Children Of The Wheel Ch 01

Author's note: Thank you to Liter Knight for her careful editing.

Also, this story takes place between Daughters of the Moon chapters 6 and 8. You need to read up to that point in that story to get the most out of this one.

Chapter 1

Abby stared at Will as he had his head tilted back, pouring an entire bottle of blood down his throat. Her mind was still reeling from what she had witnessed. The duel between Will and Gwen had been terrifying and exhilarating to watch. They had moved faster than she could follow, struck each other with blows that could shatter stone, took injuries that would have killed a human instantly and shrugged them off as if it was nothing. There had been a brutality to it that left her mouth dry and her skin covered in sweat. Abby hadn't seen the battle of her village, she had hidden in a basement with her family, but this had given her a taste, and what she had seen was awful and awe inspiring in turn.

Will finished a second bottle of blood and started walking toward them. He glanced at Gwen's corpse once as he headed towards the prize box and stumbled. Gwen really did look dead, one of the Mircalla revenants had explained she was just in a coma, that she would be back on her feet in a few days, or maybe weeks, but right now she looked dead. Abby stared at Gwen's body and tried to sort out how she felt. The woman had wronged her, taken her trust and abused it, abused her, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She knew Will had made Gwen suffer and that had been hard to watch. But in the end Gwen had gotten what she deserved. Gwen had wronged her and Will had made her pay. Maybe that meant they were even.

Will got close enough to meet her eyes and he gave her a tentative smile. She couldn't help but smile back. She still couldn't believe he had done all this for her. He and Lily had both risked pain and suffering on her behalf. It was hard to believe anyone thought she was worth that. As she looked at him and she smiled back and she felt something growing in her chest. The last time she had felt like this was when Gwen had told her she was brave.

Will nodded amiably to the Arbiter as he approached.

"Your prizes," said the Arbiter.

Will gave a respectful nod and gestured to the two girls. "Let's go," he said, keeping his voice formal. Abby hoped it was just because the Arbiter was there. She could understand that. The other vampire was very cold.

As they headed out of the arena, Abby glanced at Gwen's body one more time. The Mircalla revenants had wrapped her in a sheet and were lifting her up, four of them preparing to carry her on their shoulders. She shuddered a little, remembering the end of the fight and feeling a sense of unease. Will had fought for her but what he had done at the end... Abby was no stranger to suffering and the look on Gwen's face had filled her with pity.

"What did you do to her?" she asked.

"Hmmm?" asked Will. He seemed distracted, as if he was coming to terms with what he had done as well.

Then Will jumped a little as he realized what she was asking.

"Oh, I uh..." Will looked uncomfortable, ran a hand through his hair, "...I hit her with the whammy."

"The whammy?" asked Lily, sounding skeptical. Abby knew how she felt. Calling whatever Will had done something so ridiculous seemed disrespectful to Gwen.

"Sorry, I'm being glib. I used the Millstone. It's the gift of our house. It lets us project illusions, cause fear, make nightmares."

"But what did you show her? Who was that man?" asked Abby.

"I have no idea. It was whoever she feared the most. I don't know who it was. I just know she didn't want to see him."

"But you talked to her," said Lily. "You acted like... like whoever he was."

"Oh, well in the end there are really only two types of people you're afraid of. People you feel guilty about hurting, and people that hurt you and you don't want them to do it again. I've done this enough that I could tell right away it was the former for Gwen. Once you know that, it's pretty easy to improv. I've come up with a script over the years."

"That's... god, that's horrible," said Lily, and Abby had to agree. Not just what he had done, but that he had done it enough to have a script. But she didn't feel the same disgust Lily did. Gwen had gotten what was coming to her, after all.

Will sighed, "Yeah, I feel kind of bad about it. But Gwen really had me on the ropes. If I hadn't gone there it would have been me in Languor right now. And she won't remember it. Probably won't remember the fight at all. The Millstone... it's like a nightmare, so I can... sort of twist it to make sure she'll forget it. Just like you forget a regular nightmare. They'll pour a bunch of blood in her and she'll be up in a few days none the worse for wear. The blooded are pretty tough, and Gwen's tough for a blooded. She'll bounce back just fine."

With that they fell silent. Abby couldn't stop staring at him. She couldn't figure out if he had been kind or cruel. Maybe he had been both at the same time. Whichever it was, Abby knew he had been just.

As they got back to his tent he held the flap open for the two girls and they went inside. As the flap came down, hiding them from the world, everything she had been holding inside came bubbling out and she couldn't help it, she started crying. Lily saw her lose it and immediately went over to give her a hug, and Abby put her arms around her, grateful for the warmth of her friend's tiny body.

"What's wrong?" asked Will, sounding panicked.

Abby pushed away from Lily, feeling a flash of anger at herself. She was finally safe, thanks to Will, and she returned the favor by upsetting him.

"I'm fine, really, I'm just... I'm so overwhelmed. I'm so mad at Gwen but she was so nice to me before but then what you did to her was horrible... god. I don't know how to feel about any of it."

"It's totally understandable," said Will, his voice soothing. "This has been a very crazy day. I sort of lose track sometimes because I'm used to crazy."

"Will's right," said Lily. "This has been a lot. You're fine."

"Thanks, I'll..." Abby took a deep breath, "... I'll be okay," she said, eager to move on.

"So what happens now?" asked Abby, suddenly nervous, "I didn't even ask what you're going to do with me?"

"Well, I can't get you a job at the palace but my family has a lot of small businesses in the city. I was going to get Lily a job at my uncle's inn."

Lily sighed.

"And I can get you something similar. Is there anything you like to do?"

Abby thought for a minute. She had never had a job before. Abby always figured her mom's plan was to keep her at home and use her as a servant for the rest of her life. All she knew how to do was cook and clean, and Abby hated cleaning. Her mom used to wake her up with the sunrise every Sunday and make her clean the house top to bottom, screaming at her if anything didn't meet her standards. She was a terrible cook too.

Then another memory surfaced. Her mother had taught her how to make pastries from the old country. When they had prepared the dough together, her mother's voice had gone soft and wistful. It was one of the only happy memories she had from home.

"Does your family have any bakeries?" she asked.

Will smiled at her warmly, "We love bakeries and we have a few in the city."

"Could I start there then?"

"Sure! Sorry it's not the palace."

"That's okay, I don't think I'd fit in in a palace anyway."

Abby closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. She felt a spike of pain under her fingers and winced. Every muscle in her body had been completely tense since she had woken up after a bad day's sleep. Now that they were finally loosening up she felt like she had just gone through her own duel.

"I'm sorry I think I need to lie down," she said.

"Oh no, I'm sorry," said Will, sounding stricken. "I can get you some headache medicine from supply."

"I can do it," said Lily. "I'll get her settled."

"Alright, alright, thanks. I'll..." Will looked around, still seeming a little lost. Abby had the sudden feeling he was expecting to be the one in a coma right now.

"I'll be in my tent," he said finally.

...

Abby ran desperately through the house. She knew it was the house she grew up in and therefore it should be impossible to run through it. There were only four rooms: a kitchen and living room, her parent's bedroom, her sister's old room that her dad had taken over, and her tiny bedroom. But now it was an infinite series of twisting, cluttered chambers full of broken furniture and rotting boards and strange drips. It was nothing like the real house. That house, worn and old as it was, was immaculate, not a speck of dust or dirt anywhere. Abby knew this had happened because she left, and her mother, in her rage, had ruined everything.

"You get back here!" screamed her mother, her voice high and shrill, piercing like a whistle.

Abby knew she was only a few rooms back. Just on the other side of the door she had slammed shut. Abby heard the slap of a belt on the floor. It was her father's best belt, made of thick dark leather. He only wore it when they went to church. Abby tried very hard not to look at it on church days because if she did she'd feel a spike of panic. Her mother had only ever used it on her a few times, the few small rebellions she had been caught in, but it was enough to always make her afraid of that dark strip of leather.

"I am very disappointed in you!" came a scream.

Bottles skittered across the floor. Her dad didn't drink that much. She could count the number of times he had gotten truly drunk on one hand, but he always cried in the most horrible way.

"Get back here and get to work. I feed you, I clothe you. It's time to pay what you owe. Get back here now, you tramp, you whore. Get back here!"

There was a door up ahead, slightly ajar. It was the front door to her house, painted red with a small scuff on the right side, at eye level. She ran to it desperately. On the other side of that door was a new life, away from all this, where she could finally be herself, find out who she was.

There was a hand on her shoulder with a grip like iron, and the world blurred as she was spun around and slammed against the door. She heard it click shut. Her mother's face was inches from her own. Her skin was dry and cracked, her heavy features twisted in fury. Her eyes were black and her mouth was full of serrated teeth.

"You're not going anywhere," she snarled.

Abby jerked awake, sitting up suddenly, panic making her heart a hammer. She looked around, frightened and confused, unsure where she was. The plain canvas walls of the tent looked strange until she remembered. The battle, her offer, Gwen, Will. She took deep breaths and gradually her heart slowed down. She rubbed her eyes in frustration. It really wasn't fair. She had finally escaped but the dreams didn't stop. She knew it hadn't been that long, that they would fade in time when she made new memories to crowd out the old. But he really wanted to get on with it.

She looked over at Lily's sleeping form. She was snoring loudly for such a tiny little thing. It made Abby laugh quietly to herself. It was a relief to know that Lily snored. That she wasn't perfect. Her friend had been a saint as usual, helping Abby get to bed, fetching her headache medicine from the camp's stores, food and drink, and getting her settled. She had kept up light chatter the whole time, conjecturing what Tamlin was going to be like, what they would do there, how many vampires they'd see. The sound of Lily's voice had soothed her and she'd slowly drifted off. Now she was awake again and she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep on her own. She never could after one of those dreams, and she didn't want to wake Lily. It had been just as bad a day for her as it had been for Abby. After sitting in her bedroll for a while, trying to get back to sleep, she gave up and got dressed, moving quietly to avoid waking Lily.

Sunlight greeted her as she left the tent, and she flinched against the unaccustomed glare. The army was camped for the day while the sun was overhead and the vampires slept. There were more humans than vampires in the small army she had found herself a part of, but the vampires were in charge so the army moved on their schedule. When they marched at night, skeletons carried lanterns to light the way for the humans' less than perfect night vision, and the humans in the army took medicines to make it easier to sleep when the sun was up and be active at night. But Abby hadn't needed them. She had always been something of a night owl.

Abby looked around, feeling at a loss. There were still a few humans moving around the camp. Camp followers and servants, but she didn't know any of them. She had liked the Mircalla revenants and enjoyed hanging out with them, but she didn't think they'd give her a warm welcome anymore. After a moment she laughed at herself. She knew exactly where she wanted to go. She walked a few tents over and pushed the flap up on Will's tent. He looked up at her in surprise. He was sitting on a bedroll and had a small wooden figure in one hand and a whittling knife in the other. There was a bottle of blood, half empty, on the ground next to him.

"Hi," she said, uncertainty welling up.

"Hi," said Will, and she heard the same uncertainty in his voice.

"Can I come in?"

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah... I just had a bad dream."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Thanks. It happens to me a lot. I can never fall asleep afterwards."

"Oh, I could see how that is. Well..." he looked down at the figure he had been carving. "...I didn't want to sleep either. I guess I'm coming down after the fight."

"I'm sorry. If I'm bothering you..."

"No, no, I think... maybe we can help each other."

Abby nodded and came in. There weren't that many places to sit. It was a big tent, but completely unadorned. Will hadn't brought any personal effects or small furnishings like Gwen had, and she ended up sitting on the ground next to him.

"So you get nightmares a lot?"

Abby nodded, dreading having to explain this all over again.

"Yeah, my mom, she..." Abby trailed off. It had been so easy to explain this all to Gwen. Abby was normally pretty closed off, but when she had realized not only was she going to live but that Gwen was offering her the key to a whole new life, all her pain had just come tumbling out of her. But it was different with Will. He had risked so much for her and she didn't want him to know how useless she was. That he had risked himself for nothing.

Will waved a hand, "It's alright. Lily mentioned a few things. Nothing very detailed. But my house deals with bad stuff a lot. I can fill in the blanks."

Abby felt a small surge of relief and shame. Will saw it flicker across her face,

"It's alright," he said, "none of it's your fault."

"I know. It's just... I don't like the idea that everyone's feeling sorry for me behind my back."

Will nodded, "I can understand pride. But you should be proud you got out of a bad situation on your own. I've seen plenty of people that get stuck where they don't want to be, forever."

That did make her feel a little better. When she had offered herself to the vampires, she thought she was volunteering for a miserable death. That wasn't the kind of escape Will was praising her for, but she also didn't want to get into that right now.

"So, you're still stressed about the fight?" she asked.

Will tilted his head. "Yeah, I... I guess I am."

"Did you think you were going to win?"

"Mostly. Nikola, that's the head of my house, had asked me to duel Gwen a few months back over some political bullshit. It didn't end up happening but it had been on my mind ever since. I always wondered how it would have gone and I'd put a lot of thought into how I'd fight her. How I might win. I thought I had a real shot, but Gwen is one of the most dangerous warriors in any of the houses. It was never going to be a sure thing."

"Did it go like you expected?"

Will snorted, "Hell no. I figured I could keep doing what I did the first time I got blood, go invisible and ambush her, but she figured some way around the Shroud. I'm still not sure how. I really thought I was screwed then. When I used the Millstone it was an act of desperation. Using it like that... it's not something I enjoy."

"If fighting her was so dangerous, why did you do it?"

"I mean even if I lost it's just some pain and a few weeks sleeping it off. It was worth the risk to try and help you."

"Just some pain?" said Abby, sounding skeptical, "Listen to you, Mr. Tough Guy."

Will laughed and shrugged, "That did sound a little obnoxious. But... well, I've been through my own bad times, and you deal with it."

Abby nodded.

"Also... I felt guilty. When you volunteered, I wanted to take you myself, I was so impressed with what you did. But I hesitated. I figured you'd be happier with Gwen. The Mircalla have their flaws, but... I mean they know how to have a good time and they treat their thralls well."

"She didn't treat me well."

"Most of their thralls don't try to leave so it never comes up."

"They just... it just didn't seem right... not for me. I don't know what is."

"Well... look my house doesn't have a lot of thralls, but... offering yourself like that back at the village, when you thought we were going to hurt you, or kill you, that was very brave. It was a tough thing to do. I haven't seen that kind of courage very often. And courage is something my house admires. You asked why I fought for you, it's because I realized I made a mistake. I think you were always supposed to come home with me, and when I had the chance to fix that mistake, I had to take it."

Abby smiled and looked down. As she did her head felt heavy and she yawned. Talking to Will, even about something so intense, had managed to relax her and she felt sleep coming back.

"Getting tired?" asked Will.

Abby nodded.

"Here," Will slid off his bedroll. "You can sleep here."

"Are you sure?" asked Abby. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'll be up for a little longer. I want to finish this. And I can just sleep on the floor. Vampires don't get sore muscles from sleeping on the ground."

Abby felt like arguing more, but she was too tired. Her exhaustion came on suddenly and fiercely. She could barely keep her eyes open

"A-alright," she said and rubbed her face, "Just let me know if I need to move."

"I will," said Will, in that voice that said there was no way he ever would.

Abby crawled into the bedroll and curled up. She reached a hand out and he took it.

"Thank you again."

"You're very welcome."

Her eyes drifted shut.

"For keeping me safe."

"You know you're in trouble when a vampire makes you feel safe."

Abby tried to laugh but all that came out was a small huff. Her head felt mushy and her thoughts grew vague, shifting from the endless tumble of her waking thoughts to the slower muddle of dreams. On the edge between waking and dreaming a final thought came to her; something Gwen had told her. She muttered on the edge of sleep.

"What did you say?" Asked Will.

"Vampires don't have nightmares," repeated Abby, already half asleep.

"No, no we don't."

But Abby didn't respond. She had drifted off to sleep.

...

Abby stood on the hill and stared down at the city of Tamlin, wide eyed. Next to her Lily was similarly wide eyed and open mouthed. Abby had always known, hypothetically, what a city looked like. There was a painting of Tamlin in the inn's common room, but knowing what a city looked like and seeing it in person were very different things. It stretched impossibly far, all the way to the horizon. An endless melange of buildings and streets broken up by the occasional park. Most of the houses were three or four stories tall and made of stone. The only building like that where she came from was the inn, everything else was one or two stories and made of wood. And the streets were all cobblestones. There were only two cobbled streets in her village and maintaining them cost so much money people complained about it constantly. Even the wall was almost too big to be believed. Twenty feet high and circling the entire city like a stone serpent. Abby noted the ring of ash and ruin in front of the walls. There had been more buildings outside the city, but they had all been wiped away.