by Cege Smith
“Are you alright, Majesty?” A small grin had reappeared on Bryant’s face. He was hoping that she wasn’t. She could tell.
“I’m fine.” She bit the inside of her cheek hard and was rewarded with a small spurt of blood. Even though it was her own, it was just enough that she was able to push her way on top of the wraith and quell its dark appetite. “Let’s get on with it. I don’t want to be late.”
She needed Bryant to back down and step away. His closeness was inappropriate, and they both knew it, but she wasn’t going to call him out. As long as she remained calm, she was in control, no matter what he thought.
“Is that you I see down there, Bryant?” A familiar voice echoed in the stairwell.
Kallie, Angeline thought with relief.
“Yes,” the man said. He didn’t look up to acknowledge Kallie any further. His eyes were intent on Angeline.
“The Council’s ready to start, and they can’t find the Queen. Everyone’s in a panic!”
Angeline raised an eyebrow. She didn’t break the stare. Now it was Bryant’s turn to decide what he was going to do. A look of annoyance crossed his face. “She’s here. I am bringing her to the meeting.” Finally, Bryant took a step back and raised the torch above his head.
“She is? Oh, thank goodness. The Council will be relieved,” Kallie said. Only Angeline noted that there was a slight question in Kallie’s response. As far as she knew, she had left Angeline in her room.
Angeline smiled widely at Bryant who frowned. She had won. She went toe to toe with a giant and won without having to play dirty by giving into her wraith. She remembered all too well her disastrous encounter with Elvry when the vampire found out that she was a wraith. As soon as Elvry discovered that she couldn’t outmatch Angeline’s strength or speed, she killed Angeline’s personal attendant to distract Angeline and make her escape. It was cowardly thing to do, but that’s what bullies did. Angeline thought that hiding underneath Bryant’s bumbling hulking disguise was the heart of a coward.
“Why don’t you run along and tell the Council that the Queen is on her way?” Bryant called up to the girl.
“Councilman Thomas told me that I wasn’t to come back until I had her next to me,” Kallie said. Her voice quivered.
Angeline felt sorry for the girl. She wouldn’t want to be caught in the service of the Clan. Bryant sighed and then gestured for Angeline to go in front of him. “Luckily for you, your escort awaits.”
Angeline caught the subtle warning. She swept past him and hurried up the stairs as quickly as she dared. Her wraith didn’t like having Bryant behind her at all. She wouldn’t put it past the man to yank at her feet and cause her to fall down the stairs. No doubt he was devising a way to do just that. When she reached the landing where Kallie waited, Angeline felt the overwhelming urge to hug her.
“Majesty! Councilman Thomas was worried,” Kallie said with a small curtsey.
“That is very kind of him,” Angeline murmured. She felt a little lightheaded. She wasn’t sure if it was the lack of sustenance or the fact that her attention was tightly focused on the vein that she could see bulging in Kallie’s neck.
“Majesty!” Thomas’s deep voice broke her reverie. Angeline looked up to see him rushing toward them. She wondered if he had any idea of the extreme emotions that bubbled just below her barely composed veneer.
“Where have you been?” A tight smile crossed his face. “We’ve all been worried that you’d gotten lost in the caverns. Did you find something wrong with your room?”
She forced a smile onto her face. “A crisis exactly like that was avoided, Thomas. I had to stretch my legs, and I did get a bit turned around. Luckily I met Bryant here, and he was able to show me the way.” Angeline barely acknowledged the man who had finally arrived beside her.
Angeline knew what he really wanted to know as she watched Thomas and Bryant exchange a glance. He wanted to know where she had been and what she could have possibly seen.
“Well, I’ve been found now, so we should get to the Council meeting,” she said.
Thomas nodded to Bryant and Kallie. “I’ll take it from here,” he said, dismissing them.
I bet you will, Angeline thought.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The stakes holding Connor to the wall disappeared, and his body slid to the floor at Theodora’s feet. His sharp intake of breath was all he would allow to indicate the duress of the depth of his pain. His wounds would heal, but they would take time. Unfortunately, time was a luxury that Connor did not have.
“I could use a soldier like you, Connor,” Theodora said.
He felt her fingers running through his hair, and he shrank back against the wall. “I serve the Queen.”
“You love the Queen. That is sweet,” Theodora’s voice told him that she didn’t really think it was sweet at all. “But you are a warrior, Connor. Your vampire nature is your downfall. You know that as well as I do. You freely admit it. Try as you may to change it, you are a servant to the blood first and foremost. I do not fault you for that. As you saw with Bryant, I even welcome those of your kind here in the Clan. Loyalty is something we value. It’s something I value.”
“I am here for Angeline,” Connor said. His head swam as he felt the fibers of his skin began the excruciating process of knitting itself back together.
Theodora was on her knees a split second later pulling on his hair so that his head lifted and she could peer into his eyes. He tried to twist away, but her grip tightened and he found that his weakened limbs weren’t obeying his commands.
“I can see what she sees in you. I can. Think about it though. What do you really have to offer her, Connor? Death is your constant companion. You are death. Your Queen, who you profess to love so completely, is young, beautiful, and alive. Or at least she is for the time being. Why would you damn her to a life with death at her side?”
The starkness of her words said out loud rammed through to Connor’s core. He couldn’t deny that everything she said was true. Then something else she said triggered in his mind. “What you do mean ‘for the time being’? What are you going to do to her?”
Theodora released his hair, but she didn’t move away from him. A smile curled across her lips. “Your Queen wants something from us, but such favors are not free. It has to be earned. Enough about her for now though. We need to take care of you.”
Theodora gestured behind her, and a young woman appeared from behind her. The girl’s eyes were glazed over as if she had been drugged. Connor saw the thin lines of blood crawling down the side of her neck at the same time that the coppery smell of it hit his nostrils. He curled his fingers into tight fists to keep them tightly at his sides. Even then, he felt his fangs descend in his mouth on their own accord. He ducked his chin to his chest and tried to keep his mind clear, but between the pain and the intoxicating smell of blood he could feel the swell of the tide threatening to overwhelm him.
Theodora’s hand crept under his chin and brought his eyes back up to hers. “This is Emma. She is not Clan, but we took her out of an unfortunate situation when she begged for our help. Something about being betrothed to a lug of a man who would hurt her. In return for helping her disappear from her former life, as well as food and shelter, Emma provides a service for Bryant and the other vampires who occasionally walk our caverns.”
“I don’t drink human blood,” Connor groaned. He was familiar with the idea of keeping human like stock for feeding. The Master did that for the coven as well, but in recent years the number of kept humans had significantly dwindled. It was a practice that turned his stomach, especially when the person was compelled to think that their bloodletting was a good thing.
Theodora laughed. The sound started Connor out of his stupor.
“You’ve always drunk human blood. You are a vampire. You may have abstained for some outdated moralistic reasons leftover from your human existence, but at the end of the day, vampires need blood. You are a predator. Humans were created as your food
source. To deny it is futile and really does nothing but put you in a kind of perpetual torment. That is not the way to embrace your immortality.”
Theodora put out her hand, and Emma placed hers into it. Then Theodora drew Emma down beside her. Connor didn’t think the girl was even as old as Angeline. She was petite and pretty with enormous blue eyes that stared at him. Then she turned her head so that her pale throat was exposed. Connor saw the two small puncture wounds there and the vein that pumped carrying the vital blood to all parts of her body.
“Come, Connor. Embrace who you are. Heal yourself so that you can serve your Queen. She is about to meet with the Council. I am sure that she would appreciate having you by her side.”
“You will let me see her?” Connor searched Theodora’s face for any sign of deception.
“Of course,” Theodora said. “But we can’t have you looking like this. Weak. Wounded. You say you are her protector. She needs you to be strong, right?”
Connor’s eyes were drawn back to Emma’s neck. Her words made sense and if it meant that he could see Angeline he could be convinced. If he was honest, he wanted to be convinced. He was torn on what to do. Theodora stood and took a few steps back. Without her presence next to Emma, Connor’s tenuous hold on his restraint snapped.
He closed the gap between he and Emma and then his fangs sank into the softness of her skin. Her gasp catapulted him forward, and he pulled her sweet blood into his mouth and let it slide down his throat. As soon as it hit his tongue, he tasted something else in it, something sour and strange that he had never tasted before. He yanked himself away, and Emma turned toward him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Her eyes blinked at him innocently.
Connor felt his back against the wall, and he managed to get his feet underneath him. Even the few draughts of Emma’s blood were enough to accelerate his own healing and he felt his strength returning.
“What’s wrong with her blood?” His voice was dry and shaken.
“You are a clever one,” Theodora said. She crossed her arms and put her finger on her chin. “I wonder if it’s because you abstained from blood for so long that you could taste the taint? Most of our visitors have no idea.”
“What did you do to me?” Connor felt queer. His body was healing, but his mind was bending. For a moment, two Theodoras and two Emmas were in front of him before his eyes focused again.
“Oh, don’t worry. Unlike others that I am sure you are used to dealing with, I am a woman of my word,” Theodora said. “I will reunite you with your Queen shortly. We do have to get you cleaned up though. You look a fright.”
“What did you do?” Connor persisted.
“I told you that I could use a man like you, Connor. These are turbulent times. Trouble is brewing from unexpected places. For as long as you insist on thrusting your presence on that poor girl, I want to make sure that you can be controlled.”
“Controlled?” Connor felt a pit of dread growing in his stomach. “I am controlled by no one.”
“No longer,” Theodora said, wagging a finger under his nose. “You will call me Mistress when we are alone from now on.”
“I will no…” Connor felt his throat constrict and close off the words. His hand flew to his throat. His mouth opened and closed, and he saw that Theodora watched him closely with a look of satisfaction on her face. Then his mouth opened and the words “Yes, Mistress” fell out. His eyes widened.
“That’s better,” Theodora said. “You can follow the Queen’s orders during the Council meeting, but you will come when I call you and, if I ask you at any point during the meeting for anything, you will do it with no argument. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Mistress,” was Connor’s strangled reply.
“Emma, Connor needs some warm water to wash and a clean set of clothes. Fetch them for him. Quickly now.”
Emma rose to her feet, curtsied to Theodora, and left the room.
“How?” He was searching through what had just happened. He had just made a monumental mistake.
“Magic mixed with blood is a potent combination,” Theodora said with a shrug. “I always think that you vampires are going to figure that out. Your whole legend of Mamette and Arduro should give you all the warning you need, but yet the siren call of the blood always wins in the end. It’s very convenient for me.”
“That’s how you control Bryant and the others?”
Theodora smiled. “It may start out that way, but eventually, you will find yourself wanting to obey, Connor. The Clan can be your home. When your young Queen turns you out on your ear because she chooses to go through with her marriage to her Chief Advisor, and she will, you will need a place to go. Attempting to kill your sire will not endear you to Alron. In fact, there is likely already a price on your head. We can protect you.”
The information was coming too fast, and Connor could feel the tumult of emotions running through his mind. The idea that Angeline would go through with her marriage to Malin was unthinkable to him, but he knew that unless she could find another way, an impossible feat, she would do it to secure her kingdom. Although she was a woman, that ranked second to the fact that she was a queen.
Connor had known that falling for her was one of the dumbest things that he had ever done. He knew better than anyone the weight that she bore on her shoulders, and the depth of her commitment and loyalty to her people. As the last of the Robart bloodline, she felt that responsibility even more keenly. She would do what was right for them, even if her heart wasn’t in it.
What could he offer her that would make turning her back on her people seem like the right decision? Absolutely nothing. Theodora was right. He was death. He brought death wherever he went, and that was his fate if he wanted to protect her. He would have to protect her and then let her go. The idea made him want to rip out his heart. They had no future. Ever. No matter how badly he wanted it.
“I will consider it.” His words were hollow to his ears, but he didn’t feel as if he had a choice in the matter. He may need a place to go when the Master came for him. He had not thought that far ahead.
Theodora’s face lit up. “Excellent. Ah, here’s Emma with those things I asked for.”
Emma reappeared at Theodora’s words. She set a bowl of water and a pile of clothes down on a small bench that Connor had not noticed before. Then she curtsied to Theodora again and left the room.
“I will change,” Connor said.
“When you are ready, you will find Feldon outside. He will take you the Council meeting. You should make it just in time. It is getting ready to start.”
Connor nodded numbly. On one hand, he couldn’t wait to see Angeline again and make sure that she was safe, but he dreaded it on the other hand. He would have no control if Theodora ordered him to do something that Angeline wouldn’t want him to do. He would betray her, and there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to find a way to warn her because he wasn’t naïve to think that there wasn’t a reason that Theodora was suddenly so eager to reunite them.
“Connor.”
He dragged his head to look at the woman who now controlled his every move. He was bound to her by blood. “Yes, Mistress.”
“I know you are cross with me now, but you will eventually come round and understand that what I’ve done for you was the kindest favor that you’ve ever received. Someday, you will thank me.”
He turned his head away and stared at the wall willing her to leave. When he looked back where she stood, he found that she was gone. He was used to being able to detect the movements of those around him. The Clan’s ability to move around outside of that sixth sense was disconcerting.
Connor sat down heavily on the bench. He was utterly lost.
“Hurry up!” Feldon’s head appeared from around the corner. “What are you waiting for? The Council meeting is going to start anytime now. We have to get going.”
Connor picked up the bowl and pulled the rag out of it. First things first. He had to see Angeline
. Then he would find a way out of this mess.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Please rise for Her Royal Highness, Queen Angeline Mary Ellen Robart and Chief Advisor, Malin Baford.” The booming voice of the High Regent silenced the din in the room. The man’s ability to quiet a room in the span of seconds always amazed Malin. It was part of court life and the ultimate sign of respect for the royal family. And yet it always felt strange to be under the scrutiny of every eye in the room.
Malin let Corrinda walk a few inches in front of him. People expected to see their Queen. She held herself tall, and the image of Angeline was perfection to a tee. They moved to the top of the stairs that descended to the ballroom floor. In Malin’s mind, it wasn’t unlike being thrown into a pit of vipers. Of course, he was going willingly, and there were many in the room that would consider him the deadliest viper of all.
They paused there at the top of the stairs letting the nobles below have a full view of the Queen in all of her serene glory. Then the music began playing the royal processional march. It was their cue to start down the stairs. As with every other ceremonial event that took place during the Ascension activities, the royals aligned themselves on the floor according to their standing in court. That meant that Lord Norburn and Lady Gallow stood at the beginning of the lines that stretched out on either side of the room with each of the lower houses beside them. The lines went all the way across the floor to the dais that marked Malin and Corrinda’s final destination.
Malin’s eyes flew down the line to the end of the line. There, right next to the dais, a familiar set of narrowed blue eyes watched their progression. Malin couldn’t believe the creature’s gall. Elvry, the imposter posing as Lady Redley, stood there looking for the entire world as if she belonged there.
“Do not forget what we discussed,” he whispered into Corrinda’s ear. She smiled and nodded to each of the nobles that they passed. A small nod of her head in his direction was the only indication he had that she heard him. If Corrinda didn’t come through for him when he needed her to, he was afraid of what the evening could turn into. It could become a royal bloodbath.