Elder Miklos quivered in his seat.
The shock of what he'd seen was like a buzzing in his belly.
The boy had used blood energy on his sword!
How long since anyone had been able to manage that? Even Elder Laszlo could barely squeeze enough energy to enhance his mace. And it always ended up with a broken mace.
But the brat had managed to light up the whole sword!
The merchant's two guards picked around the edge of the wagon as they rolled quickly out of the pass and into relative safety of open air.
Roland was sweating and kept dabbing at his cheek with a handkerchief.
"My oh my," he kept panting. "That was something. That kid? Really. Something…"
Elder Miklos could only nod and try to keep his face calm.
Pretend Vlad hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.
If the merchant thought Vlad was special, he might make more of it when they reached Bistritz. Rumours always spread quickly in the city.
Especially this far from the True Dragon Court's reach.
And if Prince Radu found out about Vlad…
Elder Miklos shuddered.
"He's coming," the big guard, Horris, said. His voice was soft, but it carried to the elder's ears.
"Did he catch them all?" Mikkel wondered aloud.
Horris pursed his lips. "I hope so. The Full Moon Clan aren't someone the Guild should mess with."
"If this kid had kept quiet, we could've just bribed them," Mikkel said sourly. Scratching at his armpit, he sighed. "This is troublesome."
"Hmph." Elder Miklos pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "You dare doubt our fledgling? The dogs are all dead."
"You can't know that for sure," Mikkel snorted.
"If they weren't dead, he wouldn't be returning."
As he said it, Elder Miklos was surprised to find he believed it. It was a heavy burden to place on a fledgling, but there was something about the boy which left him confident in his own words.
Anything Mikkel might have said was cut short as Vlad sauntered into view, emerging from the treeline. He held the long steel sword across his shoulders, wrist resting over the long handle.
Elder Miklos felt his lips twitch as he caught the glazed look in Vlad's eyes.
The fledgling had fed well.
Meeting the elder's gaze, Vlad gave a lazy blink, then climbed onto the back of the wagon and sprawled on top of the empty crated with a contented sigh.
"So?" Mikkel asked, unable to keep his patience. "Did you kill them all?"
Vlad yawned.
And closed his eyes.
The question, he thought, wasn't worth answering.
What kind of fool did they think he was?
"Hey! I-"
"Leave it," Horris said, holding a hand up. "He killed them."
"But-"
"Mikkel," Roland called, voice tight. "Enough. You're making the oxen nervous."
"The oxen?" Mikkel blinked. "What about me? If the Full Moon Clan find out what happened here, we're dead. All of us! We're dead!"
Horris put a heavy hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "Mikkel."
"Ah!" The little man kicked rocks and whirled away, stomping down the trail. Throwing his hands in the air, he shook his head. "Alright! But don't come to me when those bastard dogs are chewing on your guts! All I'll say is I told you so!"
Vlad's lips curled into a small smile as the wagon started moving again.
In truth, he didn't speak because he didn't trust himself to.
He was so full of blood that he thought if he opened his mouth, even a little, some of it might overflow.
And he needed this blood so he could convert it into blood energy.
As the wagon rolled, he turned his awareness inward.
Tracing the pattern formed by blood energy as it flowed through his body down the racing tracks of his veins and meridians and through the pumping muscle of his heart.
The Great Ocean technique had made the muscle large, but he was sure it could expand further. And, if he could improve his core, perhaps he could open his inner sea.
He had a hunch that with this new technique, his inner sea would be immense.
And if he was right, then he'd have more power than he'd had in his former life.
As the blood he'd ingested was slowly absorbed and converted into blood energy, he used that energy to further refine his heart.
Expanding it.
Making room for his core which was, at this time, a sliver in size.
It would need to grow before he could think about opening his inner sea.
Once he was satisfied with his heart's size, he turned further inward.
And, carefully, he began to feed the core a dribble of blood energy.
Drink, he willed it.
Pressure built inside. A heavy pressure which pressed down on him from all sides. Squeezing his pulsing heart.
Grimacing, he kept feeding his hungry core.
Every burning mote of energy was directed into it.
A river flowing inward. Condensing into a solid sphere which revolved like a miniature world in the central chamber of his heart.
Washed by blood.
It grew.
Not quickly.
And not enough for him to consider opening his inner sea.
But it pleased him to see its rapid growth.
The merchant glanced back at him. Not sure what to think.
He'd been coming up the mountain for years, but never once thought of the Court as anything more than a poor shadow of what it had once been.
Had they been hiding their strength all this time?
It was unimaginable that the young fledgling could have slaughtered so many members of the Full Moon Clan. Even if they were new recruits.
He was still just one fledgling against many.
And that sword art…
It had been an amazing thing to watch.
"Elder Miklos," Roland said, keeping his voice low. "I would like to offer more support to the Court."
"You support us greatly as it is," Elder Miklos said, rubbing his hands together against the cold. "We could not ask you to do more, Roland. The risk…"
"It seems to me that perhaps the wind is changing?"
Elder Miklos sighed. "I wish that were the case. Please don't judge the Court entirely on Vlad. He appears to be… an anomaly."
"A single anomaly is often enough to trigger great events…"
"Perhaps. But, although the Court would welcome any assistance, it would pain us if something were to happen to you because of it."
"The Guild is capable."
"I don't doubt it. But so is the Full Moon Clan. And the True Dragon Court is even more ruthless."
"They would interfere?" Roland looked sceptical. "This far from the Empire's heart…"
"Radu's animosity runs deep. In truth, we believe we have survived this long as it amuses him to hear of our struggles."
"Ah. You worry if we assist further, then word of the fledgling's power will spread quickly to the Empire. That our assistance might rouse more interest."
"The thought occurs," Elder Miklos said drily.
"I believe arrangements could be made to ensure outward appearances are maintained."
"Still… It is a risk."
"For both of us."
"Yes."
"I will be blunt, then. I wish to shoulder this risk."
"Why?"
Roland held up two fingers. "Two reasons. One; Profit. It's the primary goal of a merchant. Should the Court grow, the profit will be immense. I am certain of it."
"That part, I understand."
"Secondly, my youngest daughter is a wayward child. Her heart too easily captured by old tales and romantic histories…"
"I don't see-"
"She wishes to join the Court. As a Bride."
"A Bride?" Elder Miklos looked surprised.
"It has been her dream for many years." Roland shook his head and sighed. "I have tried to talk her out of it. But I know if I push too hard I will wake one day and she will be gone. And I will never see her again. That thought… pains me."
"Still… The Brides are not what they were…" Elder Miklos winced. "It could be… a challenge for her to accept what they have become. And our influence over them is… tentative."
"I have told her this. I know the Court is splintered. It's one reason I have not allowed her to follow her dream." The Merchant clicked his tongue at the oxen, gently tugging the reins as they followed the curving path. "However, the fledgling… He gives me some hope that things will change. Perhaps she might gain from joining them?"
"I see…"
The Court is splintered? In the back of the wagon, Vlad frowned.
He'd forgotten about the Brides and had assumed there were none left.
Where were they? The Knights had gone out for training. Had they gone training, also?
No, that didn't sound right.
It sounded like they'd left the Court entirely. And Elder Miklos seemed to be saying the Court had no control over them anymore.
The merchant and the elder spoke softly, their conversation shifting to other topics which didn't interest Vlad.
He wanted to know more about the Brides.
Where had they gone?
Had they abandoned their duties to the Court?
Ridiculous!
How could those witches dare think of such a thing?
With a groan, he pushed his blood energy faster through his veins.
Everything had become such a mess.
The frustration ate at him.
I should have brought Galosh along, he thought sullenly. It would have given me someone to beat when I was angry…