Page 88 of Theoden

“As did I. Father is alive because of me, not you.”

Nolan backhanded me hard and I was sent flying into the tattered stones of the building. The force of the impact shook the weak foundation a bit, but not enough to topple the structure. I tasted blood as my jaw stung from the blow.

“Enough!” Karim yelled, then placed his hand on Nolan’s chest, keeping him from advancing on me.

“He speaks out of turn, brother. He needed to be put back in his place,” Nolan growled as he glared past Karim at me.

“He speaks the truth, Nolan,” Titus said as he approached me and helped me to my feet. “None of us were there for Father. None of us could get to him, no matter how hard or how much we wanted to. Only Théoden could. He is the reason why we live.”

Nolan’s nostrils flared with his ire, but I didn’t care that he was angry at the truth. I spit the two teeth he’d knocked loose out of my mouth, then looked back at him. “I hope you can be civil at my Lordship ceremony, brother.”

“Fuck you to hell, brother,” Nolan said, then he turned and stalked off.

“Fucking hell,” Titus said as he tilted his head back and ran his fingers through his brown locks. “Fucking wolves.”

“I give them credit for planning a successful revolt,” Karim said. “But the next wolf I see, I will rip his heart from his chest and spit on it.”

Titus’ soft laugh was sad, but I could tell it released the tension he’d been holding inside. “You and me both, brother.”

“Let us go and get the others organized to hunt and announce Father’s decree,” Karim said. “Théoden, you should go hunt.”

“Let him watch. He can see the duties of a Lord,” Titus suggested.

Karim nodded, and with a simple shrug of his shoulder, he reminded me so much of his father, Ara. “Very well.”

I looked back in the direction that Ara had wandered off in. I was at such a loss, never had I seen my Father, our King, in such a state of disarray. So forlorn. We had to rebuild what had been taken from us. We also had to worry about being attacked by a stronger vampire army in the process. My god, we had lost everything.

I walked back into the building and watched in silence as my brothers made the announcement that more vampires had to be sired, and there were no grumbles or objections. Everyone knew how important it was to increase our numbers. After the announcement was made and questions answered, everyone was dismissed to go hunting.

I walked out and looked up at the moon. The glowing light from that orb in the sky had given me so much peace over the centuries. But now, so much had changed. Never had my future been so uncertain. I… I actually felt… fear.