically, taking a more fluid pattern that somewhat resembled Caroline's just smaller in scale.

Aniyoh nodded, tossing the apple core into the cold hearth. "Sure is, the contract was transferred this morning. Even if your brother is a silver-tongued string bean, he's a marked improvement on the old fat bastard who held it before," she said with a sneer, disdain dripping from her final words like honey.

"I do not doubt it," he told the witch, not wanting to pry any further and risk stoking the woman's hatred any further. He thought to change the subject, "Try to teach Caroline some defensive spells if you can. It would be foolish to think we will travel undisturbed through Ibudal. Outside of Montilan, my name will be little protection."

Aniyoh nodded slowly, her dark hair bobbing in time. After a moment of silence, she responded, "No."

Ender was taken aback, what did the witch mean, no? Frustration roiled within him at the woman's blatant refusal. Aniyoh met his eyes, a cold look of determination lay behind them.

"No," the witch continued, "I will not teach her to defend. I will teach her to attack. She will not learn to be fearful. She will be feared." an almost eery smile spread across the witch's mouth "I will not instruct her to hide and use magic as a last resort, she is a force to be reckoned with and will meet any threat as such."

Ender nodded approvingly towards the woman. Maybe he had judged the witch too harshly when they first met. He was beginning to like Aniyoh.