Regardless of all that, the moment Alexander stopped being useful, the moment she suspected treachery, she’d drive a stake through his heart and blame the slayers. The tragic loss of her son would build sympathy and support.
“Why do you want the princess brought here?” he asked as he traced his fingers over a rose embroidered on the arm of her favorite chair.
“Can’t you see?” She strode around the back of the chair and leaned over to put her lips next to his ear. “If we take her, Stefan will have no choice. He’ll invade, and then our armies will crush Xandra.” And then Stefan and Catia would cower at her feet. That idea was most delicious. As was finally sitting on the throne of Xandra as she’d been meant to.
“If you want war”—he pulled out a thread from the chair—“why not invade now?”
“Stop that.” She slapped his hand.“You’ll ruin the fabric.” She circled around to the front. “My darling son, if we attack first, then we’ll be the aggressor, and other kingdoms will rise up in Xandra’s defense. It would weaken me, spoil my chance to expand my empire later.” She wanted the subjects of all the kingdoms to bow down before her in adoration and fear. The combination was like the most intoxicating elixir. She’d learned that when she’d aimed a stake at her late husband’s heart.
Alexander didn’t need to know that the generals still refused to invade unless Xandra declared war. But soon those now-influential generals would bow down before her, too. Soon.
“I get it”—he nodded—“but I can’t bring back the princess. They keep her locked in a glass case.” He remained nonchalant. “There’s no way to get to her.”
She leaned down so she could look into his eyes. “Glass? I don’t see the problem.”
“The glass won’t break,” he said.“I think it’s enchanted.”
She flew back from his chair, slammed her fist down on the balcony railing, and the stone cracked. Those damn fairies, meddling again! She’d show them. “Have you really done all you can to get to the girl?” she asked her son.
“She’s a defenseless beauty in a glass case. I’m a teenaged boy, Mother. Of course I’ve tried.” Alex rolled his eyes, then smiled lasciviously.
She might have scolded her son for his snarky tone, but his words pleased her.“So you’ve taken a fancy to the sleeping beauty of Xandra?” This was an exciting development. Perhaps she would let her son live after all. Perhaps he would prove useful.
She set her hands on the arms of his chair and leaned toward him. “She’d make a good mate for you, I think.” She resisted an urge to rub her hands together in delight. Imagine, Catia’s precious daughter converted and married to a vampire, and one day giving birth to vampire children. The idea filled Natasha with vengeful glee.
But she questioned her son’s claim. “Others say they’ve seen the princess roaming the palace.” It was beyond frustrating that she couldn’t enter Xandra to see for herself.
“That’s not possible,” Alex said quickly. “If she ever got out of that glass case, I’d be all over her.” He shifted in the chair and grinned.“There are humans around the palace some nights—mercenaries from other kingdoms, I assume. Perhaps someone mistook one of them for her?”
Natasha stepped back and narrowed her eyes. It was doubtful, but possible. She wouldn’t put it past Catia and Stefan to lure some poor girl from a neighboring kingdom to impersonate their daughter and act as bait. Did they think she’d be so easily fooled?
Alex crossed his legs and rested his elbows on the arms of his chair. “I’ve always wondered. Why did you do it in the first place? Why curse a baby?”
She studied her handsome son for signs of deceit, but his question seemed sincere.“Because her hateful mother and father betrayed me most egregiously, that’s why.”
“How?” His expression showed concern for her suffering.
“I was meant to marry King Stefan, not Catia. That horrid, hateful snake stole the man who would be my husband. He was mine and she went behind my back and took him—and my place as the rightful queen of Xandra.”
“I understand how that would make you angry. More than you know. Tell me more.”
Natasha pulled up a chair beside her son and sat down. “I’ll tell you everything.” Perhaps Alex did have leadership potential. It was so hard to know with teenagers, but he was maturing, finally showing some promise. Perhaps he wasn’t as much like his father as she’d first feared. Perhaps it was time he knew the whole truth.
And if there were no way to capture the sleeping princess, Natasha would order her minions to capture the king and queen themselves. She’d make them pay, and no one would ever know what had happened to the Xandran monarchs. No matter what, it was time to escalate the nightly invasions. From now on, her minions would be ordered to kill.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Lucette told Tristan as he waited for her to change from her gown into her slaying clothes. “It doesn’t seem fair that you watch me sleep.” And knowing he was on the other side of the screen right now sent tingles through her body.
These past weeks with Tristan had been wonderful, but although she felt sure she was in love, the curse hadn’t lifted.
“But you’re so beautiful,” he replied from the other side of the screen. “How can you blame me for watching you sleep?”
It was kind of romantic. Still... “But during the day I’m in a glass case, and can’t wake up. It just doesn’t feel right. If you watch, it’s like you’re spying on me.”
“That is messed up,” another male voice said. “Creepy, in fact.”
Her boots not yet laced up, Lucette shot out from behind the screen. “Alex!” She ran to hug him. “You came back!” It had been over two weeks.
Tristan stood to the side, and Lucette admired him for remaining calm.
“Do you think I could really stay away?” Alex winked, and then nodded toward Tristan. “I see he came out of hiding.”
“You knew Tristan hadn’t left?” she asked, looking back and forth between the two young men.
Alex shrugged and said,“I never would’ve left you completely alone. I figured he’d show himself eventually.”
“So you’re not mad?”
“Nah.” Alex took a step back and ran his fingers through his hair. “And I’ve got big news. Huge.”
“What’s going on?” Had his mother decided to lift the curse? Her hope vanished when she saw his expression. “Bad news?”
He took a deep breath. “It’s not all bad, I guess, depending on your perspective.”
Tristan pressed a kiss into her hair. “You two talk. I’ll go check on your parents’ room.”
Lucette watched him leave, her heart nearly bursting with happiness. Alex was back and Tristan trusted her enough, and trusted Alex enough, not to object when she wanted to talk to him alone.
As soon as Tristan left the room, Lucette pulled Alex to a set of leather chairs. “What’s your mother done now?” She bent to tie up her boots.
He sat down and crossed one leg, a foot up on his knee. “She wants your dad to invade, so she won’t be blamed for starting a war. She’s also trying to capture you and your parents and bring you to Sanguinia. And”—he paused and ran his fingers through his hair—“I think I finally understand her grudge against your family.”
Lucette raised a questioning eyebrow. “Tell me.”
“Well,” he leaned forward, “for starters, we’re cousins.”
“What?” This had to be some kind of a joke.
“Yeah.” His cheeks flared red. “Turns out our mothers are sisters.”
Lucette felt as if she’d been crushed under a huge stone. The vampire queen was her aunt? Alex, her cousin? No wonder she’d never felt the romantic kind of love for him.
Alex leaned back in the chair. “Crazy, I know. I could barely keep from wanting to strangle my mother when she told me. But I had to make her think I understood why she’d done it.”
She looked up. “That must have been so difficult.”
He squared his shoulders. “That’s just the start. I also found out why my mother laid the curse.”
Alex’s news was tough to digest, but she didn’t have much time to think about it. A crash outside the library and a shout from Tristan drew them both out into the hall.
She rolled and stabbed a stake into the calf of a vampire who had his fangs pointed toward Tristan’s throat.
“Ouch!” The vampire twisted as her stake struck, and he let Tristan go. Alex lassoed the vampire with a rope and pulled the attacker’s arms in tight.
“Thanks,” she said to Alex, still marveling that they were related.
“Look out!” he yelled, and she turned just as a huge vampire, who’d appeared out of nowhere, dove toward her. But before he touched her, his face contorted in pain and he fell to his knees, a stake protruding from his shoulder.
Tristan stood behind the vampire.
“You shouldn’t leave your stake in the body,” she told him with a cheeky grin. “You might need it for another attack.”
“Good advice,” Tristan said as pulled out the stake. Then, before the vampire could recover, he wrapped a rope around the vampire’s arms. “Whoever taught you that lesson must have wanted to make sure you stayed safe.”
She smiled softly, but the sound of splintering wood downstairs pulled her away. She barely had time to talk to either Tristan or Alex for the rest of the night, and for the first time, she felt lucky for the diversion of chasing vampires. They’d come in higher numbers tonight, and they seemed intent on attacking her parents.
Finally, as dawn threatened on the horizon, Lucette bid Alex good morning, so he’d have time to find a safe place to hide for the day. Then she went behind her screen in the library, pulled off her slayer uniform, and slipped into her nightgown.
Walking up to the tower room, Tristan’s hand in hers, she knew she had to tell him what she’d learned tonight. He hadn’t pumped her for information, and she loved that about him. But she wanted to share it all, every one of her mixed and horrible feelings. He’d help her sort them out.
But there wasn’t much time before sunrise. Once they were in the tower, Tristan put his back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor in what she used to think of as the suitors’ gallery. She slid down the wall next to him, and he put an arm around her shoulders.
“Alex upset you,” Tristan said. “Do you want to talk about it? Or is there any information I should be passing on to your father?”
Tears welled in Lucette’s eyes. “That’s the most horrible part. My parents already know most of what Alex told me. They’ve known it all along, but never said a thing. They lied to me my whole life. At best, they left out some pretty important details.”
Tristan pulled her closer, and she buried her face in his neck, inhaling his spicy scent.
“I don’t know where to start.” Lucette looked into Tristan’s bright blue eyes.
“Start wherever you want. But if you don’t want your dad to know you’ve been out of that glass case, you’d better start now.” The sky was lightening through the window behind the glass wall.
She nodded, then blurted, “Alex is my cousin.”
Tristan opened his eyes wide. “That’s not possible. He’s a vampire.”
“His mother Natasha is my mother’s older sister. When she was still human, she wanted to marry my father. But when he chose my mom instead, Natasha went ballistic. She was so eager to get revenge and to sit on a throne—any throne—that she converted herself into a vampire and seduced Alex’s dad.”
“How would that get her revenge?” Tristan squeezed her hand and Lucette felt warm and safe and loved.
“She figured that as a vampire she could torture my parents—maybe even kill them—and take the throne for herself. My mom hates vampires, and the vampire queen figured that knowing her sister was one would be a form of torture in itself. I guess it was, because my family acts as if she doesn’t exist.
“Alex’s dad,” she continued, “King Vladimir, realized his mistake in his choice of bride. He threatened to divorce her and have her arrested if she didn’t give up on her thirst for human blood. So she killed him.”
Tristan tensed, but soon relaxed, and nodded.“I’d heard rumors that the vampire queen killed her husband.”
“It’s never been proven, but Alex is sure. He’s even spoken to senior members of the Sanguinian army and they’re sure, too. He told me about his father’s murder a while ago. It was one of the reasons I first trusted him. Anyway, that’s not the worst of it. I found out why she cursed me.”
Tears rose, but Lucette blinked to push them back. “All my life, I thought my parents’ arguments were my fault. I was all they ever fought about, and I blamed myself. I guess I knew the curse wasn’t my fault—I was only a baby—but I figured the curse wasn’t their fault, either. But it kind of was.”
“How?”
“My mom didn’t invite her sister to my naming ceremony, and so Natasha cast the curse out of anger and jealousy. She’s so petty and cruel. She destroyed my life because she wasn’t invited to a party.”
“That’s horrible. Lucette, I’m so sorry.” He hugged her tightly.
As comforting as his hug was, anger and hurt rose inside her.“I wonder if my aunt realized her curse would drive a stake into my parents’ marriage, too. Probably. Who would curse their own family?” She drew a deep breath.
Tristan stroked her hair for a few minutes, then whispered into her ear. “If you want to get into that glass case before sunrise, there’s not much time.”
She started to get up, then stopped. “You know what? If it’s okay with you, I think I’d like to fall asleep in your arms this morning.”
“But your father—”
She shook her head. “I think there have been enough lies in my family. It will be better if he knows I’m not staying in there at night.”
He bent down to kiss her cheek and said, “That is absolutely fine with me.”
The next night, Lucette smiled as she watched Alex and Tristan talk. The two young men seemed to have struck a truce. They might not exactly be best friends yet, but they weren’t at each other’s throats, either.
Since the truth had come out, Lucette had grown even more anxious for the curse to end. And she couldn’t figure out why it hadn’t. She loved Tristan with all her heart, and felt sure he loved her, but how in the world was she supposed to prove it?
Those cryptic fairies had claimed she’d know what to do when the time came, but the time was here—and she didn’t know.
Even with Tristan in her life and Alex as such a good friend—and cousin—she couldn’t bear the thought of living the rest of her life in darkness. Plus, if the curse didn’t end, Xandra would eventually fall. From what Tristan had told her, fewer than a quarter of the citizens remained in the kingdom. The rest had crossed through the dangerous werewolf territories to live in refugee camps in faraway Judra, with many seeking to immigrate.
But if Alex was right about his mother’s ambitions, she wouldn’t rest until she ruled every kingdom.
With everyone fleeing, even if her father survived, he’d have no subjects. No real kingdom. It had to be breaking his heart to see Xandra this way.
Breaking away from Alex, Tristan sauntered toward her, a shy look on his face.
“Had enough boy talk?” she teased.
“Definitely.” Tristan traced a hand down Lucette’s arm. “Actually, I was hoping we could talk alone for a few minutes. Somewhere private. Alex says he’ll keep a lookout and shout the alarm if he hears any trouble.”
“Great.” Her insides stirred at the thought of some alone time with Tristan. Glad as she’d been to see Alex’s return, she’d missed the nights she’d had with just the two of them.
He opened the door of the library for her and guided her to a plush upholstered chair. He pulled another over and sat facing her. The formality made her worry about what he wanted to discuss.
Tristan cleared his th
roat. “Lucette, I love you.”
A huge smile spread on her face. “I love you, too.” She reached out to take his hand.
“Yes, but ...” A blush appeared on his cheeks. “The curse. It hasn’t lifted.”
Her heart dropped. “I know. I’ve been thinking about that, too, and I’m trying to figure it out. The fairies said I’d know what to do, but I don’t.”
“Lucette.” He took both of her hands in his. “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself for everything. It’s not your fault you were cursed. It’s not your fault your parents argued. It’s not your fault the fairies were cryptic—they’re cryptic with everyone. Fairies love riddles.”
“So, what’s the answer?” She tried not to sound as defeated as she felt.
He shifted in his chair, the first time she’d ever seen him nervous. “Well, I’ve been thinking about it and I have an idea—just a theory. It might be wrong. I don’t know.”
“What ?”
He blurted, “I wonder if we’re supposed to get married.”
Lucette’s jaw dropped.
“Or not.” Tristan shook his head. “If you’re not ready... You’re only sixteen, and we’ve got our whole lives ...” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I thought asking you so soon might be a bad idea, but Alex—”
“You talked about this with Alex?” The blush in Lucette’s cheeks rose so ferociously that she wondered if her face might catch on fire.
“I’m sorry.” He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. And I certainly don’t want to be presumptuous. But Alex and I were talking about the curse and it just kind of came up.”
Lucette leaned back in her chair. Her mind raced with so many thoughts, it was hard to pin any of them down. Her mother hadn’t been much older when she married her father, but look how that had turned out. She knew she loved Tristan, but marriage was such a big step—especially at her age. The future of her kingdom depended on her, but in so many ways she still felt like a kid.
Sleeping Beauty Page 20