0364: The Vampire's Daughter Book IV

The monk smiled as Mina assessed him, but did not look at her. “You wonder how I can ask these questions,” he said in a matter of fact tone. “I have lived for many years, but nowhere near the years you have seen. And, because of this, it seems like I am a child trying to teach an old man the ways of the world. This is not my purpose and I apologize if that is the impression I have given you.

“You have spent so long among your own kind that you have forgotten what it means to be among my kind,” he continued. “You have spent so long in your dedication to your mother that you have forgotten the power of love. Your kind does not truly understand love anymore because time is not finite. Love is precious because we only get to experience it for but a short period of time.

“You love this little girl,” he went on, finally turning to look at Mina. “And you should. She is very special. It is why you brought her this far in the first place. But, now, you wonder what to do. You brought her here to prove to your mother that she is the one you were sent to find. Yet, you know all too well that this will likely lead to the little princess' death.

“It is your love for her that is the problem. You realize that, unlike you, her time here is fleeting. You do not want to be the cause of that time ending.” He turned and looked over the garden.

Mina continued to look at him for a moment before turning away. “You are wise beyond your years,” she said.

The monk smiled, “My wisdom comes from your hand. I only tell you a version of what you once taught us.”

Mina smiled and thought back in time to when she started the monastery. She didn't remember what she taught the monks, but was pleased to have it thrown back in her face. “I don't remember having so much wisdom,” she said.

“When one lives long enough, one forgets many things. Sometimes, a little reminder is needed to open the door to the knowledge we already own.” He got up and walked out of the courtyard.

Mina stood up and walked in her bare feet on the grass in the courtyard. She recalled building it. It was The Mountain Princess Sanctuary. She selected the wood, the stone, the plants, the fish, everything. Certainly, over time, things had changed. The fish she hand selected were long dead, but similar fish now occupied their place. The same was true for the plants. She could see where the walls had been repaired with new wood, but of the same type.

So, despite the passage of time, everything was essentially the same. She liked the garden. Once she had loved it. Time had changed things, but not the things in the courtyard so much as the things within Mina.

The monk was right. She was conflicted by her sense of duty to her sire and her sense of duty to her feeling of love for Susan. At one point she believed she had no choice but to bring Susan to her sire. She trained her in some vain hope that Susan would be OK no matter what happened. This was willful ignorance to what she knew to be true. If she brought Susan to her sire, Susan would die. If she ignored the duty placed upon her by her sire, Mina knew that she would very likely die—either by her sire's hand or from Susan's fulfillment of the prophecies.

She didn't know what to do, and simply enjoyed wiggling her toes in the grass for a few moments longer.



[The Vampire’s Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. All rights reserved.]