The next morning, Esla had still not returned to The Manor. Illyan paced anxiously, his footsteps reverberating through the corridors. It was only a few days until the Elders of the Twelve Clans would send word about whether or not they would support Illyan in the war against the humans. He grew increasingly anxious about entering a war without Esla’s gift guiding him. As he was pacing around The Great Hall, Ayis confronted him, seeing a perfect moment to start a good fight.
“What are you so worried about?” Ayis asked him. “I say good riddance! She left before she had a chance to betray us.”
With pure hatred in his eyes, he turned to Ayis and struck her across the face so hard she fell down and slid across the floor, hitting the wall on the other side of the room. He stormed over to where she sat, and he knelt in front of her, rage storming in his brooding eyes.
“If you ever speak ill of her again, I will stake you myself,” he growled.
For the first time, Ayis was truly terrified of him. She’d never seen such an intense fire in those dark eyes. She backed slowly away from him, crawling backwards across the floor. As soon as she was well away from him, she stood up and fled for the safety of her chamber.
Ayis met Ellen in the hallway, and she whispered, “Stay away from him tonight. I think he’s crazy!”
This made Ellen especially uneasy. Without Esla around to give her permission to feed, she was lost. She was so hungry she could hardly stand it. Her hunger gave her the nerve to approach Illyan, and she quietly came to him with her head bowed in submission.
“Please, I am so hungry,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what to do without my mistress to tell me.”
Illyan didn’t even look at her. He was still pacing back and forth as though he was still waiting for Esla to return. Uneasily, Ellen moved closer.
“Please, I…” she began.
“We brought some humans in last night,” Illyan interrupted her, hardly casting a glance in her direction. “You may choose any one you like. They’re downstairs, in the cellar.”
His hand motioned absently toward the hallway that led to the cellar door.
“Y… yes… sir...,” she said anxiously, still unsure how to address him.
He did not attempt to correct her, so she quietly slipped past him and headed down to the cellar to choose a victim upon which to feed.
Illyan paced and paced; then he paced some more. All day he paced back and forth, growing more and more frantic as the hours crept by. He needed her gift. Without it, they could lose the war, and they would never fulfill The Prophecy.
When darkness fell, he immediately left The Manor in search of Esla. Word had gotten around town that there had been another fire, and a man had been killed. Illyan overheard this, and he immediately suspected Esla was to blame.
He kept to the shadows, watching for her. He peeked in the windows of the saloon, but she was not there. He crept around the quiet alleys and streets, but he could not find her.
Just as he was about to give up hope, he heard her voice. He slinked into the shadows and watched as she walked down the street, talking with a young, rather good-looking human. A slight twinge of anger rushed over him, and he assumed it was dread that Ayis might be right. Was she conspiring against them with the humans?
He followed her as he had the night she killed Abe Alver, and he listened as she talked with the new stranger. This would be her latest victim, Illyan assumed. This time, though, it wasn’t a stranger. It was Richard. He had spotted her lurking outside the saloon, and he boldly walked up to her to say hello.
Esla demanded to know why he was still in town. She knew the others would try to kill him if they saw him. No one had ever escaped The Manor, and the others would feel they had something to prove.
“I couldn’t leave,” he said. “To tell you the truth, I was hoping I would see you again.”
“Richard, you have to get out of town. They’ll kill you if they find you!” she whispered.
She looked around, uneasy. She knew it was feeding time, and any of them could show up at any moment.
“Come back with me to my place,” he said.
“You shouldn’t invite people like me to your place,” she said. “I’m hungry, and I haven’t fed today. I just might kill you.”
She wasn’t actually interested in killing him. In fact, she was hoping that maybe she could finally go through with the ultimate act of betrayal against Illyan. Perhaps the reason she could not do it before was that the other two men were vile and disgusting. Richard was actually rather handsome, and he seemed kind.
When she’d first met him, she could hardly see him in the dark. Even in the moonlight, he looked frail and sickly after having been locked in the cellar for so long without food, water, or a bath. He’d been scruffy and unshaven.
Tonight, he looked quite nice. He was strong, and he’d gained some weight back. His dark hair shone healthily in the moonlight, and his dark eyes danced as they stared at her.
Maybe this would be the man who could sweep her off her feet. Maybe she could finally forget Illyan and the pain he’d put her through for so many years. Maybe she could finally move on.
She went with Richard back to his home. It was a little ways out of town. He had a cute little farm with a barn and a small, quaint house. She followed Richard into a tidy, well-kept home. It smelled lovely, and it nicely furnished.
“Please, have a seat,” he said, motioning for her to choose a seat.
She chose a spot on the sofa. It was quite comfortable, and she hoped he would sit beside her. She smiled at him.
“Esla, like I said, I’ve been hoping to see you again,” Richard said. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night you freed me.”
“Really?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” he replied. “I think about you every moment of every day. It consumes me. I was beginning to fear I might never see you again.”
It was the most incredible feeling to know someone truly wanted to see her. Illyan had always acted like she was nothing more than a thorn in his side. No matter how kind she’d been to him, he always pushed her away. Now, this man seemed to want her as desperately as she had always wanted Illyan.
He sat down on the couch beside her and took her hand. Esla felt that sudden rush of joy at the touch of another, and she held her breath in anticipation.
“Let’s run away together,” Richard said. “I couldn’t leave without you, but now that you’re here, I’ll go anywhere.”
Part of her wanted to shout at the top of her lungs, “Yes! Yes, Richard! I will run away with you!” But she could not. Though the thought of this man wanting her so badly was nearly irresistible, she still could not bear the thought of betraying Illyan.
Richard took her face in his hands. It was cold, and he remembered how icy her soft hand had been the night she led him to safety. He looked deep into her eyes, and he leaned forward and kissed her. Richard was so different from those other men. He was clean, and handsome, and his fragrance was pleasant. She wanted so badly to give into him. The touch of his lips against hers was so tempting that she thought she might get lost in it forever.
Yet, still Illyan haunted her. She could not get him out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. Though she longed to keep kissing Richard, to follow him to bed and feel what she knew she could never have with Illyan, she could not.
Suddenly, she broke away from the kiss and stood up.
“I… I’m sorry, Richard. I can’t do this,” she said, her voice cracking.
She ran out the door and disappeared in the night, with Richard standing in the doorway calling after her.
“Come back, Esla! Please!” he shouted. But she did not return.
In the darkness outside the house, Illyan had seen the entire scene unfold. He was torn. Part of him wanted to tear Richard apart for suggesting his wife run away with him, but more than that he wanted to follower her and bring her home. After struggling for a moment just a few feet away from Richard, he broke away, following Esla in the shadows, and leaving Richard languishing in the doorway.
He followed her back into town, and he watched as she slipped into the burned-out remains of Abe Alver’s house. She curled up on the floor in a corner and fell asleep.
Illyan wanted to burst in and carry her kicking and screaming back to The Manor. She was his wife, and he needed her gift. But he also wanted to know just how far she would go. Would she betray him to this human? Was Ayis right?
He didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he headed back to The Manor and dined alone in the cellar on one of the captives. He didn’t have the heart to hunt that night.