Chapter Text
The past three months have been absolutely wonderful. Sure, you and Arthur had your differences, and sure, you had to adjust how you lived to maximize your time with Arthur, becoming a full night owl and eating more meat so that Arthur could feed off of you without feeling guilty, but it was all worth it. The more you thought about the future, however, the bleaker it looked. As you grew older, he would stay the same. At some point, you’d have to move away because people would notice that he wasn’t aging. And at some point, he would look more like your child because of the aging difference.
As you pondered these things one night, staring at the full moon outside your window, you heard Arthur come back from his job as a night guard at the local ranch.
“How was work?”
He shrugged. “Same as usual. Nothin’ really goin’ on. Gives me time to think though.”
“I see.” You looked up and took a deep breath. “Arthur?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there a way I can be with you… forever?”
“You know I can’t turn you into a vampire.”
“I know, I meant, maybe some other way?”
Arthur was silent for a little while. “Let me have a think on it.”
***
“Sweetheart?”
You turned to see Arthur, looking at you with a serious expression.
“What is it?” you asked softly.
He stepped closer to you and took your hands in his. “I’ve been thinkin’... about your question.”
Oh. You knew exactly which question. You had asked him a month ago, and had pretty much forgotten about it after a few days when he didn’t give you an answer. Now you waited eagerly for Arthur to continue, but he just fiddled with his hat some more.
“And you found an answer?” you asked.
He scratched the back of his head. “We’ll need to go on a trip. To see my maker.”
“Wait, but I thought you couldn’t approach another vampire’s territory?”
“She knows we’re comin’. At a certain point, you’ll have to go the rest of the way alone.”
You swallowed, but you gathered your courage. If there was a way to be with Arthur forever, you would brave facing another vampire on your own.
He put his hands on your shoulders. “I wouldn’t send you by yerself if I didn’t trust her. She’s… well, you’ll find out when you meet her. Kindest person I ever met.”
You nodded. “But what about you? How can we find shelter during the day?”
“Don’chu worry. I remember the way there, took note of all the caves we can hide in. And my tent’s got two layers of black canvas. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, sounds like you got this handled.”
“O’course, darlin’.”
***
After making some excuse to your bosses about seeing a dying relative of yours on the eastern side of Ambarino, you and Arthur packed up and set out on two horses, making your way across the mountains and forests of Ambarino. It took three nights of traveling just to get to the edge of the other vampire's territory, and another night to get within range of her power. You knew you were getting close, because Arthur started to lose a bit of his self-control.
"Arthur!" you yelped as he bit you just a little too hard on the fourth night.
He pulled away at the sound of you in pain. "I… I'm sorry darlin'." He swallowed, licked his lips, and scooted away from you. "I think I better not feed from you until we're out of her territory. Even a little trace of her power is makin' me more… aggressive."
You nodded. “I understand. At least clean my neck,” you said with a smile, hoping to make him feel less guilty about the bite.
He moved closer to you once more and slowly licked the drops of stray blood from your neck before kissing the wound in apology. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“I forgive you,” you said as you patted him on the head. When he pulled away from you, you took his face in your hands, your thumbs caressing his skin. You looked into his beautiful eyes. “Will you be alright?”
He closed his eyes and held his hands against yours. “I will be, once we’re out of here.”
***
In the middle of the fifth night, you and Arthur came to the foot of a mountain path in Ambarino. You looked at Arthur, who had stopped and was staring up the path, a painfully sad look on his face.
“Arthur?”
After another moment, he turned to you, the wind suddenly picking up and blowing strands of his hair around. The clouds that had covered the moon moved away, and the silver light shone against the land, making Arthur look ethereal in his stillness. You had forgotten for so long that he was something other . His eyes glowed red in the night, a bright red, unlike the burgundy hue you were so used to seeing.
“I can’t go any further.”
You blinked. Then you took a deep breath. This was why you were here. You could do this. You had to do this. Alone.
“I understand,” you finally said.
“Follow this trail up until you see a small fork to the left, with three stones dividing the path. Go up that way until you see a wooden gateway that says Willard’s Rest. Past the gateway there’s a cabin, but don’t go up to it. Stay at the gateway until you’re summoned.”
You nodded.
“Her name is Charlotte Balfour. And she’s the strongest vampire in three states.”
***
You rode up the trail, leaving Arthur to return to the cave the two of you had used the previous night. He had hugged you, kissed your cheek, and told you to be careful and that he’d be waiting for your return. You had your dagger on your thigh holster, your pistol that Arthur had given you on your hip holster, and a letter from Arthur, which would probably protect you more than the other two items.
It was a steep trail, but the horse that Arthur had chosen for you was nimble and steady. You urged it onwards until you reached the gateway. The sun was beginning to peek over the hills to the east, and you wondered if you would have to wait a whole day before seeing the mysterious vampire.
Just as you were about to turn around and find a spot to camp for the day, you heard a door open and close in the distance. Getting off your horse, you hitched him to the gateway post and waited.
A woman with dark hair and a graceful posture glided down from the cabin, picking her way along the stone path. As she came closer, you saw that her hair was a bit mussed, her skin pale, but her eyes glowed that same bright red that you had seen in Arthur’s eyes a few hours before.
“So,” a melodious voice said, “You must be one special lady to have captured Arthur’s heart.”
You opened and closed your mouth, unable to reply, and resorted to just shrugging. “I suppose,” you finally said.
She laughed. “You sound like him.” Then she smiled, her eyes a little sad. “How is he? Is he doing well?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Good.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Good,” she repeated. Opening her eyes, the red glow disappeared.
“Come,” she said as she turned and walked back up the path. “I believe you came for answers.”
You followed her back to her cabin, confused by the fact that as the sun rose across the landscape, she seemed unaffected by the light.
***
The cabin was cozy and humble, not quite the grandeur you had been expecting. But it was comfortable and felt like a real home, rather than some ostentatious example of power.
“Would you like some tea?”
“Yes, please, Ms. Balfour.”
She waved her hand. “No need for formalities here. Just call me Charlotte.”
You nodded and told her your name.
“Beautiful name,” she commented. “So how did you meet Arthur?”
You told her the story of how you two had met while she fixed a pot of tea. As she handed you a cup, she sniffed and snarled softly. The red glow in her eyes returned for a few moments as she backed away from you before turning around and took a deep breath. After a tense minute, she turned back to you, an apologetic smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, I caught a whiff of Arthur’s scent on you, so my instincts took over. I’m terribly sorry about that. I used to be… much better about my reactions.”
“Used to be?”
She nodded sadly. “I’m growing weaker these days.”
“Arthur said you were the strongest vampire in three states.”
Charlotte laughed, a hearty, sincere laugh. “He always thought better of me than I deserved. I’m strong enough, I suppose.” She sat down next to you and poured herself a cup of tea. “I can still stand the morning and evening light, but when I was stronger, when Cal was with me, I could walk outside at midday for a few minutes before being burned.”
She twisted her cup on the table as she stared into the liquid, as if she was telling a fortune. “I suppose that’s why Arthur asked me about you. Because he remembered what I had told him about Cal.”
You looked at her, confused.
She looked back at you, her face serious as she reached out and touched your hand. “May I share a story with you? Then you’ll understand why Arthur asked me to talk to you.”
You nodded, and she began her tale.
“I was only 24 when I was turned; I was about to be betrothed to some old man, so I had run away in the night, desperate to escape my fate. But I was captured by some men who took me to a brothel to work for their boss, a vampire. He took a liking to me and made me his personal assistant, and on occasion, his snack. Because I was good with numbers, he made sure I was off limits to everyone, but I still had to… service him.”
You noticed that Charlotte’s hands tensed on her tea cup and got the idea.
“One night, another vampire came to town and attacked him. She hated him, and when he used me as a shield, she accidentally impaled me. As I lay dying, she killed him and forced me to drink her blood, saving me. She trained me, taught me how to survive. She taught me everything, gave me copies of her books, and after a year, told me to go to the New World and live quietly there, for Europe was getting too small.”
Charlotte took a sip of her tea before continuing.
“So I did. She arranged everything. She sent me letters, asking me how I was doing. I always wrote her back. And then, after a few months, the letters stopped. I continued to live my second life, feeding off men who would never remember me, giving them a taste of heaven before I took what I needed.”
A dreamy smile appeared on her face as her brown eyes warmed; they reminded you of hot cocoa on a winter’s night.
“Then I met Cal. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen, and when we met at the docks for the first time, I knew he was special. I wanted to protect him. I didn’t want him to know what I really was.”
“How did he find out?” you asked, enthralled with her story.
She shook her head, a wry smile on her lips. “I had gone for too long without feeding. I didn’t want to touch another man, let alone get him in bed and feed from him. I only wanted Cal. So I settled for drinking from animals for a while, and he found me, crouched in one of the animal stalls by the docks, feeding from a pig! Can you believe that? How embarrassing.”
She chuckled, covering her eyes with her hand, still feeling the embarrassment of the moment as she recalled the memory.
“But you know what? When he discovered my secret, he accepted me. He told me, ‘Lottie, if you need to feed, will I do?’ And that’s when it all clicked in my head. The final letter from my maker. The reason she had both warned me and wished me luck in finding the perfect mate.”
Charlotte leaned in closer to you, like a woman sharing fresh gossip with a friend.
“A human can bond with a vampire; the human gains the same lifespan as the vampire, and the vampire gains an eternal food supply. It’s a give and take, a co-existence that benefits both parties.”
She sat back again, as if it was in her nature to maintain a straight posture.
“He courted me, despite knowing everything. And it worked. I fell deeply in love with him. When I finally agreed to bond him with me, he looked at me like he had won the biggest prize.”
Charlotte suddenly paused and looked up at the ceiling. “I miss him so much.”
You opened your mouth to ask her what happened to him, but quickly closed it as you saw her eyes close and her lip tremble for a split second. Then she opened her eyes and turned back to you as if nothing had happened. “We were together for three hundred years,” she said.
“Three hundred!?” you gasped.
She nodded. “He would still be with me now, if not for us being robbed by bandits out here.” She wrapped her hands around her arms, and you reached out your hand to her; you wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to tell you any more, that she didn’t have to dig up these painful memories if she didn’t want to, but she held up her own hand.
You slowly put your hand back down.
“He died to protect me. He died to save me. He died because he loved me.”
She took a deep breath. You knew vampires technically didn’t breathe, but from what Arthur had told you, human habits often remained.
“Men came while I was asleep, and he tried to get them to leave, but they shot him, in broad daylight. I could have stopped them, all he needed to do was come wake me… but he wanted to protect me. He knew I was weak in the sunlight. He didn’t… want them to hurt me.”
She shook her head, still disbelieving that it had happened.
“They didn’t find my sleeping chamber below the house, but they turned everything upside down. But I didn’t care about that. I ran outside and found Cal.” She took a shuddering breath. “He was already dead. I cried for days after I buried his body.”
She took another deep breath.
“I’m telling you this because you need to know. You must treasure your life, treat it as more important than anything else, even Arthur’s.”
Your eyes widened, but you remained silent, letting her continue.
“Arthur can heal. Vampires can take so much more damage than a human can; we can heal bullet wounds and broken limbs in a matter of hours.”
She took your hand in hers. “But you, you are so much more fragile. Please, if you become Arthur’s bonded mate, treat yourself with the utmost care.”
You nodded. “I will, I promise.”
Charlotte stared you in the eyes, looking for any semblance of weakness. But you were stalwart in your word. You understood what it truly meant to protect his happiness.
She finally nodded, accepting your silent strength. “Good. I’ll teach you the ritual.”
***
She went over the ritual, how it would feel, how it needed to be done, and when it needed to be done. The full moon was tomorrow night, so if you wanted to do it this month, you would have to get back to Arthur soon. She also gave you a book with the ritual described inside, and you scribbled her personal notes down in the margins, as the book was written very dryly and was not as descriptive as she was. After you had made your notes, she offered you the guest bed to sleep in for the day, as she was about to go to sleep as well.
“I know we’ve only just met, but Arthur has written much about you,” she said as she was leading you to the guest room.
“Oh, that reminds me!” You pulled his letter from your bag. “He said to give you this.”
“Oh?” Charlotte took the letter, unfolded it, scanned the first line, and looked back up at you. “Did you read this?”
You shook your head. “I wouldn’t invade his privacy like that.”
Charlotte smiled warmly at you. “I’m happy he’s found someone so loyal.”
You smiled and thanked her for her kind words, and went to bed with a happy feeling. You were so close to being with Arthur forever. There wouldn’t have to be a goodbye.