Katelina would have glared at him, but she was too sick to care. Luckily, the vampires managed to agree that she and Loren could go before she threw up all over the throne room.
The hallway wasn’t so lucky.
Loren stepped back from the puddle on the corridor floor and gagged. “Oh gross.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” she moaned. “God, I hate all of them!”
“They probably hate you, too. That whole Kateesha thing really fucked shit up.”
“Yeah, well, Oren can suck it, and so can the rest of them.”
Loren shrugged, then took her arm and led her down the corridor, away from the smell. No matter how far they went they couldn’t escape it; it was in their clothes.
“This reeks!” he complained. “I’m gonna have to go take a bath.”
“Yeah, I’d like one too. And some food,” she added testily. “But, I don’t suppose any of that’s coming?”
“You should have a bathroom off the bedroom. I dunno about food though. I guess I could go look.”
Her gruff tone softened a little, “I’d appreciate it.”
“Hey, no problem. You got me out of there, after all.” He offered her a toothy grin. “I don’t think I coulda taken much more of that, really. I don’t know how they do it.”
“Me either.” For once, she and Loren were in complete agreement.
Loren was wrong. There was no bathroom off of her room, and no electricity, either. The teen whistled low, and commented that they’d obviously put her in the dungeon quarters. He questioned why Kateesha was down there, for it wasn’t just the evil vampiress’s clothes Katelina wore, but her bed she slept in as well, but the answer came soon enough. Some reconnaissance turned up what appeared to be a gigantic bathroom. The golden tub was the size of a large sauna, and the alcoves and massive bronze pitchers hinted that slaves were probably involved in the bathing ritual. No doubt that was Claudius’ touch, and if it had been Claudius’ room, then Kateesha undoubtedly had had to have it. However, there was no part of Katelina that intended to haul hot water from God only knew where and bathe in a cavernous room, so Loren gallantly offered the loan of his more modern accommodations. Under different circumstances she’d have refused but, as it was, she took him up on it.
He was right about one thing; she was in the dungeon. They wound upwards at least one level, and possibly two, before they reached his room. He explained that the deeper chambers were older, and that was probably why they didn't have electricity or plumbing. Apparently he’d gotten a tour of the whole place earlier, and he felt the need to share all the odd trivia. Katelina didn't care about any of it, except the “blood stash”, and even that was only so interesting.
“Seriously, there’s like five cows down there in this big ass room. They’ve got hay and these big old vents cut into the ceiling, but I can’t figure out what they do with all the mess, you know? Hey, after you take your shower, I’ll show you!”
“That’s all right,” she declined politely. “I don’t think they’d like it if I was roaming around too much.”
She could see his disappointment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, since you’re still condemned and all.” He suddenly brightened. “Maybe after your trial tomorrow, huh?”
His optimism made her hopeful. After all, there was a chance that she wouldn’t have much “after trial” time. Despite Jorick’s assurances, they could find her guilty and sentence her to death, like the lieutenant. Even if they did, surely Jorick wouldn’t really let them. He wouldn’t allow her to have a trial if he thought she was in real danger. Would he?
**********
Chapter Twenty-Four
The only food in the complex was frozen but, thankfully, precooked beef that had been kept by Claudius for his human slaves. It wasn’t hard to imagine where it came from; assuming Loren’s tale of hidden livestock was true. If Claudius had had slaves, why didn’t he have a kitchen somewhere? Someone had cooked the beef, after all. She wondered if it wasn’t as much a lack of selection as it was Loren’s lack of knowledge about the complex.
They thawed the meat over the heater and she managed to choke some down, before Oren arrived and escorted her back to her room. She asked to see Jorick, but he told her that she could talk to him later, as it was nearly dawn, and then he left her alone in the stone room with only a few candles and a book of matches.
By the time he came for her the following evening, she threatened to pee on him if he didn’t do something about her lack of a bathroom. Both his disgust and surprise seemed genuine, and he muttered a vague promise that they might move her to the “slave quarters”, which were made for humans.
Somehow that made her mood worse.
When her hygienic needs were met, Oren shoved her off on Loren, and left him to lead her back to her room. The teen waited in the corridor while she changed into Kateesha’s other old dress. This one was made almost entirely of pale lilac lace with an under layer of some silky material, so light it was almost white. The bodice was tight, as were the long sleeves, and the neckline scooped too low for her comfort.
However, when they met Jorick in one of the corridors, his appreciation was in his eyes. That made the whole thing almost worth while.
As they walked to the makeshift courtroom, which had previously been some kind of meeting room, Jorick explained what she should expect. “It will be only the war coven. Kateesha’s members won’t be allowed to judge you because they’ve agreed to overlook it, as though it never happened. That leaves only Anya, Thomas, Des and Fabian who will want you punished.”
“And Micah,” she added savagely.
“Nah,” Loren cut in. “Micah will side with Oren, and Oren will side with Jorick.”
She dismissed the boy’s optimism. “Somehow I doubt it. He makes his feelings pretty clear.”
“Yeah, he does,” Loren agreed. “That’s how I know he’ll vote with Oren. So will Torina, though I think she’s siding with Jorick.” Loren gave the raven haired vampire a suggestive smirk that earned him an angry grunt, and then he went back to his list. “And I won’t vote to have you burned alive or anything.”
“It will come down to Jeda,” Jorick said quietly. “And, though you did slight her by not allowing her the heart, I don’t sense any animosity from her. She was to disband the coven, anyway.”
Despite the encouraging idea, it seemed like a very narrow margin to Katelina.
“Narrow, yes,” Jorick agreed to her thoughts. “But a margin still.”
“Hey!” she cried. “I thought you had to stop that now?”
He gave her an innocent look. “No, I can still hear you when I want to. I just get a reprieve when I don’t.” His innocence melted into a grin. “I got the better end of the deal, I think.”
She didn’t dignify him with an answer.
They stopped around the corner from the meeting room, and Loren took a couple of steps away to give them some privacy. “Just cooperate,” Jorick told her quietly. “So this can end quickly.” She nodded her understanding and he slipped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug that turned into a deep kiss. When they parted, he gazed at her with such confidence and amusement that, for just a moment, she couldn’t help but think that Anya had a point. It wasn’t really going to be a fair trial. If it was, Jorick wouldn’t be so cheerful.
Once she was inside the room, with only Loren next to her, that certainty wavered. Still, she held her head up as he led her past the chairs of vampires. Though Kateesha’s coven couldn’t vote, some of them were present. There was a thin blonde male, whose hair was tucked neatly behind his ears, a woman with silvery blonde hair and large eyes, and another male with short red hair and a pierced ear.
“The blonde girl’s Luna,” Loren whispered as they passed her chair. “I heard she was talking to Fabian last night after they let them all out. The blonde guy is Kale. He used to belong to Claudius, and ended up with Kateesha when she took over last month. Micah said he thinks he’s going to form h
is own coven and pick up most of Kateesha’s old followers.” He paused and frowned at the red head. “And I don’t know who that is. But he’s-”
“One of Kateesha’s,” Katelina finished. “Fantastic.”
For want of real court furniture, Oren placed a chair in the front of the room and told Katelina to sit in it. She’d have rather stood, but since Jorick said to cooperate, she sat.
Despite her compliance, it wasn’t finished quickly. First Oren asked her to tell them what had happened, and then why she’d taken Kateesha’s heart. “At any time, did Jorick order or ask you to take Kateesha’s heart?”
She fastened her eyes on the vampire in question and drew a calming breath. It was true that she couldn’t feel him anymore, but she could see him, and that was enough. “No. He didn’t. He planned to incapacitate Kateesha and leave the heart for Jeda.”
Oren studied her impassively. “If you knew that, why didn’t you leave it for her?”
She lifted her chin a notch. “Because I didn’t care what arrangement Jorick made. I thought-” she broke off and her cheeks flushed at her stupidity. “I thought Jorick was dead. He looked dead,” she added in defense. “And I was angry. No, not angry. Furious. I was devastated and furious.” She swallowed hard, as if trying to force the confession back inside where it belonged. “And I wanted to hurt Kateesha, and that was all that was left.” She skipped past the part about wanting to get even with Oren. It couldn’t help her any.
Fabian stood up. “But you’re a mortal. Why would you even think of that unless he told you?”
“How could he have told her?” Torina argued, without bothering to rise. “She thought he was dead. If he could talk she’d have known he wasn’t.”
“So she says,” Fabian replied. “But fine, for argument’s sake, they were linked, remember? He could have told her through that. You know what that’s used for.”
Oren turned and faced his brother-in-law. “It wasn’t always used for murder, Fabian. If you’re basing your entire opinion on that.”
Anya stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fabian’s right. I think we should know why he linked her in the first place, since he’s never bothered to say.”
Like Torina, Jorick didn’t bother to stand. In fact his whole demeanor was too casual for Katelina’s liking. “As if it’s any of your business.”
Fabian leapt on his non answer. “See? He doesn’t want to tell us, and you know why. Think about it, he linked her right before he finally joined the war coven. Why did he join, anyway?”
Anya gazed at Jorick haughtily. “If I recall, he gave some story about being attacked by Adam and Nirel and claimed that they were doing Kateesha’s bidding.”
“And where’s the proof?” Fabian demanded. “In light of the records, I admit he probably wasn’t Kateesha’s spy, but I still think he had other motives!”
Katelina suddenly forgot that she was the one on trial. “Like what?”
“That’s what I want to know!” Fabian snapped. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what he did – or rather didn’t do. Don’t think I’ve forgotten Jesslynn.” His eyes slid to Oren and he added coldly, “Just because some of us have.”
Torina rolled her eyes. “And what does that have to do with this? I was as fond of Jesslynn as anyone, but she made her own fate.”
Fabian rounded on her. “No you weren’t. You’re fond of Jorick, and we all know why.”
Katelina shifted uncomfortably in the chair. No, they didn’t all know, and she thought she might prefer it that way. She knew enough horrible things.
“Oh please.” Torina blew her bangs out of her face with a puff of irritated air. “That was a long time ago, and it didn’t mean anything.” She leveled her gaze with Fabian’s and gave him a sultry look full of innuendo. “You, of all people, should know how that works.”
Katelina’s stomach twsited and she clenched her hands into white knuckled fists. Her only consolation was that Oren looked as horrified as she did. “Enough of this,” he declared quickly. “We’ve gotten off track.”
“Yes,” Jorick agreed. “And, since it seems to be so very important, I linked Katelina because she was dying, pure and simple.”
Jeda tilted her head curiously. “Dying?”
“Yes,” Jorick picked at some imaginary lint on his clothes. “Adam and Nirel took us by surprise, if you must know. Her injuries were extensive and it was a simple choice.” He brought his eyes up and met Oren’s. “And that’s all there was to it.”
Oren nodded. “There, Fabian, you have your reason, though I’m unclear what it has to do with this situation.”
Despite the fact that it was Katelina’s trial, the vampires forgot about her for the most part. They argued over whether Thomas was a spy, over whether Oren was really impartial, and every other topic under the sun. Katelina was relieved, however, that they didn’t bring up Torina and Jorick’s “meaningless” whatever it was. The idea bothered her, but somehow not nearly as much as the thought of Velnya. Torina was right, anything between the two of them would have been meaningless, but Velnya… he’d truly loved her.
Time dragged and she got thirsty and hungry. The chair was uncomfortable. She stretched her legs, rolled her neck, and generally tried to remind everyone she existed. Still the proceedings threatened to go on forever. So, when Micah stood up and demanded, “What the fuck does any of this shit have to with this?” she could almost have forgiven him for being such an ass.
Anya stopped, mid sentence, and gave him a tough, action-movie glare. “Excuse me?”
“I said, what the fuck does any of this shit have to do with whether we off the human or not? I’m fucking bored and these chairs are god damn uncomfortable. Let’s do the fucking vote and get on with life.”
Oren glanced at Jorick from the corner of his eyes and then declared loudly, “Micah’s right. We’ve heard enough to determine whether she should live or die. We’ll take the vote now.”
Kale, who had remained hitherto silent, cleared his throat loudly and stood. “I’m aware that we have no say in this, and consequently no vote, but if I had one, I would vote to let her live. No one’s proved that her actions were anything other than an attempt to lash out at the person she thought had killed her lover. Who here wouldn’t do that for the one they loved, consequences or no?” He glanced at Katelina and met her eyes for a second, then looked back at Oren. “Besides, even if you decide to kill her, what’s to stop Jorick from appealing to The Guild? This could drag out into a painful mess that no one wants. Though, as I said, my vote doesn’t count.”
Jeda stood with a regal air, her head held high, as though she were the queen of the world. “No, but my vote does, and I agree. No one has shown that she acted maliciously, only irrationally.”
“Fuckin-A,” Micah nodded. “She’s a psycho, but if we start butchering everyone for that then we’re gonna be out of friends soon.” He gave Fabian a particularly meaningful grin.
“I say kill her,” Anya snapped. “And Jorick too.”
Thomas stood. “I agree. Both of them should be punished.”
“Let her live,” Torina said dismissively. “As Kale said, it’s more hassle than it’s worth.”
Loren nodded his agreement, his eyes on Torina and her low cut dress. “Right. It’s not worth it.”
“I say it is,” Fabian seethed. “But, regardless, I can’t side with traitors.” He glared daggers at Anya and Thomas. “So I have to vote to let her live.”
His words came as a surprise, however Des’s vote didn’t.
“Kill her,” he said simply. He met Torina’s furious gaze and his voice turned almost remorseful. “I’m sorry, but I think Anya’s right. Jorick had this planned from the beginning and they should both be punished.”
Torina snarled, but Oren looked relieved. “Even without my vote it’s decided. But, I would agree that she shouldn’t be killed for her actions.” Despite his generous words, something in his tone suggested he felt otherwise. “And so
it’s finished. Since we’ve agreed that she’s innocent, I see no need put Jorick on trial.”
Micah raised his hand like a school kid. “Hey, I say we put Thomas on trial, and his not-so-innocent sister. I bet there’s enough evidence to sink both of them.”
Anya bristled. “Why do you have such a problem with us? Is it because you know I’m more of a man than you could ever hope to be?”
“Really?” Micah feigned surprise. “I always thought you looked like a transvestite.”
“You insolent pig!” She made to leap at him, but Des held her back.
“He’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”
“My brother will not stand trial before any of you, and that’s final!” She spun to face Oren. “This is finished. The coven is broken, and I state here and now that Thomas and I are leaving first thing tomorrow evening. Anyone who wants to come with us is welcome to do so, but know that if you say one false word about my brother outside these walls, I will kill you myself.”
Des laid his hands on her shoulders, oblivious to the shattered look on Torina’s face. “Calm down, Anya. It isn’t worth it.” Then he addressed the others. “I’m leaving tomorrow, with Anya and Thomas.” His tone turned truly apologetic this time. “I’m sorry, Oren, but a few scraps of paper aren’t enough to convince me. I understand your loyalty to him, though, and I hope there’s no bad blood between us?”
Oren murmured a noncommittal answer, and Des accepted it. With a final nod, he steered Anya through the room and out the door. Thomas followed, a simpering smirk on his face, as though he’d gotten away with something and thought he was clever for it.
He’d just reached the door when Micah called after him loudly, “Pussy! Letting your sister fight your battles for you! I’m surprised you had the balls to double cross anyone.”
Thomas stopped and turned around, that same self satisfied smile reflected in his eyes. “You might be surprised what I have the balls to do. Why don’t you ask Kale about that some time?” And then, with a soft laugh, he turned and left.
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