Do they not understand tha my mate’s in danger? I don’t care about the proper way of things. Ronin’ll be fasting. And tha’s assuming tainted blood’s not gotten into him yet. “So we’re waiting until nightfall?”
Benny glares at me—a thing he only does because we’re close. Normally, he’s stoic on the surface. “We’re waiting until we have a full plan together. Then, yes, a handful of vampire soldiers will go out at nightfall and question the people on this list.”
I want to shout at him. I’m so upset tha the desire to flip over the ottoman and all its plans occurs to me.
Lilya speaks reason into the room, though it does nothing to quell Lalita’s angst. “Very well. That’s a pretty extensive list. It’s going to take a few days to work all the way through it.”
Benny leans over, his hands on the parchment, his eyes closing. He knows better than to be cross with the queen, but I can tell he wants to shout his frustration at her. “It’ll take how long it takes. There’s nothing to be done for it.”
She nods through a yawn. “Looks like you boys have a handle on everything here. I’m going to lie down for a bit. Long night.” Her eyes cut to me. “Adeline, could you come up to my chambers and help me with my stays?”
I want nothing more than to stay in this room and shout some sense into the vampires who are taking far too long to remedy their own impending starvation.
But of course, I don’t dare tell Lilya tha. Even though we’re friends now, she’s still the queen. “Aye.”
“Right back?” Ronin inquires, a flash of worry clouding his clear gaze.
I sigh. “Sure. Wouldn’t want to miss the nothing tha’s happening right now.”
Benny’s voice turns harsh. “Do you want to say something, soldier?”
The room goes silent, and I know I’ve gone too far. “No, sir.”
Benny rights himself, commanding far more intimidation than my smaller stature ever could. “No, really. Go on. What would you do different? I’m all ears. This is my own life on the line, as well as the throne. This is as fast as I can make it all go.”
My chest puffs as I smack my fist to it. “I’m an asset you’re overlooking! For all the talk of equality, ye still don’t understand tha I’m here to build up your territory. Do ye think there’s a vampire in all of Drexdenberg I can’t beat the truth out of?”
Benny’s jaw ticks. “We’re trying to minimize the image of the brutal shifter in the eyes of the vampires. That’s not how things are done here.”
I cannot control my volume. “My mate’s life is in danger! And ye are my brother, Benny. I’ll not polish my nails to look prettier for the public when the public is dying! Not when I could be out righting all tha’s gone wrong for ye.”
Finally, Benny’s anger softens. His shoulders lower and his tone quiets. “I won’t send my sister out to take the arrows meant for me. We’ll go about this the proper way, and we’ll bring the traitors to justice.”
“No,” I whisper, and for all the people in the room, my quietness sounds loud with importance. “Ye will die long before tha. Then I’ll be the one bringing them to justice over your stiff body.” I tap my chest. “My animal will not sit quietly when her mate’s in danger, nor if her brother’s life is threatened.”
Ronin’s the only one who dares speak peace into the exchange. “Give us a day,” he asks, as if I’m the one in charge. “Twenty-four hours of seeing how far we get with the list. Then we’ll seek alternative methods.”
It’s the best he can do, and I’m not even sure Benny will honor tha order.
I nod. “Aye. Twenty-four hours.”
Destino kisses Lilya’s cheek before the two of us slip into the hallway.
I’m livid I couldn’t convince Benny to let me handle this with a few shifter soldiers. Because I didn’t have the right words, my mate will go hungry.
Lalita whines as Lilya and I walk down the hallway together.
The moment we turn the corner, she grabs my hand, jerking me out of my funk. “Let’s go,” she whispers. “Can you get me a spare guard’s uniform? If I go up to my bedroom, Salem’s going to have questions.”
I balk at her. “What are ye talking about? Benny told me to wait twenty-four hours of doing things his way.”
She blows a flippant raspberry, which looks so odd with her in her white, fancy gown tha I stop in my tracks. “We’re not doing that.”
“What?”
She jerks her head toward the servant’s quarters. “Grab me a spare uniform from your room, make sure Maisie can look after Heidi for a few days, and I’ll pack us supplies for the road. We don’t have much time. Salem has a sixth sense about me whenever I’m worked up.”
“But I…”
Passion burns in her gaze. “My husband’s life is in danger, along with the territory. I am not an ornament, poised to look pretty and cause a scandal. I’m useful, and so are you.”
“Ye can’t go running off without a guard.”
She quirks her brow at me. “I’m not. I’m taking my guard. Ordering her to come with me, in fact. I ran straight out of the castle, and you had no choice but to follow me. You couldn’t tell Benny; there wasn’t time.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re serious.”
“I’m leaving. You with me or not?”
I know I should dart back to Benny and report this whole thing. I should frog-march Lilya to her room and stand guard by her door so she doesn’t put this insane plan into practice.
I know all the things I should do, but the spark in Lilya’s blue eyes tells me she knows exactly what I’m going to do.
“I’ll meet ye in the stables with a change of clothes.”
I know I’ve gone mad as Lilya hugs me, and then runs toward the kitchen.
We’re either about to save the territory, or we’ll die trying.
Either way, I’m in.
Chapter Eight
Not Dying
Ronin
I’m exhausted, but there’s nothing for it. Sleep is a joke of an idea. Even if there was nothing for me to do but rest, I doubt I could find the will to close my eyes.
My bones ache. I loathe anything that makes me feel like an old man, but occasionally, I’ll get a pain that doesn’t easily go away. I hate that my mind goes immediately to blood. I had a blood martini yesterday, so I know I’m not on the edge of starvation. I’ve gone plenty a day skipping sustenance. But that was always by choice.
This is different.
We’ve been at this list for two hours, discussing the best times and places to question each person. There’s no other details to factor in, but since we’re sitting ducks, slave to the sun, we go over everything too many times.
I loosen my bowtie and undo the top two buttons of my shirt, shedding my suit jacket because the room’s growing unbearably balmy.
I need a break. My temples are starting to throb, which does nothing for my mood. Most of the soldiers have been sent to rest, so they can wake refreshed and ready to tackle the list the moment the sun sets.
Benny angles the parchment a little to the left, as if that slight adjustment will give him new perspective on the whole thing.
I love the man, but there’s no new perspective that can solve this.
A knock at the door lifts my spirits. I’d hoped Adeline went to lie down and rest, or tuck in Heidi, but if she’s come back to fetch me to sleep beside her, I’ll gladly toss this lot of blokes to the side.
When a servant enters, everything in me sinks. “A message for the kings and queen.”
She hands over the envelope, but Destino snatches it before I can reach. “Thank you.” Then to me, he adds a wary, “You should sit down, Ronin. You’re looking peaky.”
I bristle, but even that is an effort. “Perhaps I am more tired than I realized.”
I sink onto the couch, feeling every minute of my lengthy age as Destino reads the note aloud.
“It’s a report from the hospital.” His eyes flick over the parchment, and I
know nothing he’s reading has an ounce of good news to it. “The number of those coming in with fevers is still rising. Up from a thousand to fifteen hundred in the past half a day alone.” His jaw ticks as he sets the paper atop our list. “Most are unconscious, but three hundred of those are dead. Ronin, this is officially an epidemic.”
My stomach sinks. “It’s a good thing we have a plan.” I pinch the bridge of my nose as a headache claims the base of my skull. “It’s not a poison or a curse, or Lilya would be able to drain it out. She’s gone down to the hospital and tried.”
“Multiple times,” Destino adds.
Benny begins to pace. “Has anyone sent for the Healer Fiora? She’s in Neutral Territory. We could use her expertise. Perhaps she can find out what’s going wrong. Get to the root of the illness. We’re assuming it’s the blood supply being tainted, but no confirmation on that’s actually come about.”
Destino picks up the note and reads it again. “Healers are testing samples of our blood supply now. When they confirm this as the culprit at dusk when they’re due to report, we’ll have our plan ready to put in action.”
It’s so cold in here. When did it get so drafty?
I mop fresh sweat off my brow. “Add to the plan that we need to summon healers from Faveda and Jacoba. There are too many taken ill with this for our healers to handle it all.”
Benny scrawls my request near the bottom.
Destino closes his eyes. “We might want to think about asking Jacoba and Faveda if they can begin to make room for our citizens in their hospitals. Ours are at max capacity now, and I’m guessing it’s only going to get worse.”
“Is being in the hospital helping anything? Has anyone recovered at all?”
Destino’s mouth shuts tight, confirming the worst.
My head feels like it’s being squeezed in a vice.
Destino skims more of the note. “The fever isn’t related to a bacterium or a virus, or any other contagion. The healers have narrowed that down.”
Benny straightens, as if he can sense what conclusion I’m about to voice. Being that he’s been by my side for over half a century, it’s no surprise he can predict me so very well. “Don’t,” he warns me.
“You know what must be done.”
“I don’t like where you’re going with this. There’s got to be a better option.”
Destino’s head whips from Benny to me. “What?”
A chill sweeps through my body. “Leave the hospitals for those with healable injuries. Whatever this fever is that’s killing us off, isn’t something the hospitals can solve. No need to burden them unnecessarily.” A grave silence falls over the room as I address one of the soldiers near the door. “Send word to the hospital as soon as the sun sets. They are to turn away anyone coming in for symptoms of the plague. Until a cure can be found, there’s nothing to be done for them. Best they die in their own homes, amid their families and whatnot.”
There isn’t nearly enough silence in the world that can lessen the horrors of the moment, but everyone attempts to give the lives on the brink of loss their due respect. I know we’re all still searching for another way, some saving grace, but the sins of my people are great. Part of me knows there may be no escaping this fate.
I need blood, or some tea, at the very least. My throat is parched. “Benny, could you send for a cup of tea?”
Instead of moving to the door, Benny steps around the table and leans over me, the back of his hand resting against my forehead.
When he stumbles back, dread chokes me around the throat.
“You’re feverish.”
Destino darts to my side to confirm the grave prognosis. “Ronin, no! You, fetch a healer! Quick!”
I don’t have time to be sick. I’m certainly not dying. The idea is preposterous. “I only had a blood martini yesterday. Nothing more since then. I’m quite alright. Just tired, is all.”
Benny breaks from his professional demeanor and swears with the volume of a loud punch that hits everyone in the room, making us all startle. He addresses the soldiers. “King Ronin is to stay indoors at all times. No matter what he orders you to do, my word is higher in matters of his safety. If the people learn he’s been affected by the disease…” Benny closes his eyes, and even though his words are geared toward damage control, the agony splattered across his face says it all.
He thinks I’m dying. He thinks I’ve been affected by whatever it is that’s killing off too many of the masses.
I’m in no mood to consider the possibility.
It takes a bit more effort than I’d like, but I stand, my chin raised and my posture perfect. My head is pounding, and there’s sweat dampening the entire surface of my skin, but I do my best to appear as regal as I always have. “I am perfectly fine. There’s no need to be carrying on like this.”
Benny’s nostrils flare. “Then you’ll forgive me for insisting you stay out of the public eye until this non-life-threatening, completely coincidental fever passes.”
Before I can reply, Destino’s taking charge. “He’s right, Ronin. Stay inside. News of your fever stays inside the castle walls. Lily and I will make all further public addresses until you’re well.” His voice falters on the last note, as if he doesn’t believe I will be well. As if I’m not perfectly fine right now, which I am.
My fists clench at my sides. “I have ruled Drexdenberg for a century. It will not be taken from me over a common illness.” Indignation spews out of me without filter, and I make no effort to stop myself. “I am not sick, nor am I common.”
Benny’s eyes mist, but then he blinks, and the dash of emotion vanishes as he addresses his men. “You take your orders from me and King Destino,” he says to the remaining soldiers before he dismisses them. “Rest up. It’s going to be a long night.”
I’m livid as everyone else exits, leaving Destino and Benny alone with me. The moment the doors shut, they drop their professionalism and dash to my sides, lowering me to the couch as if I’m an old man.
“Get off me!” I grouse. “There’s nothing wrong. It’s drafty, is all.”
“You’re burning up! There’s no draft, Ronin.” Then Destino locks eyes with Benny. “Let’s get him to his bedroom. If we can get his fever down, hopefully we can keep him alive long enough for us to get to the bottom of this and find a cure.”
Benny drapes my arm around his neck, his tone mournful. “People are dying after only two or three days of a fever. There’s no way we can get through everyone on the supply chain, and find a cure in that amount of time.”
His fear stabs at my resolve to live so deeply in denial that the fever realizes how unwelcome it is in my body. Sure, they’ve tried every bit of medicine we’ve got, but have they tried defeating this fever with sheer stubbornness? It’s not the same fever, anyways. It can’t be. I’m…
“Adeline,” I murmur, sounding far more pathetic than my pride will forgive. “We’re to be married.”
“Then let’s get you to bed before the big day.”
Destino thinks I’m going mad, that my brain is heated to some sort of insanity boiling point, but it’s not. I’m going to marry Adeline. She’s said yes and everything. I just need to give her the ring. Of course I’m not dying. That would be ridiculous. To finally find true love, and then die? That’s not my fate.
Destino takes my other arm and loops it around his neck. The two lift me far more gently than I need to be treated. The whole thing enflames my temper, but they keep up with the delicate care the whole way down the hall and up to my chambers.
They lie me down too gently. “I am not elderly!” I snap, but they pay me no mind.
Destino takes off my shoes and socks, and Benny fetches my black silk pajamas. “Healer Clare used to make this salve whenever I took ill. Rubbed it on my chest and forehead. Smelled dreadful, but it did the trick. Do you remember what was in it, Ronin?”
“Lemongrass and eucalyptus, muddled into a paste with some sort of berries. I can’t recall which.”
<
br /> “I’ll have one of the servants get started on that for you, along with some tea.” He stands, fixing me with too much emotion clouding his gaze.
“Do not look at me like that. I am not dying. I am overworked, is all.”
Destino nods succinctly. “Then I’ll see you’re not disturbed, so you can rest. Adeline’s probably with Lily in our room. I’ll send her over.”
The moment Destino exits, the room is too quiet. Benny’s footsteps as he approaches are taken with too much grave respect.
“I am not dying,” I insist, my head pounding.
Benny refuses to meet my eyes. “Good. You’re not allowed to die. So if you’re considering giving in to this fever, I’ll know it’s sheer laziness.”
I don’t know why his dig makes me snort out a laugh, but I very much need the distraction.
“What’s that?” Benny reaches over to my pillow and lifts up a letter with my name on it.
“It’s Adeline’s handwriting. She left me a note? That’s sweet.”
Benny doesn’t ask if he can read my private letter, but flips it open and reads it aloud for me, as if I’m too frail for things like sight.
A full-blown snigger escapes me when Benny changes his accent to sound like Adeline’s, even going so far as raising his pitch.
“‘Ronin, I will marry ye as soon as I get back. I’ve gone with Lilya. We’re starting on the list of people who are in charge of the blood supply.’”
All laughter leaves me, and Benny’s attempt at mimicry drops to haste.
“‘You may not understand why I’m going off from your plan. You might be angry with me. But I don’t have it in me to stand by and wait for something to come after you. Lalita won’t allow it. Nor will she allow anything to harm Benny.
Lilya is equally protective of Destino, so she’s coming with me. Please don’t worry. I’ll be back with answers before you know it. Maisie’s agreed to look after Heidi. Take care of each other while I’m away. I love you.
Malicious King: A Paranormal Royal Romance (Territorial Mates Book 6) Page 6