“Very well, then,” he said with a benevolent smile. “You may remain to see the first entertainment only. Afterwards, I am counting on all of you to head back to your dorms.”
“Yes, sire,” they agreed dutifully.
Alonzo cast a smile at Samantha, who was among the group when they arrived, making sure the meeting went off without a hitch. “You have taught them well, my lady,” he said with a bow of his head. “Even better than some of the Carpathian whelps.”
“That is high praise, indeed,” she said, smirking. “Come along, all of you. Let us find some seats. And mind you don’t pester the vampires, dears. Some of them would be more than willing to feed upon an insolent little upstart or two.”
A collective gasp went up among them, and more than one child trembled as they skirted the larger group and hurried over to join the virgins.
Alonzo laughed. “Now I see how she managed it as well. What an excellent trick, telling them such tales.”
“Yes, well, I had heard that such behavior actually does go on within some clans, though most assuredly not among our own,” said Will dryly. “Thank goodness for small favors.”
Vivian and Irene shared a relieved look, and Irene said, “So then we won’t have to beat all of them off our babies with a stick? Good to know.”
“Speaking of babies, I still think my own is sucking up more of the things I ingest than I am myself,” Vivian complained.
“You look larger than I would have expected as well,” Irene added. “I’m barely showing at all, and I’m a month ahead, and you’ve got a definite swell. I wonder if you’re going to have more than one child.”
Vivian’s nerves went into overdrive. “Thanks, Irene. Now I feel even better.”
CHAPTER 19
After the banquet feast, Alonzo contacted Joseph by cell phone to discuss the particulars of his upcoming nuptials. After reaching an agreement in which he was given the title, “High Advisor to the King” and an estate just outside of Milan where he and his mates would be expected to live, the King agreed to him taking up to three of his unattached daughters for the purposes of fulfilling the contract.
“Three?” Zach teased him. “Are you sure you want that many? These woman can really be a handful sometimes.”
“I keep your hands full often enough,” Vivian retorted, punching him in the arm.
“Yes, but there’s only one of you,” he said with a wink.
“And I prefer to keep it that way,” she added pointedly.
“No worries, Viv,” he chuckled. “You and Donovan are more than enough for me. I have no interest in changing our configuration.”
“Thankfully,” she said, smiling with relief.
“Now, as to myself, I have never limited my interests to just one person,” Alonzo said, touching his tongue briefly to the back of his teeth. “I prefer having plenty of options, if you know what I mean.”
“Have you spoken to any of them, at least?”
Alonzo chuckled. “You and your romantic notions, Vivian. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to break any hearts. These women will be my mates. They will be cherished accordingly.”
“Starting with Amber, I suppose?” she asked with a smirk.
“I am most definitely selecting her,” he grinned broadly. “How else can I determine which of you is truly the master?”
Vivian blushed slightly. “Hey, don’t be mean.”
“Hardly, sweetheart,” he replied. “I am a man fraught with curiosity. But to tell you which girl wins—now that would be mean. And so I shall keep it to myself.”
“Oh, but now, you’ve got me curious too,” Vivian complained.
“All right, Alonzo, quit flirting with my mate,” Zach grumbled. “You had your taste.”
“Don’t worry, Zach; I know where this one’s heart lies,” he replied. “We are simply exchanging banter and nothing more.”
Before they could say another word, Caduceus stepped into the throne room with a flourish. “Forgive me, my lord; I did not know you had—company. I understand that you wanted the Lords of the Manchenso to remain for your ceremony, but I fear we have been called away with most urgent news, sire. We will be unable to watch you ally yourself with the Arimathean tomorrow night.”
“It must be pressing news, indeed, to have you break faith with your lord in such a way,” Alonzo said dryly. “But I suppose I must wish you good journey anyway.”
“Yes, sire,” he said, bowing low before he stepped out again.
Not long after he had gone, Alex came in instead. The look on his face was deadly.
“What’s the matter with you, little brother?” Zach wanted to know.
“Out in the hall,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “I just heard one of those lordlings speaking to Caduceus. Why on Earth would he tell him, ‘the wench’s name is Amber’?”
Alonzo’s eyes went wide with worry, and he and Zach exchanged an urgent look.
“Where is Amber now?” he wanted to know.
“She could be anywhere, actually,” Zach answered with a worried frown.
“We need to find her immediately,” he insisted. “I do not believe she is safe.”
“You think your men would harm her?” asked Alex darkly.
“The Manchensos are not my men; they follow no one,” Alonzo replied. “All of their deference is merely for show. Knowing my bride choice, they will seek her out and destroy her in the hopes of thwarting my bid for power. We have got to find her right now.”
“Maybe she has returned to her bedroom,” Zach said hopefully. “I know the way there; I can go find out.”
“Why would you know the way to her bedroom?” asked Alonzo curiously. “Well, never mind that now. Let’s both go.”
Amber was not in the bedroom, and no one had seen her in several hours. Alonzo began to worry that she’d been kidnapped, but then Alex came bursting through the door carrying the girl.
“She’s nearly bled out,” he explained as he laid her down at the foot of the throne, arranging her limbs and her long blonde hair gently before he let her go.
“They must have been hoping to make her feral,” Alonzo growled. “But I will not rest one moment until I have fed the girl myself. I just wish we knew when she will need to feed.”
“It’s difficult to say,” said Alex with a sigh as he turned back to check her pulse. “But she sure is a pretty little thing.”
“Indeed,” Alonzo agreed.
With a sudden surge, Amber sat straight up and caught Alex around the neck, her new set of fangs sinking in and drawing blood. “Hey! Let go of me!” he complained, shoving her away.
“Did she drink?” asked Alonzo urgently as he rushed over and caught the frantic girl in his arms.
“I think so. Maybe.”
“Dammit, Amber, you are meant to be feeding on me,” Alonzo scolded her.
Without hesitation, the girl fell upon the prince instead, clinging to him fiercely as she burrowed her face into his neck. He groaned and bit at his bottom lip, enjoying the sensation of the woman’s tongue lapping insistently at his bleeding neck.
“Gods, you really are a little spitfire, aren’t you,” he said shakily, unable to break her hold. He stumbled over to the throne and fell onto it, dragging her into his lap and holding her there. Eventually, she let him go.
“What’s wrong with my stomach?” she complained. “Why does it hurt so much?”
“I fear you may have drunk from two vampires, sweetheart,” said Alonzo gravely. “If you survive the transformation, you will belong to us both.”
“You’re kidding,” she said, trembling uncontrollably. “Why did you let me do it? Are you completely crazy?”
“Unfortunately, you were in frenzy,” Alonzo explained. “I’m afraid it couldn’t be helped.”
“Everything is spinning,” she told him.
“That is just the transformation taking its normal course,” he reassured her. “It’s likely to put you out much sooner thanks to the double do
se. When you wake, you’ll have need of us both.”
“Why will she need me?” Alex complained. “I wasn’t trying to mate with anybody.”
“Well, it’s a little late now,” Zach pointed out.
“Dammit, first father dying, then the Carpathian’s upsetting my plans, and now this?” said Alex. “Am I ever going to be able to return to my casinos?”
“Just be glad that the things pretty much run themselves,” Zach reminded him. “The staff you’ve hired is very good at increasing your wealth.”
“Yeah? Well, to tell the truth, I miss the colors,” he complained. “I miss the lights and the music. Maybe she didn’t drink much of me. Maybe it wasn’t enough to become bound.”
“Look, you guys, Amber’s totally passed out,” said Vivian, pointing.
“She passed out within two minutes of her feeding, Alex,” Zach pointed out. “I’d say she got enough of a dose.”
“Dammit, I’m already falling in love with her!” he complained. “This was not supposed to happen!”
“Don’t be foolish, Knight,” the prince admonished him. “You know very well this was a working of fate. What are the odds of all of this happening to bring the three of us together in this way? You know it was pre-ordained. And also, we simply must let the ceremony continue as planned. You’ll need to help me choose another daughter or two.”
“You still want two others?” Alex scoffed in surprise. “When are you going to have enough time to deal with three brides?”
“Well, you’re already stuck joining the party,” he chuckled. “I kind of thought you’d like to help me out.”
Alex gulped, and his eyes went wide. “You mean, as in join you in servicing them all?”
“Well, yeah, I didn’t think you’d mind.”
The wheels began tuning in Alex’s brain as he envisioned just what Prince Alonzo had in mind. Why, with three women and two men, they could have orgies every damn night. “I’m beginning to think you’re on to something,” he slowly replied.
“Well, I can see the two of you are busy fantasizing, but don’t you think you should be ordering somebody to go after those Manchenso scum and drag them back here for a reprimand of some kind?”
Alonzo blinked. “What? Oh yes, you’re quite right. Why don’t you see to it yourself, Lord Knight? My men are at your disposal. I don’t believe I’ll be able to join in any battles tonight. And neither can your brother, it would seem. Come along, Alex, let us bring Amber back to my bedchambers and tuck her in the big, comfy bed. All right?”
“Yeah, all right,” he agreed with a sigh. “See, Amber, you’re already making changes to my life. Normally, I would go to battle at my brother’s side.”
“If you’ve got such a death wish, you’ll just have to wait for another day to die,” Alonzo scolded. “Right now, we must take care of our wife.”
Alex sighed and rolled his eyes.
*
“So, doc, what’s the news?” asked Vivian worriedly. “It’s just one baby, right? Not two?”
“It’s a good thing you’re sitting down; that’s all I can tell you,” said the best Arimathean doctor available in a subterranean stronghold.
“What do you mean?” Vivian asked, her belly dropping into her knees.
“You’re carrying three.”
Vivian went as white as a sheet. “Did you just say three?” she gulped, her hands flying down to cover her belly. “Dammit, where is Zach when I really need him?”
“You’ll be fine, Vivian,” Donovan said, tugging her against his side. “All this means is that in a few months our house will be—very busy.”
“Yeah? Well, personally, I’m still wondering exactly where that house is going to be,” she complained. “I sure as hell don’t want to be living down here, and it’s unlikely that they left the mansion in one piece. There’s always the stronghold, but who knows if they tampered with it as well.”
“What the heck, we should still go to Mexico.”
“Good idea,” she chuckled. “We can drink marguerites by moonlight.”
“There’s the spirit,” he said, chucking her under the chin. “That’s the Vivian I know and love.”
“Well, doctor, what now?”
“Now, we modify your diet, and you two get off of my exam table,” he teased. “I’ve got seven more patients waiting.”
“Sure thing,” said Donovan, whisking Vivian with him into the waiting room before she decided to give the man a piece of her mind. “Calm the hormones, Viv, will you? The guy is only trying to do his job.”
“Yeah, I know, but he didn’t have to interrupt our touching moment.”
“Is that what that was?” he teased.
“Well, come on, I want to talk to Irene.”
“We didn’t get the diet update yet,” Donovan reminded her.
“Fine, then you wait here while I go clobber her for wishing this on me,” Vivian teased. “She’s never going to believe there’s so many!”
“If Alex ever comes up for air, maybe we could tell him, too,” Donovan called after her as he watched her leave. “I’ll come and find you, okay?”
“Okay,” she called back over her shoulder impatiently. Then, she was out the door and walking through the courtyard at a fast clip. She had no idea where she was going to find Will’s bride, but that didn’t stop her from trying. She actually found her spending time in the children’s lounge.
“What are you doing in here, sis?” she asked curiously.
Irene smiled at the nickname. “Getting ready, I suppose. I wanted to see what it was like to sit in here for a few hours.”
“Down here, we don’t have to worry so much about what time of the day it is, either,” Vivian pointed out. “That’s probably the only thing about the place I really like.”
“So, didn’t you go to the doctor tonight?” Irene prodded. “What did he say?”
“It’s not twins,” said Vivian smugly.
“I stand corrected,” said Irene, smirking.
“I’m having three,” Vivian announced, giggling. “Can you believe it? This is really going to get crazy!”
“Three!” she gasped. “Well, for their sakes, I hope they are girls. Female vampires do seem to lead much less complicated lives than their counterparts, don’t you think?”
“Clearly, you’ve never spent much time in a women’s courtyard,” Vivian chuckled. “They gossip and argue about the stupidest things. I think I’ve never been happier than I have been since my escape.”
“You mean when you came of age?”
“Precisely,” Vivian nodded. “Pleasing two men is infinitely easier than thirty siblings, let me tell you! And that doesn’t even count the male children we had to interact with from time to time. I suppose, if I think about it, I did a lot of babysitting when I was younger, before I was selected to be one of the virgins.”
“So, there are daughters who don’t get selected?”
“Yeah, well, we don’t usually like to talk about them,” she hedged. “Let’s just say they don’t make it to adulthood and leave it at that.”
“You mean the Arimathean culls his herd?” Irene sneered.
“Something like that,” she shrugged, although, in truth, the thought upset her very much. Had Zach not made her a bride, she might very well have gotten culled herself. She thanked her lucky stars that Zach was a good man, rather than a cruel one.
Irene cast her a sympathetic glance. “I can see the topic upsets you, Vivian. I am sorry.”
“It’s not just that,” she sighed. “I’m worried about our men. If one of them were to get killed, it would be devastating. Plus, if Zach got killed now, he wouldn’t even know we had extra babies. That thought really depresses me.”
“Don’t worry, Vivian; Knight men don’t go down easily,” said Irene. “I know they will survive.”
*****
Prince Alonzo and Alex sat together at dinner that night. It was obvious by the way they were whispering to each other and grinn
ing that they’d become at least friends since they’d disappeared into the prince’s bedroom, but Vivian couldn’t tell if it was something more. There was something about the manner in which they interacted that made her think so.
Among vampires, same sex interactions were much more plentiful than Vivian had supposed during the time she’d spent being prevented from learning about such things. Among the vampires grouped here now, the behavior was very out in the open, and the spare vampires were co-blending quite rampantly.
Vivian had begun to think it would be nice if the two groups did become a group of their own, mingling the two largest groups of vampires into one big happy family. It would sure cut down on the number of wars and squabbles that persisted among the various groups, at any rate. If only every vampire were welcome among all his brethren, that would be ideal. Of course, it was just a pipe dream. Humans still hadn’t even gotten that right yet.
It was about an hour into the meal when a group of soldiers dragging in Caduceus. He snarled at all of them and yanked away his person, preferring to face his lord with dignity.
“I’m not sorry I did it, my lord,” he declared boldly. “Someone needed to put a stop to your plans. The idea of a blending of Carpathians and Arimaths sickens me!”
“Your little attempt did not succeed,” said Alonzo, smirking. “Amber is still living. And when she awakens, she and I will begin to breed. You have forfeit your life for nothing. Take him away, men. I believe the dungeons here come equipped with a torture room. Truss him up in there and I’ll deal with him at my leisure.”
“Yes, sire!” the soldiers chimed, smirking at each other.
Caduceus was far less amused, flinging insults and curses all the way back out the door.
“If you kill him,” said Alex, leaning forward as he spoke so that his elbow rested on the table and his ear rested in his hand, “I think you really will start a war.”
“No, I think I will suppress one,” said Alonzo. “All of those men will see that I’m no push-over. I think it would end the conflict nicely.”
Alex sighed. “I really hope you’re right about this, Alonzo,” he replied.
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