by Cege Smith
After escorting Sophia back to the queen’s chambers, Malin knew that trying to get any rest would be an exercise in futility. There were too many things running through his mind, and he had no idea what to do next. The wedding ceremony was scheduled for when the sun reached its highest peak in the sky the next day. He was quickly running out of time. If he canceled the ceremony, it would cause panic and severely upset Sophia in the process. By Alteran law, Angeline must be married by the end of the third day after her Ascension. If not, the nobles could move to remove her from the throne altogether, and there were several nobles in the larger houses who wouldn’t hesitate to move in for the kill in order to bid for their own right to the throne.
If he continued forward, there was a chance that he would be wed to a crazy vampire who he barely had under control. There was a good chance that Sophia would chose to wreak havoc on the entire kingdom if she was allowed to stay on under the guise of the queen. He hoped to find a few moments of peace, but no sooner had he deposited Sophia in her room, then he found Rhone falling into step with him.
He knew already that Rhone didn’t trust him. He looked on the old man in a completely different light after learning that not only did Rhone know that he was Clan but that Rhone was a descendent and member of a secret society called the Blood Guard. The society was created with the sole purpose of defending the humans against the vampires. It seemed that even though they were family, Alair Robart didn’t fully trust his own brother to keep the peace, but then again, that was something that Malin understood better than anyone.
Just because someone was family it didn’t mean that they wouldn’t turn on him if it served their own interests. His mother sent him off to his father when it was clear that he didn’t have a strong magical leaning. She also encouraged the divide that grew between him and his sister. It sickened him to learn that Theodora was the one who caused his sister’s death, despite the fact that he despised her. Corrinda was still his blood, and he found that he struggled with the idea that his own kin had turned on each other.
“Where have you been? The Queen was found hours ago,” Malin asked. The last time he saw Rhone was after discovering ‘Angeline’ missing after the events of the Ascension Ball. He was glad that Sophia decided to remain hidden until Malin was alone as opposed to try to play a game with the Chief General.
“So I heard,” Rhone replied. “I went in search of the missing bodies. The longer we waited to recover them, the more certain I was that they were alive.”
At least Rhone was focused once again on the vampire problem and not the strange behavior of the Queen. “How did your excursion fare?”
“Not as successful as I hoped,” Rhone replied in a low tone as he looked around them. “We were finally able to locate two of the three bodies. They were hidden in an abandoned cellar not far from their original location. I fear that the last one may still be alive.”
That was not good news. Malin had been holding out hope that the incident with the vampires in Brebackerin would be easily contained so that they could avoid having to say anything to the people at all. A simple house fire should have done the trick, but Elvry had her hand in that too. She hid the bodies, and Malin thought that she might have tried to reanimate them. Malin wished he had staked her the first moment he saw her again. But then again, she had used magic to compel him and make him look like a fool.
“What’s the plan?” Malin knew what Rhone wanted, and he still wasn’t willing to make that decision. It wasn’t his to make. He couldn’t overturn three hundred years of forgetfulness and blissful ignorance. He wouldn’t be the one to dispel the vampire myth.
“Every moment we delay in raising the alarm, we give the bastard even more opportunity to kill innocent people,” Rhone replied in his grizzled tone. “We need to tell the people about the vampires so that we have even more eyes and ears inside the walls. Now that the sun is coming up, he’ll be hiding somewhere dark and dank until sundown. If we recruit the townspeople to help us, we can flush him out in no time.”
For many years, Malin wanted to be a soldier. He looked up to Rhone. There was never any need to hold back or hide his emotions around Rhone because Rhone was one of the few transparent people he had met in his life. That was what had made the revelation of his status as a Blood Guard even more surprising. Rhone wasn’t known as one who could keep secrets, but perhaps that had been deliberate. That made Malin wonder what else he didn’t know about Rhone.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to consult the Queen on this matter yet,” Malin replied tersely. He didn’t want Rhone to think that he could be strong-armed into making a decision.
“I heard that there was some confusion earlier,” Rhone said. It was clear that he was expecting a further explanation.
Malin wondered how the truth would go over.
Alair Robart’s three hundred year old daughter was turned into a vampire and now wants revenge, so she imitated my sister to get me to trust her, and now with the Queen out of the palace trying to convince the Clan to save her, we have a crazy vampire in charge. Did I mention that the Queen is also a wraith and in love with another vampire?
“The Queen was sleepwalking again,” Malin replied. “You remember that she used to do that as a child.”
Rhone glanced at him before continuing their walk. “I recall a few instances right after her mother passed on. It hasn’t happened in years. That seems highly unusual.”
Malin deliberately sharpened his tone. “She’s unexpectedly lost her father after being away from court for two years. She’s barely eighteen years old and has been put in the position of leading all of Altera. We had a murder inside the palace walls right after her Ascension, and worst of all, vampires have arrived in our midst yet again. It should be no surprise that the amount of stress she is under caused her unconscious mind to wander.”
“So you wouldn’t know anything else about any of those events?”
Malin drew up to a halt and turned to Rhone. “Are you accusing me of something, Chief General?”
Although Rhone looked entirely relaxed when he faced him, Malin knew better. The older man was wound up like a snake, and his fingertips, resting casually on his hip, was less than a hand swipe away from his sword. If Rhone considered Malin a threat, it didn’t matter that he was the Chief Advisor. He only had one leverage point to stay Rhone’s hand.
“You are Clan, and I will be completely honest with you. That makes you even less trustworthy than a vampire.”
Malin snorted. “I have lived inside these walls as part of the royal family for eight years. Because of my age, I never went through the full rites of initiation into the Clan, and I never will because my place is here. My responsibilities and life’s purpose are here. I’ve trained beside you. I’ve taken every order you’ve given me on the training field and followed it without question. I am about to marry the woman that I love. I understand that my lineage could call things into question for you, but you owe it to the Queen to consider my actions instead of where I came from.”
Rhone raised an eyebrow. “It’s a passionate speech, I’ll give you that. But there’s one problem with it.”
Malin thought about everything that he said. It was flawless in its simplicity and logic. He stiffened. “And what is that?”
Rhone pulled a letter out of his pocket and held it up. “Eric knew that the day would come where the Clan would try to exert its will over him. They’ve been after him practically since the day Melinda died to remarry and produce an heir. They would even have taken an illegitimate claim if it meant that a man took the throne. He prepared for it. He expected it. That is why he wrote me this, and had it given to me in the event of his unexpected death.”
Malin felt the color drain from his face. He thought that he had done everything in his power to support Angeline’s bid for the throne since Eric’s death. Of course, his past misdeeds would come back to haunt him. He cursed Eric Robart. He should have known that the former king would betray him.
“The King died from a failing heart. You heard the doctors say so yourself,” Malin said quietly. “So whatever it is you think, or Eric thought, that is the truth.”
“He was poisoned,” Rhone replied. The soldier’s voice was eerily calm. “He knew it. It might not have been your hand that put it in his food and drink, but it was on the Clan’s order that he was murdered.”
Malin’s choices were limited. He could admit his involvement in Eric’s death, but he wasn’t even sure at that point that it was the Clan who killed him. Sophia had been playing the part of his Clan intermediary for months. It could easily have been Sophia who killed Eric. For the first time, he thought of the fact that Angeline went to the Clan so willingly, and Theodora might not have even been aware yet that Eric was dead. That really only left him one option. Deflection and an aggressive front to push Rhone back on his heels.
“Eric Robart was a paranoid man. At the end, he jumped at his own shadow. His health had been failing for well over a year. He had a condition of the heart, and he was a sick man. I heard him every day. You didn’t. Everyone was conspiring against him. Everyone betrayed him. I even heard him suggest once that you were a spy for Alron,” Malin said, stretching the truth to a point where it could possibly break. “You are sniping at the wrong heels, Chief General. The Queen and I are set to wed tomorrow, and you and I both know that if that doesn’t happen, everything is at risk. Everything.”
Malin watched Rhone’s hand clutch the letter in his hands until his fingers turned white. His hand shook violently in the air, and Malin thought for a moment that Rhone was going to take a swing at him. He took a step backward. It wasn’t that he thought that Rhone could beat him, but because he didn’t want to fight him. He needed Rhone on his side.
“Eric calls you out directly,” Rhone replied. “I can’t let you marry the Queen.”
“I understand why you would take Eric’s word over mine,” Malin said. “But strip the title away, and he was just a man. He was a sick man without any proof of wrongdoing. Would you jeopardize Angeline’s kingdom on the ramblings of a sick, old man?” There it was. Malin had all of his cards on the table. He knew that all he had to do was cast a shadow of doubt on the king’s words. He didn’t need to convince Rhone. He just needed to cast the slightest doubt of Eric’s perception. That crack would be all he needed to slip through.
A huge expulsion of air escaped Rhone’s lips. He pointed at Malin’s chest. “If I find out you are lying, I will kill you myself. The Queen will understand once I show her this.”
Angeline would willingly give Rhone the knife to drive into his heart. He added removing Eric Robart’s letter from Rhone’s possession to his to do list as soon as possible. That was the last thing that he needed winding up in Angeline’s hands.
He held up his hands. “Fair enough. But I am not, and I ask that you work with me instead of against me, Rhone. We both want the same thing. Angeline securely on the throne, and all vampire threats removed from Altera. I even gave you my word in writing that I don’t want the throne.”
“We need to tell the people about the vampires.” Rhone had come full circle, and with that, Malin knew that he had bought himself more time.
“You need to get back out there and track that vampire down without causing a panic that will disrupt the wedding,” Malin said firmly.
“We should cancel the festivities,” Rhone said. “This is a bad idea.”
“We can’t do that, and you know why,” Malin replied. He held up two fingers. “Secure Angeline’s throne.” He put down one finger. “Remove the vampire threat.” He put down the second finger. “I will worry about the first, and you worry about the second.”
Rhone ran a hand through his thinning hair. “This last one is a wily one. The trail went cold on the west side near the gates.”
“Everything will depend on if he regains his strength before the sun goes down,” Malin said. “He will be weak and need to feed. Look for the bodies, Rhone, and you will find the vampire. Of that, I have no doubt.”
“I will be back before the wedding,” Rhone said.
Malin opened his mouth to argue, but then he remembered that Rhone was the one who would be giving the bride away. He felt the pressure of time passing once again. He couldn’t let Rhone get anywhere near Sophia. Rhone would be able to see through that deception in no time.
“There is a lot to do before then,” Malin said nodding. “You best be on your way.”
He watched as Rhone strode away without a backward glance. It was clear that while they were on the same side for the moment yet again, that balance was tenuous at best. He closed his eyes and wished with all his might that he knew when Angeline would return so he would know what to do.
When the light erupted around him, he whirled to find its source. Then his mouth fell open. It was a sight he never expected to see again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I suggest we convene in Craven for the meeting,” Angeline said. “It is a neutral location far away from any of my people, and more suitable for this type of meeting. But I must return to Brebackerin for a short time.” She hadn’t forgotten that she had another traitor sitting on her throne. She needed to address that issue quickly.
“I will send Thomas to retrieve Alron,” Theodora said. “I will accompany you to Brebackerin and then onto Craven.”
The woman was far too agreeable for Angeline’s taste. She expected some push back at her request to return to the palace. “I don’t require an escort,” Angeline replied. She gestured to Connor. “As you can see, I am well-protected.”
“Oh, it is not that,” Theodora said. “Did you expect me to miss the wedding of my only son?”
Angeline felt her stomach drop. She did a quick calculation. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed since arriving in Tanagor. The city was underground and time felt as if it passed differently, but she realized that if she was correct, her wedding day was tomorrow.
If she hadn’t been distracted by the vampires in Brebackerin and her own wraith condition, she would have spent the last two days culling favor with the nobles around the idea that she didn’t need to be married to keep control of the throne. Instead, after the confrontation with Elvry, dealing with her wraith became top priority.
She was in no better position than she was when she left Brebackerin. In fact, it could be said that her position was worse. For the time being, the wraith was there to stay. She was further embroiled in the politics of the Clan, and she still had no answer for the vampire onslaught. It felt as if she were holding on by mere threads, and at any moment, one of them could be cut loose, and everything would crash down around her.
She didn’t need to look in Connor’s direction to know his reaction to Theodora’s words, especially after the night they spent together. Marrying Malin wasn’t what she wanted at all, but that was the woman talking, not the queen. The Queen knew that she had reached a point with the Malin situation where she had to do what was necessary to keep the nobles at bay. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small but critical compromise.
Slightly inclining her head, Angeline smiled. “Of course, although you understand that everyone in Altera believes that Malin’s parents are dead. It would cause many questions if his mother appeared out of nowhere after all of these years.” It was a weak argument, but the only one she had.
“I know that the relationship with my son has been strained in the past. I don’t blame him and my former husband for propagating the myth that I was dead. I won’t be disruptive to either of you on such an important day. Surely it wouldn’t be strange if a distant relative of the Chief Advisor attended the ceremony and wished him well?”
It really wasn’t a request, and Angeline knew it. There was no way that Theodora was going to let Angeline out of her sight until she got what she wanted. The information on the meeting with the Immortal Ones was the only leverage she had to keep Theodora at bay. That combined with the fact that so far she had bee
n able to fend off Theodora’s attempts to cast a spell on her to get her to talk. But let loose in the palace, Angeline had no idea what kind of damage the woman could do.
Then an idea blossomed in her mind. With everything else going on, she hadn’t had time to think about the fact that the traitor in Brebackerin had been posing as Malin’s sister and intermediary to the Clan. If she hid her true face from Malin, then there was also a chance that Theodora was unaware of the trickster.
“The relationship would be strained considering the falling out between you and his sister,” Angeline said innocently. “She mentioned it just before we left Brebackerin.”
Theodora’s eyebrows knit together. “What are you talking about? Corrinda is dead.”
Angeline widened her eyes and brought her hand to her mouth for dramatic effect. “What? No, that can’t be! I saw her. She was the one who created the portal for us to get here.”
“That can’t be,” Theodora sputtered, even as the room erupted in a multitude of voices asking questions.
Angeline felt a small glancing touch on her arm. She didn’t look at Connor. She couldn’t look at him, knowing what she was going to have to do to him the following day. It was too painful.
“Get Pol in here now!” Theodora called out to the servant girl in the corner of the room. The girl squeaked and dashed out of the room.
“Corrinda has been gone for some time. Pol has been Malin’s intermediary since then.”
Angeline shook her head. “I observed a secret meeting between Malin and Corrinda myself before I even knew who she was. She gave him a missive that she said came from the Clan. That was just a few days ago.”
“That is impossible,” Theodora replied much calmer than before. “I will get to the bottom of this right now.”
Angeline didn’t press the issue. She wanted to let the situation ride out. Theodora seemed too surprised to have been involved with the traitor, but the woman had also been deep in political intrigue for more years than Angeline had been alive. Theodora could also be simply biding her time and waiting to reveal that she did know about the false Corrinda at a more advantageous time.