And in the flickering candlelight of that ancient room, surrounded by secrets older than kingdoms, Caralee began to grasp the enormity of her new reality. She was no longer a servant girl. She was the hinge on which the fate of kingdoms might turn.
Caralee sat frozen in her seat, listening to the low cadence of Merrick's voice as he recounted the blood-stained legacy of their people. Shadows danced across the library walls as the candle flames flickered, casting jagged silhouettes of ancient tomes and artifacts that bore witness to centuries of darkness.
"A long time ago," Merrick began, his gaze distant, as though he saw beyond the room and into the past itself, "before this modern era, there were wars among our kind—bitter, brutal, and relentless. We came dangerously close to wiping ourselves from existence."
Caralee's breath hitched, but she said nothing.
"They were dark, barbaric times. With our dwindling numbers, governing became nearly impossible. We were spread thin across a fractured world. Some among us gave in to our basest instincts—those who craved depravity, bloodlust, and chaos. Back then, if one or two succumbed to madness, the damage was localized. But today, with our kingdoms vast and numerous, such indulgence would destroy entire regions."
He paused, running a gloved hand over the cracked leather of an old volume. "Even so, justice was hard to enforce. We were few, far-flung, and fractured."
Caralee swallowed hard. The tale was gripping, horrifying, but it still did not explain why she—a nobody—was sitting there.
Merrick saw the question in her expression and offered a faint smile. "We're getting there, my sweet. I promise."
A blush crept to her cheeks.
"As I said, those days were barbaric not only for us. The humans of that era were fierce, tribal, and nomadic. In their wanderings, they encountered us more often. And some of them began to notice patterns—recurring signs of our presence. Bloodless corpses, vanishing children, travelers who disappeared without a trace. Slowly, they began to fight back."
His voice dropped, becoming solemn. "They learned our weaknesses, developed ways to resist and counter our abilities. They shared their knowledge across distances, coordinating efforts. They crafted enchanted weapons, devised counter-magics. And they eventually got so good at fighting back, they began hunting us."
Caralee gasped, her eyes wide.
Merrick nodded gravely. "Yes, it's true. They were effective. Highly effective. They formed a brotherhood—a sacred order. For a time, they were worshipped, celebrated. Humanity's champions."
He stepped to another shelf and retrieved a thick book bound in iron clasps. Opening it reverently, he turned to a page depicting a towering man with blazing red hair. The figure was monstrous in stature, a barbarian cloaked in sigils, a staff in one hand, a book in the other. A snarling dog trotted beside him, a torch clenched in its jaws, while lilies burst from the earth at his feet. Symbols adorned his chest and brow—a white and black gyronny cross and an eight-pointed star.
"They searched for humans with gifts," Merrick continued, brushing a finger across the image. "Exceptional men and women who showed natural resistance to our gifts. They began a selective breeding program. Young boys were taken in as squires, trained from the moment they could walk. Women were chosen for specific traits—their strength, intellect, or affinity to magic. They were bred, not loved. It was all meticulously organized."
Caralee felt a chill despite the firelight.
"These humans became something else. They were faster, stronger, smarter than their kind. Some could rival lesser vampires. After centuries of this, they became nearly divine."
He turned back to her, voice softer now. "Eventually, we learned to recognize them. Their fiery red hair was one such mark. A warning."
Caralee felt her blood cool. There had always been stories in her village about red-haired warriors and their otherworldly strength.
"As their power grew, so too did their influence. They brought an end to the era of unmitigated carnage. Their goal was not extinction, but equilibrium. They fought to protect humanity, not eradicate us."
He moved to the next page of the tome, revealing intricate diagrams of a council.
"In time, kingdoms rose and endured. It became apparent that we vampires had infiltrated every governing body—nobility, dynasties, religious orders. We were in their courts, their homes, their beds. And so the brotherhood came to the table. A treaty was formed. We would govern ourselves, maintain peace, and feed only from willing donors."
Merrick's voice thickened with reverence. "Their order was acknowledged as a fifth house. The House of Jacobs. Guardians of the balance. Mediators between worlds. They became essential to our society."
He paused, the room stilling.
"But peace never lasts. One house, Ennok—always the same one—grew bitter. They saw compromise as weakness. They allied themselves with religious zealots seeking to rid the world of us. The traitors thought them to be only a means to an end, and the human zealots were the same. Both sought the assistance and might of other kingdoms with greedy human kings and revealed many of our secrets. Betrayal ignited another war."
Caralee's hands were clenched in her lap.
"This time, we fought back harder, with help from our once enemies, the 5th house. The greatest of the champions—those with the divine bloodline, and their specified magic, ancient martial strength—they volunteered to be turned. Human and vampire made one. They became gods. And they led us."
Merrick looked toward the flames.
"Our champions, our generals and kings. They pushed us to the brink of victory. But even in triumph, we knew humanity must not be destroyed. So we let them believe they had won. We vanished. We hid. We buried the truth."
He turned his golden gaze to her.
"That wasnt enough though. Simply winning the war, being the victor, wasn't enough. They wanted to erase us all from the face of the earth. So they began a new crusade, they hunted their own, their former champions. Not so much worried about extinguishing every vampire, but vampires and humans alike, if they descended from the sacred bloodline, then they were a target. Terrified of what they had once created, what we had turned them into, afraid of what they had become. So, we took their surviving members, the few that carried the sacred bloodline, and his them, they were said to have been wiped out as far as the humans knew but we had simply hidden them and ourselves. We crowned one, their leader and strongest champion, King Maximus Fortuna, the one who led us into the war after the humans and traitors descended upon us, and he was named our sovereign. A ruler above all others. The High King. We lived in relative peace after that for a time, watching from the shadows, living hidden in plain sight, and slowly gaining back a life that resembled what it was before."
Caralee felt the weight of the past settle upon her like a shroud. And somewhere deep within her, a question began to take root:
What blood ran through her veins?