Chapter 415: Something bigger_Part 1
"Are you worried about his lordship?" he asked, a concerned frown creasing his brow now at her strange reaction.
Belle shook her head, fear choking her throat at the possibility of that being something of the future. With the ability that came with having a dead soul attached to her, she could see death when it drew near or if it had happened. This wasn’t something that had happened, but something that would.
"I’m worried about you. Can you do me a favor, Rav?" she asked softly, walking up to him.
"Anything, my lady," he replied and lowered his head, wondering why she would be worried about him when nothing had happened and he was here, safe and sound.
"Don’t stray too far away from home. Stay close by, and do let me know if you’re going anywhere from now on," she told him seriously. In her vision, what she saw hadn’t happened anywhere near the castle or anywhere she recognized. And the blood on him had not come from a wound, but from his mouth, eyes and ears.
The vision was vivid enough that she had seen it clearly.
Rav, confused as to why she said that, still nodded his head. "Yes, my lady."
"Thank you." She smiled faintly, looking into his light red eyes.
---
Rohan didn’t return until late that afternoon. He was in a foul mood, but he didn’t let it enter the house with him.
He found his wife and son right outside the front entrance, where Belle was crouched down with her dress gathered around her and her long blond hair let loose down her back, writing letters with charcoal on the ground. She was showing and pronouncing the words for Angel, who was bent over on his palms and knees, trying his best to repeat them after her in his innocent, babyish voice.
Angel was the first to notice him and swirled his head around with excitement. "Papa!"
Belle looked up from the ground where she was writing and saw him walking from the gate, his blue hair in disarray and his coat draped over his bent arm. Angel shot up from the ground and ran to him with his arms wide open, giggling happily.
"Stairs, Angel, don’t run!" Belle called out. But if her son heard her, he was far too happy to see Rohan to stop or even slow down.
Rohan used his vampire speed to close the distance between them and caught the boy before he stumbled on his small legs. He flung him up higher in the air, earning a delighted squeal, and then caught him under his arms as he scolded gently, "If you’re not careful, you’ll hurt those little legs before they become strong enough to climb down any stairs."
"Papa, up, up, up!" Angel squealed, and Rohan threw him into the air once more before catching him swiftly.
"No more, up, Max," Rohan chuckled, steadying him against his chest. "How many of my parchments did you use today?" he asked as he walked up the stairs to where his wife stood, smiling as she watched them.
Angel proudly held up five little fingers in response to his father’s question.
"Five? Hmm..." Rohan narrowed his eyes playfully. "Why do I find that hard to believe?" he teased, ruffling the boy’s soft hair.
Belle waited for him to come up to her, then opened her arms to hug him sideways while he still held Angel. She wrapped one arm around his narrowed waist, and he pressed his lips into her hair, breathing her in like he always did when he hugged her.
"How was it with the king and the witch hunt?" Belle asked, looking up at him from where he tucked her under one arm.
Rohan tightened his hold around her as he inhaled the familiar fragrance in her hair and said quietly, "I have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Is the bad news so bad?" she questioned as they stopped walking at the few flights of stairs that led to the front double castle doors.
"It depends on how you will take it. Let’s sit here for a while," Rohan mused as he sat on the top step and pulled her down to sit next to him. He balanced their son on one of his thighs and put one arm around her shoulder to hold her close to him.
They sat there quietly for a while, leaning against each other as they gazed at the dense forest trees beyond and along the sides of the castle walls.
"What did you talk about with the king?" Belle finally asked.
"Isa, I will be taking you and the others to the mountains sooner than we planned," he told her with a sigh, resting his chin on her head to stop her from jerking back in surprise.
"What happened? Why us? What about you?" Belle asked, her lips pursed in displeasure.
Rohan sighed and began to tell her what had kept him in the royal castle. "The king has just learned that Bimmerville is preparing for war against Nightbrook by going around to other human kingdoms to search for supporters. Aragonia is suspected to be one of them. Even if we didn’t give them the report of the weapons, Bimmerville would have done it by now. The vampire king has declared that if Aragonia dares to join hands with Bimmerville, you will be held as a hostage at the frontlines of the war, as he still believes you are the Duke’s precious daughter, someone they wouldn’t risk losing in a war."
Belle was stunned by that information. The Dawson family didn’t even know about her anymore, and holding her as a hostage wouldn’t change anything. It would only take her life because Aragonia wouldn’t stop a war for someone they didn’t even know. And even if they did, they wouldn’t have cared. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest at the thought.
"Am I going to be taken to the castle?" she asked quietly.
Rohan shook his head. "Not yet. The vampire king has only heard rumors that Aragonia will be joining Bimmerville. Until he is certain, you’re free. But before he confirms it, I want to get you and the others away from here."
"Why does Bimmerville suddenly want war when they had not tried it all these years?" Belle asked curiously, her brows drawing together.
Rohan’s voice grew more serious, the weight of the situation pressing down on them both. "Nobody knows it yet, but I know why Bimmerville wants this war. They want revenge for losing a trusted man who had worked on their weapons for years. And now, without Everest, or whatever his name was, they can’t create more. So they decided to join hands with Aragonia to wipe out the vampires, so the humans would no longer live with the fear that we might take over their lands."
Belle recalled the man Rohan had killed in Bimmerville many months ago. She had never thought they would seek revenge for his death, nor did she realize it would be the spark that could bring about a bigger war. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she understood that the war was turning into something far more dangerous than she had expected.
"What about you? Shouldn’t we all go away?" she turned to him with worried eyes.
Rohan gently brought his hand down to hold her waist, trying to assure her as he said, "The king wants me to fight with the soldiers for Nightbrook if it turns out the information his spy from Bimmerville gave him is right."
"No!" Belle exclaimed, her voice sharp with protest.
"I know, I won’t fight," he continued assuringly. "The only reason I’ll have to stay is to wipe the king’s memories."
Rohan had been kept at the royal castle to discuss the matter with the Gaggers, the creatures the king wanted him to fight alongside to prove his worth to a land that did not care whether he lived or died.
There was no doubt in Rohan’s mind that King Zion was terrified of losing. If the entire human lands joined hands with Bimmerville, Nightbrook would be wiped off the world map, and vampires would cease to exist.
"This is your chance to prove that you are one of us," the king had told him. "You will be free of your marriage with the human and be a free man."
Rohan had pretended he would fight because, in truth, he only planned to stay long enough to wipe the king’s memories and then rejoin his family in the mountains.
If Belle were to be officially declared a hostage of Nightbrook, taking her away would expose the truth about their relationship, that she meant far more to him than anyone suspected. But by then, she would already be safe, and the king would be too preoccupied with the war to bother searching for her. And if he dared search for her, Rohan would use all means possible to keep her safe.
He believed the mountains would be safe because there was no easy way through the small village there unless one crossed the ocean. The lands that wanted war lay on the other side of the world map, while the mountain was in an entirely different side of the world; without the speed of his wings, only a ship could take someone there.
His family would be safe from any war that could plunge the country into chaos within a year.
"I won’t be at peace if you take us away and come back. Knowing you’re left amid a great war will keep me restless. You can go ahead and take the rest; Evenly will take care of Angel until we join them again, but I will be where you are," Belle said determinedly.
Rohan narrowed his eyes in disagreement, about to reply, when his son spoke up.
"No go ’out Pa-pa, no!" the boy exclaimed in his babyish voice, the words wobbly but clear enough to make both of them freeze and look down at him.
"This will be a reason for you to stay in the cottage, Isa," Rohan said with a click of his tongue, staring down at his son. "This little rascal will get blood on his hands before he even knows what he’s doing." He couldn’t help the small smile as he watched the determined frown on the boy’s young face, as if he already understood, in his own small way, what war might mean.