Mark of Betrayal

by A. M. Hudson

  “But…if you do that, I can't be there for it.”

  “I know.” Mike looked down at his folded arms and nodded. “But it’s only the Ritual of Rights you’ll miss—you kinda have to be there for the ceremony, since you’re the one who knights us.”

  I swiped a hand slowly across my forehead, wiping away the sweat of the summer day, sneaking in through the open hatch up top.

  “And,” Mike said, taking a deep breath. “If we can get your approval, we want to move in on Drake Monday night.”

  “Monday?”

  “Yes.” He looked at Falcon as he came in. “We’d do it Sunday, after the crowning, but we all have to attend that stupid ball.”

  “So that leaves Monday,” Blade said.

  “But…I'm not ready yet, I—”

  “You won't be coming.” Mike leaned on the wall, tucking his foot up under his thigh.

  “The hell I won't!”

  “Baby, look, we’ve been dicking around—wasting time. Drake knows you're alive. If he comes here, we can keep you safe, but casualties would be insurmountable. I don't want to sit on this any longer.”

  “Fine, but if you plan to strike Monday, I'm coming with you.”

  “Out of the question.”

  “Why do you always say that?” I stomped my foot. “It’s not fair. I'm Lilithian. I'm powerful, Mike. You've seen it. Why won’t you trust me?”

  “I trust you, Ara. But there’s no need for you to be there. My bite, Blade’s bite, they all do the same thing—and we’re stronger than you are. Ryder pinned you in training yesterday.” He held his palm out as Ryder came in. “If he can pin you, especially being a newb, it’s a damn sure bet Drake can.”

  “I agree, Ara.” Blade moved into me; I shrugged away from his touch. “You don't need to be there.”

  “But that’s not on topic right now,” Mike said. “I need to move the ceremony to Sunday morning—right after your first official session of Court. We’ll perform our rituals in the forest while you’re doing your Walk of Faith, and—”

  “That’s what this is about?” My narrowed gaze fell over Mike and his conspiring. “You don't want me out in the forest alone! That's what this really is, isn't it?” I yelled.

  He shrank, all eyes in the room on him. “Baby, this is because we need to move in on Drake. We all gain power from swearing an oath, too. Okay. So this is not just about you!”

  It was my turn to shrink. His voice had that effect.

  Mike sighed and slumped down in a chair, making a steeple of his fingers in front of his lips. “Look, Ara…I'm worried about you.” He looked right at me. “I think we need to bring David back into the picture, and I can't do that until Drake’s locked up or dead.”

  “Why do we need David back?” I looked around at all my knights. “What's the big deal?”

  Mike’s tongue moved around the corner of his lip for a second; he looked at Falcon, who stepped forward.

  “We think you've been away from David for too long,” Falcon said.

  Mike stood up, scuffing his chair across the floor until it hit the wall softly. “It’s not good for you two to be apart. Morg says you’re not right—she says there are things she can’t tell me because they’re personal—” He ran both hands through his hair, “—things about you, and the only thing she can tell me is that we need to hurry and get David back.”

  “They're two pieces of one puzzle,” Quaid said from his seat at the table; we all looked over at him. “Keep them apart too long and the equilibrium starts to shift.”

  “Yeah.” Mike nodded slowly. “That’s it, isn't it? It’s like the world isn't right, somehow. It makes me uneasy.”

  “And I've never seen David like this either.” Emily gently placed her fingers against mine.

  “Em!” I spun around quickly and wrapped my arms around her neck. “Oh my God. It’s so good to see you.”

  “I missed you too, Ara—you and all your crazy.” She laughed and stood back. “Are you okay? How are you feeling about tonight?”

  I shrugged one shoulder, looking at my feet. “We’ll talk later?”

  “Okay.” She squeezed my fingertips.

  I wanted to tell her everything about the whole magic pheromones curse—tell her she was right; there was no true reason for all these guys to keep falling for me, but a part of me wondered if she already knew. David always told her things he couldn’t tell me; she was starting to feel like an extension—the part of me David could confide in; the sensible, reasonable, mature part of me. Best of both worlds. I suddenly felt the weight of all the bullshit they used to fertilise the Mushroom Land I’d been living in.

  At some point, while I was lost in thought, everyone had decided, despite my disagreement, that the ceremonial procedures for the knighting would begin tonight, after I started my Walk of Faith—ending tomorrow when I would officially knight them into the Core.

  “Are you kidding? It makes us official.” Blade grinned.

  “Yeah, all the hours of practice and study—it’s time to get a title for it,” Quaid said.

  “You know, I always wanted to be a knight when I grew up.” Ryder leaned back in his chair.

  “Then you better hurry and grow up,” Blade said.

  “I’ll give you grow up.” Ryder dived off his chair, pummelling Blade, and they fell to the ground, scuffling about, laughing harder than they were punching.

  Emily and I stepped back, covering our smiles as the other knights jumped up and piled onto the stack.

  “Typical boys,” Morgaine scoffed, coming back into the room. “Do they ever grow up?”

  “Is that a rhetorical question?” I asked, watching the ‘men’ flounder around on the floor like children.

  “It’s so good to see the Lilithian family back together again.” Morg wiped an imaginary tear from her cheek. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “So, what do you think, Morg?” I asked, branching us away from the chaos. “Mike wants to move the knighting ceremony to tomorrow.”

  “He already spoke to me about it. I agree. We might as well be a complete unit by weeks’ end.”

  “Then it’s unanimous?” I turned and faced the guys as they stood up, patting themselves off, breathing heavily.

  “Aside from one vote.” Mike placed his phone at the centre of the table. “I officially call this meeting to order.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “David? You there?” Mike said.

  “Here.” David's voice came through the phone like a long-forgotten melody, and I nearly melted to the floor. Emily pushed a chair under me as I sunk down, ignoring the roaring amusement of my council. “What are you all laughing at?” David asked.

  “Ara,” Mike said. “She practically fainted at the sound of your voice.”

  “Ara?” David sounded weary, detached. “My love, are you okay?”

  “I'm fine. Are you?”

  “I'm fine,” he said, but he sounded puffed-out.

  “Are you around humans?” I asked.

  “Yeah. How can you tell?”

  “You never breathe heavily unless you're walking fast—in public. And I can hear your footsteps, too,” I said.

  “Oh, right. Uh, well, I'm at the store. Had a hankering for pizza.”

  “Oh. Lucky. I wish my life was that simple.”

  “Hey guys?” Mike spoke louder. “You do realise the rest of us are here, right?”

  “Shut up, Mike,” I said.

  “So what's on the agenda for today?” David asked.

  “Well, we’ve all agreed we want to move the knighting ceremony forward—to tomorrow, rituals being done tonight, and…” Mike hesitated.

  “And?” David said.

  “We wanna move in on Drake,” Mike finished.

  “When?”

  “Monday,” four of us spoke at the same time.

  “Uh—” David paused, probably rubbing between his brows. “Right. Well, I agree to the ceremony being moved. But, why Monday for Drake? It
seems a little soon. And who’s going? Ara? You're not planning on—”

  “Do you really think I'm that stupid, David,” Mike interrupted.

  David just groaned. “I know you’re not, bro. But I know Ara. And you and I both know if she wants to go…there’ll be no stopping her.”

  “Yeah.” Mike looked at me. “I know.”

  “I'm going.” My hands fell on my hips. “I don't care if you try to stop me. I’ll be coming with you.”

  Everyone looked at me.

  “Guys?” Morgaine piped up. “Ara won’t be strong enough after the coronation. The whole process will weaken her.”

  “Don't care. I'm coming.” I held firm when Mike looked at me again.

  “What if we leave it for a week or so—the attack?” Falcon asked Morgaine. “Will she be strong enough then?”

  “I would bet my life on it.”

  Mike nodded, exhaling heavily through his nose. “Fine. Okay. You can come—”

  I jumped in my seat a little, clapping.

  “But, we can’t leave it too much longer,” he continued. “Drake’s rebuilding his forces—killing humans every day to do it. We need to act soon.”

  I hugged my arms to my chest. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should attack now. I couldn't stand the thought of all those people dying every day for a thing as simple as not having the gene to become a vampire. “Will he make them immune?” I asked, breaking through their conversations. Everyone looked at me. “If he plans to attack our vampires, they’ll need to be immune. How will he do that without our blood?”

  A cool calm washed over the room. “No one but us knows about immunity, Ara. Hopefully he hasn’t figured that out.”

  “But…he survived an attack with a tipped blade. He must know about it.”

  Mike looked at Falcon, who looked at me. “We’ve already thought of that, Princess,” Falcon said. “You needn’t worry. Let us do that part for you, okay. You need to focus on your coronation.”

  I nodded. I wanted to argue, but I knew Falcon was right.

  “Right,” Mike said, then looked at the four guards. “And, guys? I want to brief you again over the knighting ritual before afternoon training today.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Ryder smiled.

  “Second that,” added Blade.

  “Great.” Mike looked around the room, cupping his hands together. “Then, let’s do this.”

  Morgaine touched my shoulder and squeezed gently, looking at Mike. “Okay, can you call this meeting, Mike. I need to brief Amara, too.”

  “Right then.” Mike picked up the phone. “Meeting adjourned. David? I’ll call you later,” he said and hung up without letting me say goodbye first.

  “Mike?” Emily practically snarled.

  “What?”

  “Ara might’ve wanted to talk to David.”

  “Oh.” He looked at me then the phone in his hand. “Sorry.”

  I shook my head. “Never mind.”

  The rest of the knights fled up the stairs in a crowd of excited hurry, laughing and bumping each other until their noise disappeared. Eric touched my shoulder, smiled sympathetically at me, then followed them up, taking two steps at a time.

  “I’ll see you up there.” Mike kissed Emily on the cheek, then disappeared too.

  “Nervous?” Emily sat beside me.

  “A little. How’s David?” I asked.

  She looked over my shoulder at Morgaine, then smiled back at me. “Actually, he’s a mess.”

  “A mess?”

  “Yeah. He’s like a mopey teenager. He’s fine when he’s focusing on work, but he hasn't got a lead on your family history or word on what's happening in La Château de la—lysium,” she corrected. “He’s miserable.”

  “Hence the pizza.” I smiled to myself. “If he starts eating ice-cream, we know things are serious,” I joked, but Emily bit her lip. “Oh, Em—don't tell me he’s that miserable.”

  “He just misses you. He hates being away, and he hates that he can't be here tonight—to see you take your oath.”

  I swallowed. “I hate it, too. But I’ll bet you're happy you’ll be here for the knighting ceremony?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. It was hard choosing between my mum’s fiftieth or seeing my fiancé become a knight.”

  “Do you think that’s why he was so insistent we move the ceremony?”

  Emily shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I'm sure it was,” Morgaine said. “Then again, he is pretty anxious to get in there and kick some evil Blood King butt.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, maybe I should be letting them go without me. I mean, it’s better for the people, right?”

  “And what if you’re right, Ara?” Emily said. “What if they do need you there to kill Drake?”

  I nodded. “That’s the only reason I didn't pipe up and say something.”

  Morgaine took my other hand and pulled me to stand. “Well, none of that matters, right now. We need to go dress you for your big night.”

  “Okay.”

  “Right, and, Em?” Morg looked back at her as we reached the stairs.

  “Yeah?”

  “Come by and give Amara some blood in about an hour, okay?”

  “Really? I thought she wasn’t allowed to eat today.”

  Morg smiled. “No one said she couldn't have a little blood to get her through.”

  “Rule breaker,” I said; she just shrugged.

  * * *

  “Now, remember, there are strict rules to adhere to—formalities that you must not corrupt,” Morgaine said sternly. “No smiling, waving, say nothing except your oath, show no emotion, no pain, no joy, no fear—”

  “I know,” I moaned. “You’ve only told me fifty times, Morg.”

  “Right. And remember, when you reach the edge of the forest, after the Walk of Faith, you must smile.”

  “Yes, Miss.” I saluted, smiling at her through the reflection of my dresser mirror.

  “I'm sorry, Amara. I don't mean to be hard on you—it’s just…we have these rules for a reason. Royalty is something highly valued among our people.” She sat down on my bed. “In the world you grew up in, Princess, no one cares about formalities anymore. But we still do. You must adhere to our traditions.”

  “I will, Morg.” I rubbed my temples, leaning on my elbows. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I know,” she said in a soft, high tone, then stood up. “Now, let’s go over this one more time; you carry the dagger to the Stone and use it to make the first cut along your mouth.”

  I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “Right. The blood of the lips to bind my words to truth.”

  “And…?” She prompted.

  I spread my fingers and showed an open palm. “Blood of the hand to hold the promise.”

  “And blood of the heart,” she said. “A pledge to rule with that which guides the soul.”

  I touched a hand to my chest. “How am I going to stay alive if I have to jab a dagger into my heart?”

  She scratched her nose. “Just don't dig too deep. It only has to be from the place surrounding the heart, Amara—you don't actually have to stab your own heart.”

  “And what if I do?”

  “Then you fall to the floor and we do the coronation on the next full moon.” Morg looked at my face in the reflection then turned around and grabbed her purple velvet cloak from the bed. “Here—” She ripped off one of the wooden toggles. “Just bite down hard on this—it’ll help.”

  I studied it. “Right. A pop-stick’s going to ease the agony of cutting myself open and splashing my blood on a piece of rock.”

  “I said it would help.”

  “Yeah, help me not bite my tongue off.”

  “There now, that's looking on the bright side.” She patted my arm.

  I glared up at her, unamused.

  “Could be worse.” She shrugged. “You could have to make the oath naked, like Lilith did.”

  I shuddered, then smiled down at the small scar on my wrist; the one
Jason left when he attacked me. It was minuscule now, barely a sliver of a memory, but still there, still visible in the light. “The tatt—er, markings, they fade, right? Like, you're not lying about that part, are you?”

  “No. When the crown is set atop your head, the ritual is over, and they will fade. I promise.”

  “Promise?” My wide eyes forced my brows up. “Look, I never liked tattoos. I really don't want to—”

  “Amara. You’ll be fine. Stop worrying.” She massaged my shoulders. “It’ll be the best day of your life. And we’ll all be there waiting for you at the end.”

  “I know, Morg. I'm just…I mean, what if I forget the words for the incantation?”

  “Just say them in your head as you walk to the Stone, and you’ll be fine. Now—” She unclipped my hair and let it fall loosely down my back, then took my hand, standing me up. “You remember what Eileen said? How, instead of nakedness, they’re letting you take your oath in a fabric made of nature.”

  “Yup. Patesco Silk.” I closed my eyes for a second, rolling my head as if it’d help bring the information to the surface. “Spun from spiders’ webs, dyed silver as an offering to the Goddess of the Moon.”

  “And…why the Goddess of the Moon?” she asked in a tone one would use with a child in primary school.

  “Uh, I know this—” I held my finger up, racking my brain. “It’s the spirit which strengthens Lilithian power.”

  “And what else is She?” Morg asked leadingly.

  “Um, and…” I stopped, closing my eyes: “She also represents purity and serenity.”

  “So you were listening the other day?” Morgaine laughed, helping me out of my bathrobe. “I thought you might have gone to sleep at one point.”

  “I thought I had.” I chuckled, covering my bare breasts. “I mean, the first three hours were okay, but after that I lost interest.”

  Morgaine grabbed the silver cloth from the bed behind her and wrapped it across my front, tying it around my ribs and over my hips, leaving it hanging loosely from my thighs downward, with a split on each side that revealed my legs. If I moved the wrong way, everyone would see my nakedness beneath.

  “Man, could this be any more revealing?” I ran my fingers over my stomach and turned slightly to see myself in the mirror.