PAPA WAS PACING IN front of the sofa and had been for the past fifteen minutes. I sat on a chair, watching him go back and forth, waiting for an answer he seemed incapable of giving me.
Rook Datcu was outside the closed door, making sure we didn’t go anywhere. He had ordered a bewildered Talyssa to fetch ink and paper and, after writing a hasty letter, had sent our footman on errand to King Maximus’s palace.
Talyssa sat on an upholstered chair, one knee bouncing up and down, hands twisting on her lap. Her nose was red from crying, but the rest of her face was white as a sheet.
“Papa,” I begged again, “please tell me what is happening.”
Still pacing, he grabbed his head as if he feared it might fall off his shoulders. For a moment, I thought he would go on without speaking, but he suddenly asked the most nonsensical question possible.
“Did you drink your tea this morning?”
I frowned. “What?”
“Talyssa,” he turned to my lady-help. “Did she drink her tea?
“I took it to her room, my Lord,” Talyssa said, confused.
“But did she drink it?” Papa pressed.
Talyssa glanced at me, then gave a small shrug.
“What does that have to do with anything?” I demanded.
“It’s got everything to do with EVERYTHING!” he exclaimed, startling me. Papa never raised his voice. Never.
Stupidly, tears gathered in my eyes. I pulled my handkerchief from under my sleeve and dabbed at my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Bianca,” Papa said, kneeling in front of me and taking my hand in his. “This is not your fault. Oh, child.” His eyes wavered. He lowered his head. There was that shame again. Why?
“If your mother were still alive, she would hate me,” he said, still avoiding my gaze.
“You’re scaring me, Papa,” I said in a whisper. “Please, tell me, why did the Rook summon King Maximus to our house?”
Why had the Rook come to our house in the first place? Not even a Black Sentry had ever crossed our threshold. How had we gone from that to this? Catching the King or Queen’s attention was not good. They were vampires. They left their human subjects alone for the most part, but they didn’t tolerate those who caused unrest or went against their rule in any way.
Papa shook himself and pulled up a chair. Sitting in front of me, he inhaled deeply and asked about my morning tea again.
“Did you drink your tea?”
I wanted to scream and tell him I didn’t care about the stupid tea, but it had to be important for him to mention it again.
“I don’t remember,” I said. “Talyssa brought it to my room while I was changing, and I was distracted by a stubborn curl that didn’t want to comply.” I touched the side of my head, recalling my frustration. “So I set the tea down, and... I guess I forgot to drink it.”
Papa pressed a hand to his mouth, his expression twisting in despair.
“Dear gods,” he murmured behind the cage of his fingers.
Mind swirling as if a storm had been unleashed within me, I said, “You told me the tea was to keep me healthy, but that isn’t true, is it?” I asked, fearing the worst.
Papa shook his head.
“What is it for then?” I asked, terribly afraid of the answer.
“The tea is from bloodshade leaves,” he said, his hands trembling as he twisted them together.
My heart froze. I slowly shook my head as if in a dream. Talyssa gasped.
“Your mother used to drink it, too. Every day.” Papa’s eyes became unfocused, as if lost in a memory of Mama holding a teacup and smiling.
My insides constricted as if Talyssa were pulling violently on my corset, the way she tended to do when she was cross with me. A tear slid down my cheek as I pictured Mama drinking the bloodshade.
“It can’t be,” I said in a whisper. “I’m not a...” I couldn’t finish.
But Papa finished for me.
“You are a Trove, Bianca.”
A TROVE.
My lips trembled. That was impossible. It couldn’t be. I shook my head in denial.
“No. No. How can you know such a thing, Papa? You must be mistaken. Troves are rare. And... and only King Maximus and Queen Lovine would be able to tell. If I were a Trove, they would have found me already, and I would live in one of the palaces.”
I laughed at the ludicrous suggestion, my insides quivering as I did so. The thought of living at the White or Black Palace sawed fear deep in my soul.
From what I knew, the blood of a Trove was delicious to vampires. But not only that, the blood gave them energy for days. One feeding, and the King and Queen of Acedrex could even withstand sunlight.
Papa lowered his head. “They have found you now. He smelled it on you, even though yesterday’s bloodshade must still be in your system. Rooks are trained to do that,” Papa said, gesturing toward the door, then glancing toward Talyssa in a strange way, as if she blamed her for what had happened. “Oh, how your mother and I prayed you had not inherited the trait from her, but...”
“No!” I stood and stomped to the fireplace. “It must be something else. I’m not... one of those things, and Mama wasn’t either.”
If it was true, King Maximus would take me, and I would be his slave to the end of my days.
I whirled and faced Papa. “Why was that Rook here in the first place?” I demanded.
Papa shook his head and looked away. “That doesn’t matter now.”
I rushed to his side and pulled him to his feet. “That must be the reason why Rook Datcu sent for the King. It has nothing to do with me.”
Papa regarded me with wet eyes, his expression telling me he wished that were true.
“No, dear. The King does not involve himself with gamblers,” he said, shutting his eyes and causing a tear to drop and cut a line down his cheek.
“Gamblers?” I repeated numbly.
Papa turned his back on me, hiding his face. Talyssa pressed a hand to her mouth.
“You’ve been gambling?” I asked.
His shoulders stiffened, and it was all I needed for an answer.
“Oh, Papa. How could you?” My throat seemed to close, and the words came out in gasps.
He had always criticized gamblers, those careless men who endangered their lives attending the chess dens, men who bet their money, and sometimes even their blood, in hopes of doubling their fortune. But why would he resort to such a thing? We had no need for it. The inheritance Mama had left behind was large enough for Papa and I to live comfortably for the rest of our lives—even enough for me to attract a respectable husband.
“Why?” I asked, desperate to understand. “Were you that bored?”
“I... I’ve made some mistakes,” he said, walking away, his back still to me. “Some of my investments didn’t go as planned.”
“What investments? We have no need for investments. Mama left us—”
“I thought I could increase our fortune,” he continued, as if I hadn’t spoken. “So we could leave this godsforsaken place, so we could get away from this vampire court. I’ve always worried about you. I didn’t want you to be discovered.”
“But Papa, no one ever leaves Acedrex,” I said between clenched teeth. Not without permission from the Queen or King themselves.
“A bribe large enough can do it,” he said.
“So you did the one thing that would bring a Rook into our home?” I asked in a shrill voice that made my face grow warm with shame. Papa and I had always had a relationship based on respect. We’d never raised our voices to each other before, but today seemed to have destroyed all those rules.
He finally faced me and, with obvious difficulty, met my gaze. “I lost everything,” he said, nearly shaking. “I thought I could salvage the situation, so I gambled what little was left. But I’ve lost even that.”
I raised a trembling hand to my chest. “Are you saying... we’re poor?”
Papa collapsed on a chair, burying his face in his liver-spotted hand
s.
Feeling disoriented, I glanced around the library: the books on the shelves, Mama’s small paintings on the wall, the rugs covering the polished, wooden floor...
I lost everything, Papa’s words echoed in my mind.
Did that mean he’d lost the house, too?
I’d just opened my mouth to ask when the sound of an approaching carriage sent my heart pattering. Papa jumped to his feet and stepped in front of me protectively. But what was the use? He had failed to keep me safe the moment he allowed greed to enter his heart.
I exchanged a fearful glance with Talyssa, who still had a hand pressed to her mouth.
King Maximus was here. The Vampire King in my mother’s house, here to taste my blood and discover whether or not I was a Trove.
My hands trembled. I twisted my lace handkerchief between my fingers. If I was a Trove, it wouldn’t matter that Papa had squandered our money. I would go to court, and I would lack for nothing… except I would always be a slave, a blood vessel for the King’s enjoyment. The Trove curse ran in families, but it could skip entire generations and never appear again. Vampires had tried breeding Troves for centuries to their utter frustration. By some unknown mercy, once a vampire fed from a Trove, it seemed that person became incapable of bearing offspring with the trait. So as the King’s slave, I would never marry or have children.
I would be owned.
And if I wasn’t a Trove, what would be my fate? Would I have to become a beggar on the streets?
Dear gods. I didn’t want to be either.
CHAPTER 3
Papa and I stood frozen, intent on the sounds outside the door. Heavy steps sounded against the wooden floor, followed by deep silence. Talyssa jumped to her feet and joined me, taking hold of my hand.
My heart raced while I fought to breathe normally. I had never seen King Maximus, not even from a distance. When he drank from a Trove, he was perfectly safe to be out in the daylight, but rumor had it he despised sunlight and much preferred the night. Quite the opposite of the White Queen, who I had seen surveying the populace from her royal carriage more times than I cared to count.
There was a likeness of King Maximus at the Central Acedrex Museum, one Talyssa and I had seen on our first visit there when I was thirteen. We’d held hands in front of the portrait, trembling inside our hooped dresses, spellbound by the King’s strange eyes. It seemed ludicrous to be so spooked by a mere portrait, but after we left, we’d comforted each other by reassuring ourselves we would never have to meet him.
And now...
I waited to hear the King’s voice or at least Rook Datcu’s, but there was only silence. Then the door opened and time seemed to stand still as the King of Acedrex, the vampire who had ruled the Black Court for the last two hundred and seventy-five years walked through the door.
The air around me chilled as if summer had suddenly turned to bitter winter. Papa took a step back, pushing us toward the wall as King Maximus glided into the room, the sound of his boots striking the floor utterly incongruous.
He was dressed all in black, including the shirt under his tight vest. A top hat rested on his head. White blond hair peeked from under the hat, almost matching the ghostly white of his skin. His eyes shone dark red, like spilled blood on a butcher’s block. He carried an ebony walking stick that stood in stark contrast against his pale hand.
Black and white like a chessboard.
The only splash of color on his garments was a slender red ribbon worn around his neck in place of a tie or kerchief. Its ends fell lazily over his chest, making me think of two thin streams of blood dripping from his fangs.
Blue-green veins rose from his collar, up the column of his tall neck and over his jaw. But, even as beastly as he appeared, he was still handsome and alluring: a tempting predator with the appeal of a carnivorous flower.
The door to the library shut, leaving us alone with the creature. Legend had it that centuries ago, before Acedrex was ruled by vampires, they were unable to go inside people’s homes unless they were invited. If that were ever true, something had clearly changed since then because he was now easily strolling into our house, even though we didn’t want him here.
He came to a stop at the edge of the rug as if it were a boundary of some kind.
With utmost grace, the King removed his hat, tucked it under his arm, and stared at us from head to toe.
“My King.” Papa hurried to bow, looking as submissive as possible.
King Maximus ignored him, his crimson eyes moving lazily from Talyssa to me. Nose twitching like a dog’s, he leaned forward ever so slightly and inhaled. After pondering for a moment, he frowned, appearing confused.
“You,” he said, his gaze finally going to Papa, “have been hiding a Trove from me.” The King’s voice was low, like the rumble of stones. There was no question in his tone. Instead, an accusation and a threat, all in one.
I stepped next to Papa and slipped my hand into his.
He had smelled me and had determined I was, indeed, a Trove.
My teeth chattered as if I were naked in the middle of a winter storm. I was to be a slave. A swoon came over me, but I clenched my fists and, drawing strength from Papa’s warmth, managed to stay on my feet. I would not let this beast break me with its inhumane stare.
He could take me, but I would find an escape. Then, I would come back for Papa, and we would run far, far away from here. I wouldn’t be anyone’s property.
I was Bianca Flagfall, and I would stand my ground as always.
In my mind, I saw my escape play out. It wouldn’t be easy once I managed to slip out of King Maximus’s castle, but Papa and I would find a way. As long as I had him, being a beggar would be better than being a slave.
But what my mind had so naively conjured was not to be.
Not after Papa took a trembling Talyssa by the arm and pushed her in front of the King. Papa glowered at my childhood friend and companion with rage and hatred, two things I had never seen in his gentle eyes.
“Is that what you are?” he demanded. “How could you trick us this way?”
TALYSSA STAGGERED FORWARD, letting out a shrill squeak. She looked left and right as if searching for an escape route. Then, she peered back at Papa, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her expression was pleading and seemed to ask, Why are you doing this?
A gasp caught in my throat. What did Papa intend? This would not trick the King. All he’d have to do was smell Talyssa, and he would know it was a desperate lie.
I wanted to step forward and protect my friend, but I found that my limbs were locked. Shock paralyzed me, the fear coursing through my veins too great to overcome.
King Maximus gently set his hat and walking cane on top of a chair and stepped into the square of the rug. His beastly eyes were set on Talyssa as his nostrils widened, and his red tongue licked the corner of his pale mouth.
Talyssa whimpered as the vampire approached.
I let go of Papa’s hand and stepped forward. “Don’t hurt her,” I said.
But it was in vain because, in a blur faster than my eyes could see, the King burrowed his face into Talyssa’s neck and pulled her tight against him. At the same time, Papa wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back, attempting to turn me away from the horror, but I was transfixed. As Papa shoved me face first against the wall, my head swiveled, eyes locked on the mesmerizing horror.
“Talyssa,” I said in a whisper, my hand reaching out in her direction.
Her shape was bent backwards as the vampire curved into her, drinking her blood. Her hands dangled at her side as she let out a moan of... pleasure. My stomach twisted at the sound.
Was she enjoying it? The creature’s hungry mouth against the tender flesh of her neck? The sapping of her life?
His... feeding seemed to go on forever, but in truth, it only lasted a few seconds.
Holding my friend as a child would a doll, King Maximus deposited Talyssa’s limp body on the chaise lounge. She sank lifelessly into it, one of her
arms falling to the side, her head hanging. Two red puncture marks marred the creamy skin of her neck.
Tears spilled from my eyes uncontrollably. Was she dead? Had he murdered her? Ended her precious life in seconds as if she were nothing but a bug under a heavy boot?
Talyssa let out a tiny moan. My heart lifted. She was alive! Relief filled me until the King’s quiet purr filled me with dread again.
“Not a particularly powerful Trove, but a Trove after all,” he said in his ancient, rumbling voice.
A tiny drop of crimson stained his lower lip. Like a snake’s, his tongue darted out and licked it off, making my insides shiver. Smoothly, he pulled out a black handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed his mouth with it.
“Now, you.” King Maximus’s eyes snapped back to Papa.
I almost screamed at the sight of his vivid red gaze. His eyes were swimming with my friend’s blood, and the veins that rose from his neck were slowly disappearing, receding under his shirt’s collar as if someone were pulling them downward.
“No one steals from me,” he said to Papa.
“I... I didn’t know, my King. I swear,” Papa said.
I knew Papa well, and in his voice, I heard the lie. He’d known Talyssa was a Trove. But if he had, why hadn’t he also insisted that she drank the bloodshade tea?
The answer, ugly and gnarled, promptly revealed itself to me.
Papa had brought Talyssa into our home for more than one reason. Besides being lady-help, my companion, she was always meant to be a decoy if something like this ever happened.
I tried to push the realization away. Papa wasn’t capable of such coldness. He couldn’t be.
“You’re a terrible liar,” King Maximus said.
Stuttering, Papa began to protest, but the King’s voice rose above his.
“No one steals from me,” he repeated. “No one lies to me. No one who lives to tell the tale, anyway.”
King Maximus lifted a hand. Black, curved claws sprang from the tips of his fingers. I sprang forward to pull Papa back, but I wasn’t fast enough. The King brought his hand down, swiping across Papa’s abdomen with vicious speed and force.
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