by Cege Smith
A few moments later, a young man entered the room. He looked slightly frazzled, and his hair stuck up in several places. Given the hour, he had likely been asleep until Theodora’s missive. He stopped a few feet inside the door, and his face went white as he saw the gathered host of people waiting for him. Then he made a quick bow before crossing the room to stand in front of Theodora.
“I apologize for the delay,” he said. His voice wavered, and Angeline sensed the undertone of fear. If she were Pol, she’d be afraid too. “What does the First Seat desire?”
“Pol, I was just speaking to the Queen, and she is under the impression that someone else is carrying the council’s instructions to my son in Brebackerin.”
Pol looked up in surprise. “I’ve traveled to Brebackerin six times in the last six months, just as you requested. Unless you are sending instructions with someone else as well?”
Angeline hid her smile behind her hand and a short cough. Theodora wasn’t one who would like to be questioned.
“No, Pol,” Theodora replied. “You took over the role of intermediary from my daughter. There isn’t anyone else. Are you calling Queen Angeline a liar?”
Pol’s face went slack at the insinuation. “I didn’t call anyone a liar,” he stammered. “I was simply telling you what I know. I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I don’t know about anyone else.”
“Bryant!” Theodora called out. “We need to jog Pol’s memory.”
As the hulking shadow began to cross the room and Angeline saw Pol cower on his knees in terror, she knew that she couldn’t stand idly by and watch someone be tortured in front of her. It didn’t matter if the person was one of her people or not. Her father taught her that she always needed to explore every avenue before resorting to violence. Ruling by fear was not the way to rule at all.
“Wait,” Angeline said. She didn’t give anyone a chance to stop her. She knelt down on the floor next to Pol and gently touched his shoulder. She hated the fact that he flinched and turned his eyes away from her. “Pol, it is very important that you look at me. I want to help you.”
Even through the thick fabric of his shirt, she felt his arm twitch at her touch. But after a moment, he finally slid his eyes back to hers. He didn’t say anything, but she could see that he was present with her.
“Pol, someone trespassed inside my palace and has been interfering with the communications between the Clan and my Chief Advisor. I need to know what you know about that.” She kept her voice soft and low hoping that it was soothing.
“Clan cannot be compelled,” Theodora hissed above her.
Angeline ignored her. She wasn’t trying to compel Pol. She was trying to appeal to his survival instinct. But she couldn’t stop the bubbling inside of her even as she said the words. It wasn’t a sensation that she could even describe. She just knew that there was something else there trying to help her achieve her goal, and she didn’t have time to question it.
“I went to the palace. I spoke to the Chief Advisor. Then I returned,” Pol said. His words were toneless, and his eyes were vacant.
Angeline looked up at Theodora. “That’s not my doing.”
“He’s been compelled,” Connor’s voice floated down to her. “You can say that Clan can’t be compelled, but I think you might have to confront the fact that someone has found a way around that.”
More gasps and whispers filled the room.
“The Queen and I need to speak alone,” Theodora said. “These are dangerous times. Anyone on the council could be compromised. I call for Supreme Subrogation.”
“You can’t do that, Theodora,” Tobias said, his voice loudest in the din.
“I can and I will,” Theodora said, her face turning dark. “There is a traitor in our midst, and as First Seat, it is my right to take control.”
“What is Supreme Subrogation?” Angeline allowed herself to ask Connor.
“Theodora is taking absolute control of the council, and the Clan,” Connor replied. “Consensus rule will now obsolete.”
Angeline wondered if she had played right into Theodora’s hands. Without anyone else to temper her decisions, she was all-powerful.
Theodora closed her eyes and said a litany of strange words. The lights in the room dimmed and went out before flaring back to life. Her whole body glowed. Even as Angeline watched, black tendrils appeared on the skin of Theodora’s hands and wound themselves up her arms.
“It is done,” Theodora said. Then she flung her hands out, and Angeline cried out when the other council members disappeared.
“Don’t worry, I’ve simply sent them back to their quarters,” Theodora said with a cruel smile. “But, they won’t be coming back anytime soon.”
Angeline sensed that showing any sign of weakness now would be her doom. She needed to be even more cautious now. “There is dark magic afoot, Theodora. I might not understand all of the Clan’s ways and histories, but someone has infiltrated both of our worlds.”
“Yes, and that person will be stopped,” Theodora replied. “As Supreme Seat, I now hold and control all access to the Clan’s magic. There is no one in Altera who is more powerful than I am.”
Angeline realized what the other woman had done. By declaring herself Supreme Seat, she gained all of the possible defenses of Clan to use at her disposal. If it didn’t scare Angeline to death, she’d admire it. It was exactly what she would have done. The time for consensus was over. They needed action.
“The traitor hides within my walls and wears my face,” Angeline said. “I will turn her over to you once I’ve had my own justice.”
“Clearly this person is a powerful spellcaster, which means she is or was Clan. There is no other way that anyone would be strong enough to break the Clan’s binding of non-compulsion.”
“Then she is extremely dangerous,” Angeline replied. “The palace is filled with members from every noble house in Altera. The city itself is bursting at the seams with people who have arrived to view the Ascension ceremonies. This is a delicate time in my city, and I refuse to put any of them in any further danger.”
“I have interest in only one person in Brebackerin,” Theodora said. “I don’t care about anyone else.”
“I know that,” Angeline said. “That is why I insist that you do not do anything without my express consent.”
“I am the Clan Supreme Seat,” Theodora barked. “You dare to give me orders?”
Angeline stiffened her spine. “I am the Queen of Altera, and when you are in my city you will give me the respect I am due as a guest in my home, just as I have done here.”
Theodora threw back her head and laughed. “Your pet vampire killed almost twenty of my guards. Is that what you call respect?”
Angeline knew that Theodora was going to throw that back in her face. She had to press her will another way. “Theodora, let me make it very clear. If anyone is harmed during your brief stay in Brebackerin, I will not tell you anything that the Immortal Ones told me, ever. I will deal with Alron on my own, and I will make it my personal mission to ensure that the Clan never has a shred of influence in Altera again. Which I can do, because the Immortal Ones talk to me and not to you.”
She could tell that her words hit their target and that Theodora was ready to scratch her eyes out if given the chance.
Reaching down, Theodora roughly pulled Pol to his feet. “As you wish, Your Highness.” Then she shoved Pol into the giant fireplace behind her. Before Angeline had time to react, the man’s body went up in flames, and his shrieks filled her ears.
“My walls, my rules,” Theodora whispered as if challenging Angeline to say differently.
Angeline felt a small well of despair. Theodora’s threat was clear. She would play by Angeline’s rules inside Brebackerin, but after that, all bets were off. It wasn’t any less than she expected, but the stark reality of it as she watched Pol thrash about in his death throes was almost too much to bear. She had seen far too much death in her short life.
Th
en Theodora threw up her hand. A bright light filled the room, and Angeline saw the open portal. It felt as if years had passed since she saw the first one that brought her to Tanagor. Finally, she was going to go home. She just wished she knew what she was going to find when she got there.
“After you,” Theodora said with a mock half-curtsey.
Angeline cast a sidelong glance at Connor. His face gave nothing away. Then she took a deep breath and stepped into the portal, not feeling in the least bit ready to face the next part of her journey.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Connor felt wholly helpless. In the interplay between Theodora and Angeline, he could only watch and wait. Angeline asked him to trust her, but he struggled with it. Then he heard the news that crushed his insides. Angeline still had every intention of marrying Malin Baford. Although he knew that was a small consideration in the grand scheme of everything that affected Angeline’s world, in his world, she was all that mattered. And soon, she would belong to someone else.
He tried to clear his head, but he couldn’t get away from the deep anguish that he felt pressing against his chest. If she followed through with it, he didn’t know what he would do. There was no way Baford would allow him to remain close to her. After his betrayal of Monroe and the other elder vampires, he would be put to death if the Master ever got his hands on him. Without Angeline, he truly had nothing.
That wasn’t her burden to bear though. It was his, and he began to build the necessary wall around his emotions. For a few perfect hours, she had been his, despite the fact that he knew it was nothing but a slip in the fabric of reality. What had happened couldn’t unhappen though, and he would never wish that either.
He hadn’t mentioned it to her, but since their mental connection had been re-established, Connor had been receiving faint impressions of other sensations that he realized were radiating from her. He was certain that it had nothing to do with him, but was some manifestation of what appeared to be Angeline’s ever-growing abilities. She was far beyond what he knew a wraith to be. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with her that it had something to do with his lineage. It didn’t matter. For him, there was no lingering doubt that she was special in more ways than just the hold she had over his heart.
With Theodora declaring herself the Clan’s Supreme Seat, Connor was more concerned than ever about Angeline’s safety. Theodora’s actions skittered the edges of madness and need for absolute power. There was no way to reason with someone that desperate and thirsty for power. The only chink in Theodora’s armor, and the only reason she hadn’t yet turned that power on Angeline, was that Angeline still remained mute on the topic of the Immortal Ones.
He was curious about her time with them as well. The scant details she told him seemed to suggest there were greater mysteries to be answered. He didn’t think that she had gained any useful information or answers to the problems she already had. If she was bluffing, there were far larger problems to consider. Now that Theodora claimed the Supreme Seat, her wrath would be even worse.
Theodora’s casual murder of Pol was a not-so-subtle warning that he recognized. As the man exploded into flames, Connor couldn’t stop himself from baring his teeth at the spectacle. It was unnecessary and cruel, and worst of all, the smell of charred flesh awakened the hunger inside of him.
Connor’s consumption of blood brought urges back to the surface that he thought he had been able to quell. The hunger made his senses sharper, but his mind wandered into longing thoughts of feeding. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. As Theodora opened the portal, Connor prepared to follow Angeline when he heard the door creak open.
“Hey, Wildling. Did you forget something?” Bryant’s voice stopped his forward movement.
Connor looked back over his shoulder. Bryant held Marcus in the curl of his arm. The young vampire struggled against Bryant’s grip, but he was no match for the larger man. Ignoring their interplay, Theodora moved toward the portal following in Angeline’s wake. Connor felt momentarily torn. Marcus was his responsibility. He had made the man a promise. But there was no way that Theodora would re-open the portal once it was closed. If he didn’t leave with them now, there wouldn’t be another chance.
He sensed that this was exactly what Theodora hoped would happen. Bryant didn’t do anything that Theodora didn’t expressly command him to do. Connor hated the woman even more for the choice being forced upon him.
“Connor, please! Help me!” Marcus said, even as he tried pounding on Bryant’s arm trying to break free. “You can’t leave me here with him!”
He felt more in control of his emotions. Once he left Tanagor, he had no intention of ever coming back. He and Marcus were bound to part ways, and at that point Marcus would have had to find his own footing to survive in the world. Connor wouldn’t have been able to protect him then. Bryant had done nothing but speed up the inevitable.
“Good luck, Marcus,” he called out.
The portal was already starting to close, and Connor bolted forward. He could just make out Theodora’s form inside of it. As he stepped inside the light, he heard a short scream and then the sickening crack of splintering bones. He didn’t look back, but he felt the absence of the invisible bond, which had been there since he sired Marcus into the vampire life. He felt a small measure of relief that he no longer had to worry about that responsibility, and hated himself for it. He was truly a cold-hearted bastard. He didn’t understand why Angeline didn’t see it.
He hurried after the women, not sure if Theodora would also try to close the portal with him still in it. He wouldn’t put it past her to try, no matter what Angeline might say about it. When he suddenly stepped out of the light and onto the cold stone floor that he recognized as the palace in Brebackerin, he let go a small sigh of relief. He and Angeline had made it back in one piece.
All of that was gone in the next instant as he looked at the scene in front of him. Malin Baford was standing between Angeline and Theodora, and he had a knife in one hand while he blocked Angeline behind him with the other. His eyes burned with murderous rage. It was clearly not a happy reunion with his mother.
“Put that away, Malin,” Theodora admonished. “Surely you are not so stupid as to threaten your own mother.”
“Why are you here, Mother?” Malin asked. The word ‘mother’ came out twisted and full of hatred. “Have you come to murder your remaining child as you did your first?”
Connor didn’t care what happened between Malin and Theodora. He only cared about getting Angeline out of the crossfire of what appeared to be an explosive reunion.
“If you really want to know what happened between me and Corrinda, all you have to do is ask,” Theodora said. “I had my reasons for what happened.”
Malin snorted. “I bet. No doubt it had to do with your precious First Seat.”
“Those are family matters,” Theodora said, crossing her arms. She looked completely nonplussed at having a knife just inches away from her face. “You and I may speak about them at an appropriate time. As far as why I’m here, I want to find the one who has been imitating my daughter, and to attend my only son’s wedding.”
“And to keep an eye on me,” Angeline added under her breath.
The knife came down slightly. “You know about Sophia?”
“Sophia?” Angeline, Connor, and Theodora all said the name at the same time.
Connor looked at Angeline, and she did a quick shake of her head. She didn’t know who Sophia was any more than he did, but he had heard the name before. Then it hit him.
“Sophia Robart?” Connor asked.
Malin glanced at him and gave a short nod. “Yes. Sophia Robart. Back from the grave it seems.”
“Wait a minute,” Angeline said. She stepped forward and put her hand on Malin’s arm getting his attention.
Connor barely kept the growl from erupting from his throat at the touch. His emotional walls weren’t building fast enough.
“Sophia Robart is no spellcaster,” Theodora said,
shaking her head. “That girl was human. She wasn’t Clan.”
“She was turned into a vampire,” Malin replied. The knife dropped another couple of inches. “She faked her own death and has been in hiding ever since.”
“Hiding under the nose of the First Seat apparently,” Connor said, looking around and feeling all too visible in the middle of the hallway. “We should probably take this conversation somewhere else unless you want to be overheard.”
“We can’t go too far,” Malin said. “Everyone believes the Queen is retired for the evening, and we also run the risk of Sophia popping up looking like her. But I agree that we need to find somewhere quiet to talk.”
Angeline looked pointedly at Theodora. “You can make us invisible, can’t you? The three of us?”
Connor could tell that Theodora didn’t want to take any kind of suggestions from Angeline, but then the older woman nodded. “I could, but you forget that you and your companion appear to have an immunity to my magic.”
“Give us a moment,” Angeline said. She moved closer to Connor, and he saw her slide the herb bag out of her pocket. “What do you want to do?” Her voice was barely audible to even his sensitive hearing.
“Give that to me,” Connor replied. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be right behind you. I’m used to moving in the shadows.”
With her back to Theodora, Angeline pressed the small bag into Connor’s hand. His fingers clutched around it, and he savored the touch of her soft skin before she slipped her hand away.
“Do it,” Angeline said, turning back to Theodora. “We’ll follow behind you, Malin. We should go to your chambers. It’s one place where we can ensure that no one will accidentally walk in on us.”
Other than a slight rise of her eyebrows, Theodora gave no indication that she questioned the plan. A moment later, the two women disappeared from Connor’s view. The effect was disconcerting.