I furrowed my brow.
Ah, yes, I remembered through a haze. There had been another life before this one. I must remember that.
“Glynis, the ring is important!”
“I suppose he will be furious with me that I threw it away,” I said. That thought actually made me smile.
“Hurry! We must get the ring back!”
I let her pull me from the coffin as I pondered the events of the last few days. There had been another life before this one. I had been a lady from England, highborn, wealthy, and very disagreeable. Puckering my brow, I concentrated. It was as if a door had closed on another world, and I was trying to see back through a keyhole.
“Glynis, now!” Cneajna snapped.
Slowly, I realized the language I now spoke was not my own. The language I could understand so well had been foreign and strange to my ears just a few days before. His blood and changed me and granted me some of his knowledge.
Cneajna grabbed my hand and forced me from the tomb. The tombs of the others remained silent as we hurried past them. Pulling me down the long corridor, Cneajna grew increasingly agitated.
“I feel odd,” I said.
“It is another sign of you becoming. ”
“I cannot remember much from before…now. ”
“Some vampires completely forget their human lives. They only remember when they are much older and bored with their immortal existence. ”
“Do you remember yours?”
“Vaguely. But what I do remember fills me with longing and bitterness. It is best not to dwell on what was. ”
I began to giggle. It all seemed so ludicrous.
Cneajna whirled around, her teeth flashing. “What is it?”
“I hate it here!”
“This is now your home!”
I continued to giggle. “You do not understand. All I ever wanted was to live a life that was not predestined by my parents and society. ” I threw out my hands and twirled about. “I got my wish and it is a terrible joke on me!”
Cneajna growled at me. “That is of no importance. We must find the ring. Now!”
I stopped spinning and shrugged. “Very well. ”
Cneajna grabbed hold of my hand. “Come along. We must find the girl who took it. ”
I let myself be led along, feeling quite dazed. I had damned myself to this world with my ridiculous wishes. I had killed my family. Yet, in this moment, this red hazy moment, I could barely remember them.
We entered the cavernous kitchen and found the gypsies finishing the preparations for their evening meal. The servants glanced up at us with frightened expressions that made me laugh. Cneajna squeezed my hand tightly, moving slowly toward them.
Ilona quickly stepped forward to greet Cneajna, her wrinkled face sweaty and fearful. Her coal black hair glistened in the firelight as she ran a gnarled hand over it fretfully. “How may I serve you, my Mistress?”
“Which one, Glynis?”
I hummed to myself, clicking my long nails together. “Hmm, what?”
“Who took the ring?” I could see Cneajna was about to lose her patience, but I really did not care.
I narrowed my eyes, my gaze sweeping over the gypsies. I could feel something snap inside of me and my demeanor changed.