Mike and I looked at each other.
“Get. In.”
“Don’t argue with the king,” Mike said jokingly and opened the front passenger door for me. I slid into my seat and before I even put my seatbelt on, David grabbed it and buckled it into place.
“David, please? Calm down.”
“Mate, we’ll sort this out.” Mike patted David’s shoulder. “We’ve got eighteen years.”
“No. We call a meeting and we sort this out now.”
“We can’t. The council doesn’t know the full truth. And Drake said if I told anyone he’d take me when the baby is born.”
Mike and I jolted forward suddenly, slamming back in our seats as the brakes squealed, the shock leaving us silent while David just sat there, the car idling quietly.
“So what do we do?” the king asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Enjoy the next eighteen years.”
David shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Well, you can’t make a scene and go bringing everyone into it, either.”
He rolled his head back on the headrest.
“We’ll figure something out, mate,” Mike said. “We’re… none of us are just gonna stand by and let him take our girl.”
David nodded solemnly and put the car in gear, driving away a lot slower than before.
3
“Why do you care if he kills me?” I asked, breaking the silence after over an hour. “At least this way you don’t have to put up with me for much longer.”
A lengthy breath of irritation flared David’s nostrils. “You hate me now, don’t you?”
“Yes. What’s your point?”
“Do you want me dead?”
Dead? Probably not. Strung up by his thumbs? Maybe. I unwound the smug fold of my arms.
“Precisely,” he said in that dull, deep tone he’d use on stupid people. “Now, tell me, what does Jason know about all of this?”
“Only what you knew before today, except that he also knew Morgana was a traitor. He and Arthur, oh and Falcon, are the only other people that know about her.”
“So my brother doesn’t know about your eighteen-year deal, or…” He looked down into his lap for a moment, as a stilled image of a girl wrapped up tight in his arms, crying her heart out by a lake, filled his thoughts. “Or what Drake did to your family?”
I shook my head.
David paled a little. I didn’t need to read his mind to know he understood just how gutted Jason would be when he learned not only that I’d die in eighteen years, but also that I’d kept all of this from him. Although, I knew he’d be slightly impressed that I’d managed to keep it from him.
“How did you manage that?” David asked, adding, “To keep it from my brother?”
My jaw snapped open. “Did you just read my mind?”
His lip quirked in that small secretive smile. “I can always read your mind.”
“No. I’ve been blocking you!”
“No, you only think you’ve been blocking me.” He turned his head, and for a millisecond, his eyes brushed along the roundness of my tiny belly, my hands across it. “My powers grew after my inauguration too, you know. I can get in when I try.”
Hmpf! “That’s no fun.” I folded my arms again. “So, then how come you didn’t know about my eighteen-year deal with Drake if you’re so powerful?”
“Because I haven’t tried to get into your thoughts. I’ve had no reason to.”
“But you do now?”
“More than ever before. I need to know what other lies you’ve been telling.”
“Hey! I never lied,” I shouted. “I just didn’t tell you the entire truth.”
“How is that any different?” he snapped louder than me, clearly having held that little outburst in for a while. “Even your own trusted, most secretive council has been left in the dark, Ara, and—”
“Actually, it was Jason’s idea to keep the council in the dark,” Mike added dryly from the backseat. “Not hers.”
The sun beamed through the windshield as we turned then, making the new crease in David’s brow look deeper. “For what reason?”
“He saw some of what Drake and I talked about—only a second or two of my memory before I locked it away. But one of those was my promise not to tell a soul—except you—about Anandene. Jase decided it was best not to piss Drake off by breaking that promise,” I said.
“Not to mention that, the more people who know, the greater risk the baby is in,” Mike added. “Should anyone decide Anandene shouldn’t be born.”
David groaned quietly in the back of his throat. I knew he agreed with us on that one. He just wouldn’t admit it.
“And what about this vampire-killing potion Jason’s perfecting?” he asked. “Is it nearly ready to go?”
“Potion?” I sat with my arms folded, wrinkling my brow for a moment. Was he really that far out of the loop? “David, there is no potion. I thought you knew that.”
“So it’s just another lie?”
“Not my lie!”
“Whose then?”
“Well, it was kind of Jason’s doing, I suppose.”
“How is it kind of his doing?”
“Well, I had to tell my council that the dagger was useless. They needed to know that much so we could call off the plan to storm Elysium. But they didn’t take it so well. The only thing that kept the knights in their seats after was Jason’s quick thinking.”
“That was stupid. It’s just another lie covering up a lie.”
“I know but, in that moment, we both realized they were too emotionally invested to act rationally. They couldn’t be trusted with the truth. Not back then.”
“But maybe now?” Mike asked.
“I hope so, because the baby will be born soon, and Drake will be visiting—”
“Visiting?” David said.
“He wants contact with her.” I waited, expecting him to argue, but he clearly knew Drake pretty well; knew that it wasn’t negotiable, because all he did was sigh, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “We need to forge some kind of a peace agreement with him that’ll fool the vampire population into thinking we’ve settled our differences,” I added, “and I can’t do that without the help of my council.”
“You could pull them all aside and talk to them one by one,” Mike suggested.
“Even then, I’m just not sure I can count on them to obey me after they get in a room together and start talking about how messed-up Drake’s deal is. They’ll go after him, Mike. You know that. And then they’ll die.”
“Compel them. They’re sworn to you, so—”
“I don’t want to have to do that,” I said.
“Then what, My Queen, is the point of that power?” Mike asked.
“What’s the point of any power if you have to abuse it to be sure people will follow your orders?”
“Well, if they won’t follow orders, they don’t belong on the Core,” Mike added.
“If that’s the case, then I shouldn’t need to use my powers at all,” I said, and David laughed once. “What?” I snapped at him.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I just think this version of you is… much better than the old one.”
Instead of retorting with something sharp about how much I gave a damn what he thought, I bit my tongue and said, “Anyway, the issue here isn’t whether or not they’ll obey me, it’s whether or not they need to know all the details of the agreement in order to help with what’s required in the immediate future.”
“And you think that’s a peace agreement?” David reaffirmed.
“A fake one. Yes. One that can fool the Upper and Lower House, and the new Sets, so that we can regularly interact with Drake without raising suspicions.”
“And we also need to come up with some plan to stop Drake before he takes your life in eighteen years,” Mike said in an informative tone. “Let’s not forget that bit.”
“Well, there’s no way to kill him,” David said.
“All we can hope to do is capture him. Lock him away. Maybe—”
“We can’t just lock him up in a four-walled cell of steel and limestone, mate. He’s got witch blood in his veins. He’s as powerful a bastard as they come.”
“There’s no other way,” David started, but Mike cut in with his own opinions again, and the pros and cons and hows and whats bounced around between Mike and David the rest of the way home, still unresolved when we pulled in past the line of trees and saw the great cream fascia of the manor rising up like a new day’s sun.
“Well, it’s your decision in the end, Ara—whether to inform the council or not,” David said, driving a little slower toward the fountain, where the statue of my soul-sake stood as an eternal reminder that I would never be whole. “You are the queen, after all.”
“I think it’s time to tell them everything,” I concluded halfheartedly.
“But, what if you’re right?” Mike asked. “They may take matters into their own hands, Ara, and go after Drake before he has a chance to even think about resurrecting Lilith. They’re pretty dedicated soldiers.”
The car came to a rolling stop, gravel crunching and popping under the tires, and we all just sat there for a second looking up at the manor—the steps and driveway lined with thirty-or-so staff members and, at the top, right by Emily and Falcon, was Jason. He wore a solemn mask of reverence, but his eyes radiated happiness when he saw me.
“There won’t be a revolt,” I said, unbuckling. “If they’re such dedicated soldiers, then they’ll do as I tell them. And anyone who goes against me, whether out of the goodness of their hearts or for their own obstinate beliefs about what’s best, will be punished harshly. No matter who they are.”
David and Mike exchanged glances.
“Even Falcon?” Mike asked.
I didn’t even need to look up at the kind, warm face of my favorite knight to know that would be a tough call. “Anyone that disobeys, Mike. Including you. I won’t have my life or my child’s life in jeopardy because some hot-headed soldier thinks he knows best.”
Mike’s seatbelt came undone and he shrugged at David, giving his silent blessing in the casual twist of his mouth.
I jumped out of the car then and ran to the top of the porch steps, wrapping my arms almost twice around Jason’s neck. “I’m sorry I ran off on you yesterday—at the funeral.”
“Hey, hey.” He squeezed me so tenderly I felt like a porcelain doll. “Don’t apologize for anything, sweet girl. I completely understood.”
“I knew you would.”
“Then you know me well. And I’m just so happy you’re finally home.” He pressed his hands to my ribs then and leaned back a bit, frowning.
“What?” I asked, going cross-eyed to see if I had a giant zit on my nose.
“Something feels different.”
“What does?”
“I don’t know.” He considered me more carefully, hands patting then squeezing my ribs and upper arms, eyes darting over my face, my hair, my body, coming back to my gaze riddled with confusion. “You feel almost more…”
“Fatter?” I grinned sheepishly.
“No. Like there’s this… I don’t know, solidity—kind of inside you?” He dismissed it quickly with a shake of his head, and the smile returned. “New necklace?”
I drew it from under my thin pink shirt and showed Jason. “My dad left it for me.”
“It’s pretty. Just like the one in the painting of Lilith,” he said, laying it back down just between my breasts, my Celtic key sitting an inch or so above. “Anyway, I have good news for you.”
“Good news can wait.” Mike stepped up under the shadows of the eaves and leaned in to Jase. “We need to call a council meeting.”
Jason immediately pulled me into him, tucking my head under his chin. “What happened?”
Mike checked David’s position: he stood by the car, his hands in his pockets, wearing an expression of disinterest across his face despite his eyes undeniably taking in the way Jason held me.
“We’ll fill you in at the meeting,” Mike said in a quiet voice. “And Arthur’n David’ll be sitting in on this one.”
Jason looked down at me, keeping a hand around my back.
There are a few things about my meeting with Drake that I forgot to mention, I thought. I’ll fill you in on the way up to my room.
“You’ll do no such thing.” David grabbed my arm and drew me in one swift tug away from Jason. “He can find out with the rest of the council.”
“No need,” Jason said, a smug grin easily distinguishing him from his stone-faced twin. “You just let it all slip, brother. Way to guard your thoughts. Now I see why she didn’t trust you with this before.”
David’s foot came into the ring, the air of battle building behind clenched teeth, but Mike pushed them apart with a firm hand to each chest. “Not helping, boys. Save it for the Training Hall.”
They both backed down begrudgingly, then David stormed past us to the manor door, almost ripping it off its hinges as he opened it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I slowly moved my attention onto Jason and his low, hurt voice, his posture changing as what he just learned sunk in piece by piece. “Because I knew you’d do something to try to stop it.”
“I—”
“Get off me!” Morg wailed, and all heads turned to the doorway.
“You may have gone under the radar thus far, Morgaine,” David said in a cold, measured tone, clutching the girl by the arm. “But if you think the courtesy my wife offered extends past me, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“You can’t touch me,” she said, but her eyes flicked onto me, hollow with uncertainty.
At the speed of a vampire, I appeared beside her, tucking my arm between David’s body and hers and shoving them apart by no gentle means. “David, now is not the time.”
“How did he find out?” Morg snapped, taking refuge behind me.
“How long did you think it would take, Morg?” He moved in. I shuffled sideways to block his path again. “I can read her goddamn mind.”
“Yeah, well, when a certain uncle of mine finds out that you know—”
“I welcome the challenge,” David said through his teeth.
“Okay, that’s enough!” I cut the air with two hands. “You both need to go to your rooms and cool off.”
They looked at me like I was joking.
“Now!”
Morg turned on her heel and took off, the manor door swinging in her wake. But David didn’t move.
“David.” My voice shook with fury and adrenaline. “You had no right to do that.”
A smile curled around his lips, wiping away the guarded, angry mask. “To see her practically defecate in her own pants was worth it.”
I rubbed my eyebrow a few times, bowing my head in frustration. “Go inside. I’ll see you at the meeting in ten.”
The rounded shoulders of the relaxed, humored David rolled back, transforming him suddenly into the king. He angled his head slowly to eye his brother. “Do not walk upstairs with him.”
I offered both my wrists. “You’ll have to arrest me to stop me.” And what happened to tolerating, or was it “respecting” my new relationships?
His eyes flickered, lashes hiding the greens. “Easier said than done.”
“Look—” I moved a bit closer and lowered my voice. “I know it’s hard to see Jason and I as friends after you spent so long forbidding it. But I’m not trying to rub it in your face, David. That hug before was just—”
“I know,” he said. Then, with less than a gentle breeze, he disappeared.
* * *
Splashes of wavering torchlight warmed the ancient cold of the Round Room, charring another layer of black onto the bricks behind the flames and casting lengthy shadows of high-backed chairs in flickers across the round table. The dry scent of dirt that always took me back to the torture chamber at Elysium lingered in here like a bad memory, and the fact that my torturer
took a seat just two meters across from me set my hairs on end a little.
“Are you sure you’re ready to bring everyone else into this?” he asked, smoothing a curious palm across the deep carvings in the stone tabletop.
“No. But I’m doing it anyway.”
Jase smiled.
As I planted my butt on the old wooden chair, Falcon stepped in, his warm Lilithian scent and the scuff of his shoes giving him away before I saw his face.
“Ara?” he said softly, almost as if he’d been forbidden to speak my name.
I looked up at him and, noticing the odd look in his eye, stood up again and dragged him by the sleeve to the small nook under the spiraling stone stairs. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He ran a hand like a comb through the front of his blonde hair, his penitent gaze staying on the ground. “I’m sorry I told Mike about Drake—that I betrayed your trust that way, I—”
“Oh, Falcon.” I put my palm to his bulky chest to shush him. “I’m not mad. Not at all.”
He cupped my hand, making me feel small like a child in the wrap of his global grasp. “How can you not be? I—”
“You did what you had to. And I don’t blame you, Falcon. In fact, I should be begging your forgiveness.”
“Mine?” He frowned. “Why?”
“For asking you to keep such a secret in the first place?”
He tossed his head back casually, taking a breath before I even finished what I was saying. “Ara. You… I—You can ask anything of me, and I would never deny you. I am your eternal servant, My Queen, and whatever your will, it is mine, in equal, to see it done.”
My brain, mouth and tongue went numb, but my hand shot up to slap the band of black ink under the arm of his shirt. “Wow, that oath really did a number on you, didn’t it?”
He laughed. “It’s not just the oath. I’ve never met anyone like you, Ara. And while I’ve often wondered if you had what it took to be queen, your actions over the past few months have proven to me that any doubts I ever had were unfounded. You’re still growing and learning, but I’d be damned if I ever found a better or more worthy being to fit your role.” He bowed slightly, touching his heart. “I serve you with pride, Ara. And that has nothing to do with my oath.”
Echoes & Silence Part 1 Page 14