Chapter 64 The Tombs Embrace (2/2)
”Nobody can,” Rassa interrupted, ”Nobody can save me from this, Aegin. And nobody should have to. I'm not like anybody else, nobody has ever had any real attachment to me being like this. Being a Vampire...”
Rassa trailed off, and Aegin couldn't help but stare at Rassa in confusion. Something had changed. He seemed...Aegin didn't know how to define it. It was still the Rassa that he'd met but he somehow seemed older. Less...optimistic. That was probably a good thing for someone in his situation.
”Glad you're alive”.
Not okay. Just alive. Rassa probably would have laughed if Aegin had said he was okay. He was not okay, not in the least bit. But he was alive.
”How long was I...How long was I in the sub-death?” asked Rassa.
”Zaroth said two weeks,” Aegin replied, ”Winter's coming, I can feel the chill in the air outside”.
Rassa gave a look to Aegin, one that Aegin couldn't quite decipher, but with Rassa's next words, Aegin suddenly understood. It was a form of gratitude.
”What else is happening out there?”
Aegin obliged him.
Rassa didn't really seem overly interested in things like political turmoil or trade secrets, but Aegin told him what he knew. Rassa seemed to appreciate the menial things more. Like how the piles of orange leaves had begun to rot as the rain began to fall and soak the ground. How the birds had begun to fly south towards the Southern Isles and beyond. How the stars had moved. He rarely asked questions, just listened. When Rassa heard someone approaching, he held up a hand to Aegin. It was another minute before Aegin heard the footsteps too, becoming aware of the height of Rassa's senses. They were far superior to his own.
Zaroth did not return with the slaves. They just came with the guards who loosened Rassa's chains enough for him to sit up and feed. Aegin watched as one slave dropped after another. There was no care for them in Rassa's eyes, just the need to be satisfied.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Rassa noticed Aegin's figure. There was no malice, no disgust in his gaze. Just that understanding that had always been there. As the last of the slaves dropped, pale and empty to the ground, Rassa wiped his mouth, licking the last of the blood off his hand.
Aegin pushed off the wall to the side as the guards picked up the bodies and took them out, ”All going well, I'll be back every few months. Try not to die between my visits. When you're not hungry your rather good company”.
Rassa grinned as his fangs retracted back into his gums, ”I guess you aren't so bad either, little assassin”.
”Assassin?” Aegin scoffed, ”I suppose I am...though I'm used to being known as a man of the Ridge”.
Aegin grinned back, turning and exiting the cell.
He didn't notice it as Rassa's grin dropped, a sudden realisation forming in his mind, the peices clicking into place. His eyes turned angry. The last thing he wanted was to serve the interests of that monster of a man.