by A. M. Hudson
“I mean. . .” I sat up to look into his eyes. “Mike had a memory lapse that night, too. He said he’d planned to take a new box of cuffs down to the training hall, but when he went to get them from the mailroom, they were gone. They’d already been put in the hall. He asked around, and no one else had done it, but he had no memory of it.”
“And you think this has something to do with your loss of memory?”
“Yeah.”
“And . . . what could that possibly be?”
I shrugged.
“Stop worrying about it, Ara.” He kissed my head and rubbed my back. “I’ve looked into it, and I can’t see any evidence of foul play, okay?”
“Did you talk to Jason—about the accusations that he erased my memory?”
“Briefly.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“And?”
“And he said he had a few theories—that he would fill me in when I got back from Elysium this week.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, he knows something, right? So—”
“Ara, he doesn’t know anything of value. He has theories. I asked him, I probed to see if he might have erased yours or Mike’s minds, but he didn’t give any indication. And he’s a terrible liar. If he’d done anything to you or to Mike, it would’ve come out in my interrogation.”
“Interrogation?”
“A brotherly interrogation,” he said softly, running his hand down my arm. “Stop worrying. I really don’t think anything bad happened between you and Mike that night. He’s always taken good care of you.”
“I know. It’s not like I think he pushed me. I—”
“Really?” he said, curious. “Because that was my first thought just now, when you said he had no memory.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But it’s unlikely his lapse in memory is connected to yours. He was under a lot of stress back then. And as for you? Well, you hit your head pretty hard, Ara. I think you’re just worrying too much.”
“Yeah.” I snuggled back into his neck. “Maybe.”
The ocean cooled the grounds around Loslilian, sending its sweeping, stormy breeze low across the lands. The last two days, with David being home and, essentially, on holiday, the summer had been warm and the days longer and brighter. But I woke this morning to the sound of thunder and a great, raging storm going on in my heart as well as outside.
We stood on the steps at the front of the manor, a taxi waiting by the fountain, the tears of farewell restrained by formalities, trying to let each other go. I focused on the softness of David’s fingers in mine, running my thumb down his nail. “Try to enjoy yourself at Elysium,” I said. “At least a little bit.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m releasing prisoners I sentenced—some I locked away, never to be seen again, all because my queen has a too kind a heart. I’m not sure I’ll enjoy this, Ara.”
“M’yes, but you’ll be a good boy and do it anyway, won’t you?”
He bowed mockingly. “Yes, My Queen.”
“Good.” I reached up and patted his head. “Now, run along like a good little king, and set your people free.”
He gave a breathy laugh as he turned on his heel, saving the last kiss for a journey across the wind from his lips, to his palm, to me catching and storing it in my pocket.
“Be safe, David.”
“Be strong, Ara.”
I bowed my head once. “I will.”
“Catch ya later, kiddo.” Eric stepped up and hugged me.
I breathed him in deep, committing all of him to memory. “I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
“I’m sure you will.” He winked at me. “I’ll have to come back in twenty years and check out this hot daughter you’ll have.”
I slapped his arm softly. “Good thing I know you’re kidding, or I might be tempted to neuter you.”
He laughed loudly, his fangs showing under that cocky, carefree smile. “Good thing you think the best of me and actually thought I was joking.”
“Get outta here,” I said playfully, shoving him.
He backed away and stood beside David, copping a light punch in the arm.
“Later, Ara.” Quaid elbowed me as he passed. “Take care ‘til I get back, okay?”
“I’ll be okay.” I jerked my head toward Blade. “He follows me when he’s not supposed to.”
Quaid smiled at his three comrades. “Don’t break the record without me, guys. I’ll be back once I’ve delivered the king.”
“We’ll keep it on hold ‘til then,” Falcon said, giving that cool nod of his.
“Great. Catch ya’s.”
“Later.” Blade waved once, and we turned away as David, Quaid and Eric piled into the car.
“What record?” I asked Falcon.
“Darts.”
“Oh. You play darts?”
“Just one of the many ways we fill in time when we’re not stalking you.”
I held still for a moment, watching Falcon’s face carefully. And there it was: the tiniest hint of a smile. “Did you just make a joke?”
He started walking inside as the car pulled away down the drive.
“Seriously?” I probed. “You have a bone of humour in your body?”
He held the door open for me, and I ducked in under his arm, following Emily. “I’m quite a funny guy when I’m not around you.”
“I bring out the worst in you, huh?” I said.
His timid smile made me stop walking for a second. “No, but my job brings out the serious side of me.”
I nodded. “Well, I don’t know the funny side of you, Falcon, but I know I feel safer with your serious side than I do with any other knight on the Core.”
“I know.” He bristled with pride. “Why do you think I’m in charge of the Guard now?”
“Yeah.” Blade slapped Falcon on the shoulder. “This guy should win an award for the size of the steel rod he can cram up his arse.”
Emily and Blade laughed their way down the corridor and out of sight, and I turned to offer Falcon a sympathetic pout.
“I’m not here to earn friends,” he said.
“But they love you anyway.”
“Yeah. When I’m not walking around with that steel rod wedged where the sun don’t shine.”
“So, only when you’re off duty then.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Or off doody.”
“Ha!” I covered my mouth. “That was a pretty good one.”
“Like I said.” He closed the front door. “I’m not all business.”
Chapter Seven
“So, we��ve addressed your tantrums—” Blade pointed to his thumb, “—your naivety and, today, I want to talk some more about respect.”
“Respect?” I slid my bottom back on the tabletop and let my legs dangle. “Who am I not respecting?”
“It’s not your respect for everyone else I have a problem with, Ara. It’s theirs for you.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my knees, tucking my hands under them.
“The general population residing within these walls seems to hold you in reasonably high regard. I’ve checked, talked with them about you,” he said, pacing the floors again like he was lecturing at a university. “It seems to be only your peers, you know, anyone who knew you before you were queen, that haven’t taken a step back yet to notice this transformation you’ve made.”
“Like who?”
“Mike?” Emily said, and my eyes moved upward with Blade’s to the girl leaning her arms over the railing on the second floor balcony.
“That’s one,” Blade said, turning back to me. “Morgaine’s not too bad. King David could use a lesson in the do’s and don’ts of spousal control.”
I laughed. So did Emily.
“He won’t be a problem now, Blade,” I said, shifting over, patting the spot next to me for Em to join. “He apologised for that, and it really . . . It’s not who he is
. He’s just been having a hard time.”
Blade bowed his head. “Okay. That’s fine. But the thing is, Ara, it’s not the other people we need to change. It’s you.”
“We need to change me because they disrespect me?” I said flatly.
“Yes,” Emily added, scooping my hand up in hers. “Because you teach people how to treat you, Ara.”
Blade’s eyes went wider for a second, a warm smile narrowing them after. “That’s right, Emily, and you could take a leaf out of your own book, couldn’t you?”
Emily nodded, turning to me. “Ara, Mike babies everyone if they let him.”
“Yeah, and you allow way too much of it, Your Majesty,” Blade said. “As a human being, you deserve the respect and confidence of your friends and family but, as a queen, you must command it.”
“Command it?” I said.
“Yes. It happens one situation at a time,” he explained. “You stand tall and clearly warn the culprit to rephrase their statement, this time with a little respect. Do that once or twice, Majesty, and people will catch on that you believe you deserve better than to be spoken to like you’re a seventeen-year-old spoiled brat.”
“Is that what people think of me?”
“Not so much anymore. But there’s just a few who haven’t woken up to smell the coffee. And you’ve been so busy being sad over David not being here, followed by news of his impending death, that you haven’t really noticed just how bad your people treat you.”
I brushed my thumb down Emily’s, focusing only on that so I wouldn’t cry.
“I think she has, Blade,” Emily said. “She’s not as tough as she looks.”
Blade’s face appeared under my lowered gaze, his black eyes peering up at me softly. “My Queen, you don’t even realise how much your people actually love you. Those who don’t are in the minority.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
“I know. But, hey, get this—” He grinned at Emily. “Ems and I took a stroll through Lamia Village the other day to see how it was thriving now, and when we got to the great water fountain in Town Square, there was this group of little human girls sitting on the steps.”
“They were making garlands of blue paper roses to hang around their necks, Ara,” Emily said.
“And I overheard one of the girls call herself Princess Amara,” Blade finished.
My heart melted. “Really?”
“Yeah. Honest to God.” Blade tapped his heart. “You and David aren’t just the king and queen, struggling to rule and be in love. You’re figures in history; stories parents tell their children.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah.” Blade laughed, standing up again. “So don’t feel so alone, okay, Ara? You’re not. Your people love you, and respect you. But you need to realise that you’re the queen, not a girl fresh out of high school with no relevance or training.”
“And, Ara,” Emily added. “If you think about it, you know more about the laws, systems, and history than almost any of us.”
My mind wandered to this morning’s lesson with Morgaine on Lilithian and Vampire politics and history—a lesson I, for once, stayed awake for, realising now, more than ever, how important it was that I knew all that stuff. Very soon, there’d be no king to save me from myself. I needed to—had to—understand how to do this on my own or, when David was gone, everything would fall apart. “You’re right, Em,” I said, feeling the realisation flood my system like water rising. “I probably know more than anyone here, aside from Arthur and Morgaine. And no one, not Margret, Walt, not even Mike, has the right to speak to me like I’m a child.”
“Right,” Em said, her smile radiating as she looked at Blade. “So, what are you gonna do about it?”
“Um.” I didn’t know. Not really. “I guess, now that I’ve addressed it as an issue, I’ll just have to put myself to the test next time a situation arises.”
Emily looked at Blade. He shrugged, nodding. He seemed happy enough with that.
“I’ll stand back on this one, Majesty. Let you find your own feet,” he said. “But if you need any advice, or encouragement, look to me for a quick nod.”
I gave one in return. “Thanks, Blade.”
“Any time.” He reached back to the table nearby and grabbed a notepad and pen. “Now, I want you taking notes for this part, because you’re going to learn all the loopholes in the laws you can and cannot be overruled on, and those you can be punished for breaking.”
“Great,” I said, and I meant that. Up until now, learning anything made my eyes roll, as if I was back in school, being treated like a kid again. But, in suffering curiosity and belittlement for too long, I’d come to realise just how important it was to be informed. If I knew what I was talking about, no one had cause to argue with me or doubt me.
He was small, just a dot on the horizon, almost completely shadowed by the two giant cliffs guarding either side of the small beach, but before I even reached the steep steps leading down to the sand, I knew it was Jase.
He crossed his arm over his body and under his elbow, then flicked it out quickly toward the waves, sending a small stone skipping across the choppy surface as best it could considering the almost violent conditions out there today.
I could tell, even from up here on the cliff side, that something was troubling him—could tell he came out here to be alone, but I didn’t really care. I needed some space, too, and my skin had been craving the fury of the ocean for about a week now. We weren’t supposed to be in the same space alone but, if one of us was leaving, I was sorry to say it’d have to be him.
“Hey,” he called, without even turning around.
“How’d you know I was here?” I projected my voice over the noise of the wind, even though I knew he could hear me just fine. A habit, I guess.
“I can smell you.” He turned slightly and smiled at me, then ditched another stone from his handful into the water.
“But I was downwind.”
“Trust me, Ara. My senses are very finely tuned when it comes to you. I could smell you before you even knew you were coming this way.” He laughed.
I laughed too, closing my shawl around my chest as I stopped beside him. “Hey, did you get that reading you were trying for at training the other day?”
He shook his head. “And now I need a new ammeter, thanks to your telekinesis.”
“Telekinesis?” I frowned. “What d’you mean?”
“That’s how you threw him.”
“I thought it was my light.” I waved my fingers.
“Your light doesn't have that kind of power. Maybe to knock someone back with the blast, but not pick them right up and toss them aside.” He threw another stone.
I reached across and stole one from the cup of his palm. “Show me how.”
“How what?”
“Show me how to do it.”
He looked at the stone in my flat hand, then dropped his collection on the wet sand at his feet, the pebbles scattering like pearly black diamonds. “On one condition.”
“Anything.” I smiled sheepishly. “Well, almost anything.”
“You keep everything I teach you a secret.” He wrapped both hands over my own and the stone. “They all believe your blue light threw that knight, Ara, and it’s probably safer if you keep it that way.”
I nodded. “Okay, agreed. But what about David?”
A thin smile stretched his lips. “I’d never ask you to keep something from your husband, Ara. You can tell whoever you like, as long as you trust them.”
“Okay.” I looked at my hand all tucked up and warm in his. “I accept the terms of our agreement. Now, show me how to make it move.”
“Right. Well, you only discovered this because of your survival instinct. Quite often, a vampire’s power can lay dormant for thousands of years, until a situation arises where they need to use it.”
“So, I could have more powers I don’t know about?”
“Ara,” he said with a small laugh.
“I can’t even begin to imagine the potential within you. You’re not only a child of Lilith’s blood, but you’re also deemed a goddess by Mother Nature.”
“And that means I’m supposed to be magnificently powerful?” I asked disbelievingly.
“Not just powerful, sweet girl, a force to be reckoned with, something that should scare the wits out of any man who opposes you.”
I smiled at my own small hand, so feeble against his long, ancient and athletic fingers. “I can just see Drake shaking in his boots now.”
His hand tightened around mine. “He should be.”
“He will be, when I figure out how to use this power.” I grinned up at Jase’s very slight dimple—the one he’d get when he was enjoying something. “Now, stop stalling just so you can hold my hand, and show me how to do it.”
He laughed, but we both knew he wasn’t really stalling. “Okay, as I was saying before, you found the ability because you had the need for it. So, I want you to imagine I’m trying to steal this stone from you, and I want you to use your mind to throw it into the ocean.”
“Okay. But since we’re role playing, why are you trying to steal it?”
He thought for a second, looking up when the idea struck him. “Because if I get it, you have to let me kiss you.”
My spine straightened.
“On the lips,” he added.
I pictured it for a second, and before our lips even touched, an imaginary David came down and ripped Jason’s arms out of their sockets, laid his face down on the boulder by our feet and smashed his heel into the back of Jason’s head, knocking all his teeth out. “Okay.”
“Give me your word.” He held out his pinkie.
I linked mine over it. “You have my word. If you get the stone, I’ll kiss you.”
“He will hurt me when he sees the kiss in your thoughts, Ara. It’s not a joke.”
“Then you better hope you’re not wrong about me having telekinesis.”
“Hoping?” He took a step back and crouched down, pulling his jeans up his legs a little. “Ara, I’m praying right now.”
I looked at his white teeth under that smile, and a faint memory of what those lips felt like flooded my senses.