Lillian felt different. For her entire life she had lived in the near perfect darkness of the castle, a serving wench who did nought but light candles and torches when required. Her skin was so pale it was almost ivory in colour and she feared what might happen if she were to go outside into the sunshine that now bathed the castle as the storm clouds above it broke and scattered.

The feeling had been growing stronger over the past two days, ever since a stranger had come to the castle. Something had happened in the throne room but no one had seen the King since and the great doors remained sealed. His son, Prince Edward, had returned with great injury upon his body, and rumours were whispered that the rest of the family had been massacred by vampire hunters. She would shed no tears for them but in truth she almost felt sorry for Prince Edward. Of all the Vampire Lords she had hated him the least. He was almost kind to her when he bothered to notice her presence.

She trailed a hand across her lower belly. The feeling was almost like that of an orgasm, it was pleasurable and gaining in intensity. It differed from sex however since she did not feel the need to scream or throw her head back, there was no ache of need for someone to be inside of her. No, this was something much more, something she could not explain.

It was obvious she was not alone. Many of the castle staff, while still busy as they bustled around, had their heads up more often and small smiles that would never have been possible under the King flitted across milky white faces. She had even heard someone whistling the other day! It was though a great shadow had been lifted from the mortals who served the undead. 

"Praise God." She heard the words whispered down a side passage as she hurried along. The thick carpet beneath her feet was bright crimson dense as horses hair so that it muffled any footsteps. She stopped dead and then carefully peeked around the corner to find herself staring into the surprised face of a guardsman.

"H... Hello." She stammered. The guardsman, Yanick, had stood quickly as though he had been kneeling and was trying to look serious but she detected in his face the same joy that was slowly creeping into her own soul.

"Miss." He said with a nod. He tried to look serious but was evident that he had just come to some great decision and pure joy danced in his eyes. 

"It's okay. I feel it also." Lillian reached out a hand and placed it over Yanicks. "There is a great change upon us."

The guardsman's eyes widened and he nodded shortly before finally smiling and she realized for the first time that he was quite a handsome man. "Kane has come." He whispered to her.

"Kane?" She did not know the name but it brought a burst of joy to her heart so strong that she could not repress a bright smile.

"Yes, Kane. The One. The Chosen. Gods own son."

A small thrill ran down her shoulders and spine at the words. No one had uttered the word God in a very long time, not in her living memory, but she knew of the Bible that her father had kept beneath the floor of their small shack. She had read it as a child and in great secret. Her father always said it gave him hope that things would be better one day. 

"There is no Kane in the Bible." She whispered, stepping closer so that she and Yanick were only a foot apart.

"The Gospel of Kane is being written as speak. The death of the King was but the first chapter. We are in the makings of history!" Yanick had clasped both of her hands in his and she could see the sincerity in his face. "Go with God, little sister." He kissed her on the forehead and then stepped past her into the main corridor. He set back his shoulders, adopted a serious face and then strode away without looking back.

"Lillian...." A voice suddenly spoke her name and she twisted violently, fear flooding through her but there was no one behind her.

"Lillian...." The voice whispered again. It sounded as though it were coming from down the long hallway. The tone was soothing and her initial fear faded, hope once again coursing through her.

"Yes, come to me..." The voice called again and she slowly began to pace down the corridor, darting glances into every shadowed corner as she went. She saw no one, not even another servant.

The voice continued to call her name, guiding her down the long passageway and then up a long flight of spiral stairs into a portion of the castle she had never been too. It was older, and would have been darker but someone had torn the wooden shutters from the windows in one long passageway so that sunlight bathed the cold stones with warmth. She stopped, blinking in the intensity of it for a moment. The voice called her ever onward.

Halfway down the long passage she came to a single door that lay open. Someone was humming inside. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. 

"Come in, Lillian." The humming stopped as she approached the door. She wanted to ask who the person was, or how they knew her name, but instead she stepped into the room without hesitation. "Hello!"

The speaker was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on. Long blonde hair fell down to his shoulders and piercing blue eyes regarded her above a dazzling smile. He was seated in a tall chair next to a table upon which held a decanter of wine, a glass, and a wooden stake. 

"Come in, come in!" He insisted again and she came to him. Stopping a few paces away to kneel. She did not know why but it seemed proper. It occurred to her at that moment that the light in the room was coming from him. There were no torches lit, no fire burned in the ancient hearth and yet she could see every detail.

"Kane..." She whispered his name and was rewarded with another smile. 

"Yes, Lillian. I am Solomon Kane."

"God has sent you?" She asked the question, though it sounded more like a statement. Kane shook his head.

"No, I have always been here, but he sent me you, Lillian."

"Sent... Me?" She was confused now. Not angry or upset, just confused.

"Yes. I asked him for a Soldier of God and he sent me you." Kane was still smiling and that smile seem to imbue her with such confidence as she had never enjoyed in her life. Like Yanick, her shoulders squared and she stood, feeling stronger at that moment than she had ever before in her life.

"What does God ask of me?" Part of her felt as though she was in someone else's body, watching what was happening without being involved.

"He requires you to kill Prince Edward." Kane's voice was a purr that seemed to race through her, warning her, encouraging her, loving her. "Wouldn't you like that, Lillian?"

She bit her lip and nodded, eyes still fixed on his. In that instant the horrible memories of life under the Undead came streaming back. Images of young women being raped by the King before he drank their blood. The laughter of his children vile children as they took part. The cruelty of the guards who served him. The humble shack she shared with her father. Her mother dying as the Prince Mattias had hurled her from the city walls when she found out she was ill. Mattias had laughed as Lillian cried and told her that it was for her own good, a sick rat could make the rest sick as well.

She felt a fire of anger suddenly swell through her and she snatched up the stake from the table next to Kane. She tested the point on her finger and giggled as it drew a drop of blood. Kane smiled at her as she slid the thing beneath her robe.

"I will do it." She said, kneeling again.

Kane stood kelt in front of her and took her head in his hands. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, in the same place as Yanick, then signed the air in front of her with a cross. "God wills it. And Sister Lillian shall be his champion."

It never occurred to her to ask Kane why he did not kill Edward himself. Instead she turned and hurried from the room. Back down the sunlit hallway and into the darkness of the castle. She nearly fell down the stairs and had to pause, allowing her eyes to readjust to the darkness. She could still feel the spot on her forehead where Kane had kissed her and in that kiss she felt all the power and dignity that could only be the grace of god. 

She found her way quickly enough to the medical ward. A dozen guardsmen stood at the door and she approached quickly, not daring to stop. They were big men, all of them fitted with steel breastplates and conical helmets. She could almost feel their breathing as she approached. To her surprise she saw Yanick standing there, his long sword resting tip down on the floor. He saw her coming and smiled, then made the sign of the cross. In that instant she knew God had provided. 

"God wills it!" His voice was like thunder in the corridor and the two men either side of him died before they even knew what had happened as he plunged a knife into the neck of one and hacked down the other with his sword. The man crashed to the ground with a scream, his helmet spinning away into a corner, his own sword clattering to the stones. 

"For Kane!" A second guardsman, a man she knew as Furl, roared out and attacked his stunned companions. Two more guardsmen died beneath Furls blade before the survivors regained their wits and drew their won weapons. In an instant the corridor was the scene of a frantic battle as Yanick and Furl hurled themselves upon the remaining guardsmen. 

"Run, Sister!" Yanick yelled as he stabbed his sword into the groin of another man, opening the way for Lillian to enter the medical ward. The dying soldier collapsed with a mewing sound and then a scream as he tried to grab Yanicks blade only to have it ripped free. 

Lillian burst through the and was struck by a terrible smell, like a corpse, death, fermedahide, and a dozen other sickening odours. Six beds filled the space but only one was occupied. The Doctor was across the room mixing some sort of chemical as he turned to stare at her, fear written across his features. Emily gaped in turn, big round eyes shimmering with tears beneath silvery white hair. The girls pink dress was bloodied, dirty, and badly torn in some places. She looked like shit. Two other men were standing off to one side conversing between themselves but she did not recognize them, nor did she care. She only had eyes for Edward. 

The body on the bed groaned and shifted toward the door. Lillian saw Edwards head turn on his pillow. They made eye contact and and she felt the hatred course through her. She drew the stake from her robe and rushed at his bed even as she screamed a battle cry to match the men who fought behind her.

"God wills it!"