“Seeing as I was held in a torturous, bloodless sleep, imprisoned in my own home at Briar Rose, and not you nor any other southern lord came to my aid, I’m just curious if you are truly pleased. Or if you’re playing diplomat in your non-blue room.” Mina had never spoken with such bite, but she couldn’t keep the thread of betrayal from her voice.
“Your Highness—” He stepped closer with an arm raised to touch her.
Mikhail took a protective stance at her back, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. The earl noticed. Rathbone raised his hands in a disarming gesture.
“No need for violence.” He stepped back. Smart move. “I would never harm Princess Vilhelmina.”
Her hands clasped before her, she said in her regal, authoritative tone, “That’s quite reassuring, my lord.” Her voice still sharp. “But the fact remains, you allowed your sovereign to be detained by force without even calling the House to arrange a rescue.”
For the first time, the earl’s composure slipped. Rather than fear, his expression pinched with pain. “I did not know.”
“Liar,” said Friedrich. “How could I know all the way at Winter Hill but you had no knowledge right here in Arkadia?”
“And how did you know of this atrocity?” asked Rathbone.
Friedrich opened his mouth to snap off an angry retort and paused before saying, “My uncle.”
“Right.” Rathbone gave a stiff nod. “Well, he did not inform us he had our princess imprisoned and starved into unconsciousness. He said she was under his protection and guard because of this Black Lily that had kidnapped her once already. Steward Thorwald then told us the king’s men were slaughtered at Briar Rose, the princess awoken from her bloodless sleep, and abducted by a band of brigands. The king and his mother, the queen, are scouring the land in search of her.”
“I take it, this is the leader of that heroic band of brigands,” Rathbone nodded to Mikhail.
Mina gestured to her right. “Lord Rathbone, may I introduce Captain Mikhail Romanov of the Bloodguard.” Mikhail stepped to her side.
“Captain Mikhail?” His examining gaze shifted to admiration. “We have heard much of you.”
“Oh?” He remained soldier-still, unreadable but for the lethal edge in his voice. “All good, I’m sure.”
Rathbone chuckled lightly, measuring the three of them a moment. “Tonight, dinner will be interesting for once.” He ambled toward the door, “Graves.”
“Lord Rathbone, we have urgent news to discuss with you.”
When he pivoted at the door, he bore the first expression of gravity since they’d walked in the room. “I’ve already heard about Hiddleston and the rumors of the decimation of the Black Lily. Therefore, I also know you’ve traveled nonstop to get here. And with the Duke of Winter Hill and the Princess of Arkadia standing in my parlor, I can only surmise you’ve come with a request of some import. I understand this. But first, you’ll rest, and we’ll dine. Then we’ll discuss the matters at hand.” He repeated out the door, “Graves.”
“Yes, my lord.” The spindly butler practically leaped into the room, apparently listening to every word. “Will you show our guests to their chambers for the night? I’m sure they all need a rest after such a long journey from…well, from wherever they came.”
“Yes, my lord.” The butler bowed in obedience as if he were always given odd directives such as this. “Right away.”
Friedrich frowned but followed the butler. Mikhail allowed Mina to walk on. He stepped up beside the earl and stopped him with a hand to the chest at the doorway.
“Lord Rathbone, since you apparently know of the Bloodguard’s reputation, I should think there is no reason for me to warn you that if you try to send word out of this house regarding who is currently residing under your roof, my men will gut them before they reach your borders.” Mikhail faced him and enunciated each word as evenly as a sharp knife slicing a peach. “And then I’ll gut you.”
Mikhail wouldn’t step foot from his presence until the earl understood quite clearly that he was looking at his own death should he step out of line. Earl or no.
The earl didn’t blink or flinch at such a promise of bloodshed in his home. He pasted on an amiable smile, which he probably wore for the most arrogant men of his station. “There is no reason at all, Captain. I quite understand your meaning.”
“Mikhail?” Mina had returned, fear written in the knitting of her brow and tightening of her mouth. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh, yes, Your Highness. The captain and I were just coming to an understanding.” Rathbone stepped away.
“I’m sure,” she replied, suspiciously.
“I’ll be in my study should Graves or my housekeeper, Ms. Ward, not be able to find what you need.” He turned as if he remembered something. “My father will be pleased to see you again, Your Highness.”
“Your father?”
Mikhail noted her high-pitched surprise.
“Yes.” Rathbone laughed. “He’s still alive, believe it or not. We’ll see you all at dinner.” He turned toward what appeared to be his study from Mikhail’s vantage point. “Interesting night, indeed.” The earl chuckled to himself.
Mikhail walked at her side as they ascended the carpeted stairs. “Why were you shocked his father is alive?”
Mina smiled. “Do you mean to say that I know something the great and fearful Captain Romanov does not?”
He huffed out a breath. “Tell me, Princess.”
“His father beget him when he was over a thousand years old. The earl is his one and only child.”
“Wait. Then why is Rathbone the earl while his father still lives?”
Mina tripped on her skirts. Mikhail caught her by the arm. Her breath hitched, but she kept moving up the stairs. He didn’t let her go, holding her till they reached the landing.
“The former earl displeased Queen Morgrid over I know not what, but it was enough that King Grindal and Queen Morgrid stripped him of his title. They allowed him to live only if he remained here at Sommersby all the rest of his days. You see, the former earl was around as far back as when the king and queen first claimed Glass Tower as their own.”
“You mean when the queen murdered her twin brother in cold blood, usurping his throne so that she could rule.”
Mina continued walking slowly up the corridor where Graves had led Friedrich. “Yes. I keep forgetting that.”
“I don’t,” he bit out harder than he’d intended.
She paused and turned to him. “Are you all right?”
He combed a hand through his hair, anxiety riding him at the turn of conversation. “I don’t know.”
Her light touch on his arm both calmed and stirred him. “Mikhail. Are you all right?”
When she looked at him like that, like she was his woman and she intended to make the world right again, he wanted to fall to his knees and surrender once and for all.
Instead, he repeated, “I don’t know.” Then turned up the corridor and away from the woman he wanted more than life itself. Even his justice…and his revenge.
Chapter Nineteen
Lord Rathbone didn’t lie. Dinner had been interesting. The conversation light. The meal heavy, finishing with a goblet of warm blood instead of dessert. Typical of a formal meal in the house of a vampire aristocrat. What Mina found the most interesting was the way Rathbone’s father, the former earl, who went by Lord Petrov, kept most of his comments to himself and his eyes on Mikhail. He watched him as if trying to remember something. Or perhaps trying to remember someone.
In appearance, Lord Rathbone’s father was a mirror image of his son, just less formidable in stature and breadth of chest. While his eyes held all the fire of a young man, his face and demeanor were brittle. He was one of the few vampires left who was there at the beginning, when Queen Morgrid had become ruler of the realm.
The lilting laughter of one of Rathbone’s three concubines who had joined them for dinner interrupted her thoughts. The stunning redhead pl
aced a dainty hand on Mikhail’s sleeve.
“Oh, come now, Captain. I’ll bet in your line of work you have a thousand fascinating stories.”
“They may be a little rough for your liking, my lady,” he responded leisurely, though Mina noted the tightness around his eyes.
“I don’t mind ‘a little rough,’ Captain.”
Mina’s empathic gift showed her the redhead, Lady Sasha, wasn’t simply pretending. Her lust for Mikhail practically hummed in the air around her. Not that Mina could blame her, but the thought of her in his arms made her clench her fists in her lap. There was no reason, since Mikhail gave the lady no encouragement whatsoever.
“Shall we adjourn to the parlor?” Lord Rathbone stood, the candlelight gilding his auburn hair gold. “I believe some musical entertainment is in order.” He smiled down at his concubines. All three standing, with demure bows of the head, they led the party into the large parlor with the grand black-lacquer piano in the corner.
Mina had no parents, so she had never experienced a household where the master and mistress had blood harems. Though Lord Rathbone’s three ladies of nobility couldn’t quite be called a harem, they were still ladies of questionable morals. They reminded her of the women she encountered when Steward Thorwald had sent Mina off to the opera or balls or musicals. They said one thing but meant another, manipulating men with a flicker of lashes, and cutting women who got in the way.
Thankfully, they weren’t at a ball or an opera. And she wasn’t just any lady of the gentry.
She glanced at Mikhail, wondering whether he’d ever had a harem. No. He might be born a gentleman, but he wasn’t of royal blood. Even so, she didn’t imagine he’d ever keep a collection of women for his pleasure.
Mina joined Friedrich on the settee. Mikhail remained standing to the side. Lord Rathbone took a position next to Mina. His father ambled in and seated himself in a well-worn leather chair, the nailheads on the arms having long lost their sparkle.
“Do you have a particular request, my lord?” asked Lady Sasha, her glossy red hair hanging over one pearlescent shoulder.
The brunette seated herself at the piano, flipping through music sheets. And the blonde, beautiful though not as captivating as Lady Sasha, seated herself on a high chair behind a harp.
“You ladies always know better than I.”
Lady Sasha smiled, her beauty shining so bright that Mina felt even more nauseous than before. Lady Sasha whispered something to the brunette, who nodded and began playing a plaintive tune. The blonde joined in with a melodious strumming of the harp. Then Lady Sasha sang, and Mina understood why Lord Rathbone would want to keep such a woman in his possession.
However, as she began to sing about lovers parted at sea and their ardent reunion upon the soft sands by night, and as Mina’s gaze lingered overtly upon Mikhail, her thoughts drifted to the last time they were alone. To his hands on her skin, his lips on her breast, his mouth between her legs.
“Your Highness, you look a bit flushed,” Lord Rathbone whispered close to her ear. “Might I escort you to the balcony for some fresh air?”
She shot up without a word, allowing him to take her through the open doors out onto the darkened and chilly night. What she needed was to speak to Mikhail alone, but even more urgent was her need for Lord Rathbone’s help. Now was as good a time as any to acquire that aid.
He immediately removed his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. She crossed her arms and gripped the lapels to keep it tight around her, though the frosty night was welcome on her heated cheeks.
“I’m glad to have you alone, my lord.”
“That makes two of us.”
She ignored his flirtation. “You know you haven’t once asked why we are here or what we’ve come for.”
“I can guess.”
She leaned against the stone banister, the half moon peeking through wispy clouds. “Then please do.”
“As I’ve mentioned, the Black Lily army was destroyed. They’ve lost their numbers. The Bloodguard has rescued you from a horrific fate, so you feel obligation toward them. As the Princess of Arkadia, you seek help in recompense.”
His demeanor changed not one iota, his flirtatious tone ever present, as was his knee-buckling smile. He leaned against the banister, facing her. He tilted his head, his perfect features appearing all the more dazzling by the pale moonlight, but he didn’t interrupt her. Simply waited.
“You are still the lead counselor of the House of Arkadia, are you not?”
“I still share that role with Lord Maksim and Steward Thorwald.”
“I may have looked only like an ornament all of those times I visited the House, but I observed well. We both know that no matter what is decreed on parchment, you are the lead counselor.”
His mouth ticked up into a smile. “I won’t deny it.”
She lifted her hand from his sleeve and gripped the cold banister, needing the tangible feeling of the stone beneath her fingers, of holding onto something sturdy and true. That unfurling bloom within her chest pressed wider, seeking the light that would finally open her to the world.
Lord Rathbone lay his large hand atop hers.
She flinched but didn’t remove her hand from beneath his.
“Your Highness,” he started gently, “tell me.”
Deep breath in, then out. “My lord, I intend to present myself to the House and demand my rights as Queen of Arkadia. Steward Thorwald has kept my throne warm for long enough. I intend to exert my power as the rightful heir of the Arkadian throne, and I am requesting your support. Not just for me, but for all of Varis.”
His winter-blue eyes sparked with supernatural fire. “You will have it.”
She blinked, not expecting it to be quite that easy. “You understand what I’m asking of you? Of the people and the army of Arkadia?”
“Let me see if I have it.” His devilish eyebrow shot up. “You’ve come with full armed guard, intending to stake your claim as queen—as you should—then you plan to rally the resources of the south against King Dominik, since he is trying to force an unwilling alliance of marriage between the two of you. Furthermore, you will ally with the army of the Black Lily, as you are now in the company of the exiled Duke of Winter Hill, to overthrow Queen Morgrid and start some kind of new world order.”
Mina could only stare for a moment, completely at a loss for words.
“Is that your intention, Your Highness?” he probed softly, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.
“Yes,” was the only answer she could think to say. “The punishment for treason is death. Supporting my claim would go against Queen Morgrid’s wishes. You have much to lose.”
“Precisely,” he agreed, his tone grave. “I have too much to lose for that power-hungry King Dominik to come in and take it all. Do you know what would happen to Arkadia if you should marry him?” His perfect features hardened, and she saw the charming facade vanish and the vampire thrust forward. “He would rule with an iron fist, and the freedoms and prosperity we’ve enjoyed in the southern provinces would vanish overnight.”
“Then why did you sign contracts with him in Izeling?”
His composure slipped for a second. He glanced through the balcony door opening where Friedrich sat, clapping at the closing of another song.
“Damn, that vixen of the duke’s overheard everything, didn’t she?”
“Yes.” Mina refrained from smiling. “She did.”
He launched forward as if it mattered not at all. “The contracts were to appease the king and keep him out of our territory. We’d counseled with the lords of the House and all were in agreement to sign over some of our resources—equestrian soldiers and Arkadian stock horses. Then the queen made that damned announcement, and we abruptly changed our minds. We left at once without engaging the king on the matter till we could figure out what must be done.” He smiled, and this time Mina did feel her heart race at being the recipient of such a godlike smile. “And here you are, our angel straight
from heaven to save us all.”
“I’m not so sure about an angel.”
He edged forward. “You certainly look like one. You are quite breathtaking, Your Highness.”
Laughter lilted from the open doorway. “Wouldn’t your concubines disapprove of you flirting with another woman?”
He let out a full-throated laugh, his breath white curls in the air. “My blood concubines are not mine. They are free to come and go as they please. If they decide to leave Sommersby, they can go without a moment’s notice. And I am not flirting with another woman, I am attempting to get the attention of my future queen.”
Her gaze drifted back to the open doorway.
“Princess Mina, an alliance of our houses would strengthen your claim of the throne.”
Pulled back to Lord Rathbone, she refocused on what he’d said. “Our houses? As in you and me?”
“Is it so far-fetched? You already know I hold the most influence in the House. My support is one thing, but my word as a man at the side of his future bride would be quite another. There would be no dawdling from the cantankerous lords in the House who like to take three months to make a decision. And there is the other dilemma of Steward Thorwald. True, he is only a steward, but he is supported by the queen and has made many allies over the years.”
“So you’re offering me marriage, a political alliance to ensure I am given my birthright?”
“I am offering you marriage because you are a beautiful, intelligent, and beguiling woman whom I would be honored to marry. And whose right as the monarch of our land I would protect with my own life.”
He curled his large hand around hers and pulled it to his chest. She tugged, but he held her, opening his mouth to speak when someone’s footsteps sounded behind them.
“Your Highness.” The rough timbre of Mikhail’s voice rolled in the air.
Mina pulled her hand from Lord Rathbone’s, tucking her arms back under the coat. His coat. “Yes, Captain?”
“His Grace is retiring. Lord Rathbone, we request a private audience with you early in the morning.”
“Private?” asked Mina, frowning.
The Emerald Lily Page 17