Everyone looked up when we walked in. I tensed nervously. Isaac kept a hand on my shoulder.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present his Royal Lowness, Prince Isaac the Spare Prince of Inwaed.” A young man shouted across the room and the rest of the attendees broke into laughter. “Oh, and let’s not forget our lovely Bloodletter.” The man jumped up from his chair and posed in an exaggerated bow.
Isaac waved them off. “Yeah, yeah, thank you Horace.”
Horace grinned and passed Isaac a glass of wine. The chatter started again, and the pianist picked up the tempo.
Isaac took a sip of wine before introducing me to his friend. “Horace, I’d like you to meet Violet.”
Horace kissed my knuckles. “Charmed. It’s a pleasure to meet the lady that Isaac hasn’t been able to stop talking about.”
I glanced at Isaac and noticed a pink tinge in his cheeks. “Thank you,” I said, taking a glass of wine from him as well. I drank deeply, I had not been able to touch a drop of wine since coming to the House of Strix. Alcohol thinned the blood and lowered inhibitions – a combination that was not healthy for a Bloodletter. It tasted glorious, a full-bodied red. I was not surprised that Royals favored red over white.
“I’ve missed you,” Isaac said to me once Horace turned his attention elsewhere.
“It’s only been a week.” I replied.
“Yes, but after that kiss, you’re all I could think about.” Isaac said. “I waited in the library every night for you.”
“I’m a woman of my word; I told you that we shouldn’t be together.”
“And yet here you are.” Isaac sipped his wine. His hand wandered up my arm and on my shoulder. “You’re so beautiful, Violet.”
“Is that the wine talking?”
“Never. I only speak the truth to you.” Isaac whispered.
I shivered. I craved more of his touch, even sitting beside me he was too far away.
Before I could speak, the door opened again, and a girl ran in with a violin. “Got one!” She raised it over her head victoriously.
The guests cheered and whooped.
Isaac grinned. “Good, I was wondering when this party was going to get started.”
The girl went to the pianist’s side and whispered in his ear. He nodded eagerly and broke out into an upbeat song. She played along with him, not missing a beat and dancing in her stiff silk gown. One by one, the others got to their feet and began to dance. This was no typical ballroom dance, but one that required much more physical contact. They laughed, sang and held each other, twisting and jumping in ways that would make their parents blush.
I stood watching the young Royals, holding onto my empty wineglass tightly. I had never seen anything like this before.
Isaac nudged his elbow into my side. “Want to dance?”
“I, I,” I stammered. “I don’t believe I’ve had enough wine for that.”
“Don’t be shy,” the Prince said. He leaned close to me in order to be heard over the music. “Let’s have a little fun. Tomorrow you’re going to be shut into your room again, waiting for a Royal who will never want your blood.”
I bit down on my lip. He was right. I needed to take this chance. “Alright.” I said, slamming the glass down and jumping up from my chair. “Let’s do it.”
Prince Isaac didn’t look the least bit surprised. He took my hand and led me into the middle of the room. The chairs and sofas had been cleared away to make room for the dancing bodies. It was hot in here; make up smeared, hair fell flat and clothing wrinkled. A party unlike any I had ever seen.
Isaac pulled me against him. His body was hard against mine as we danced.
It took me a few moments to get into the beat, feeling the music moving through my blood. We danced until my feet burned. I kicked off my shoes, hiked up my skirt and danced. I never wanted to let him go. I had never felt as free in my entire life as I did then.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling myself up to his face. I didn’t have to wait long; the Prince kissed me in the middle of the crowd and my heart burst. I didn’t care what any of them might be thinking. I was a Bloodletter, being kissed by a Royal in the middle of his peers. They were all caught up in the moment to give it a second glance.
Isaac growled against my cheek; his eyes were burning. “You’re amazing, Violet,” he whispered. His grip tightened on my waist and I felt his true strength.
I brushed the pale blond hair from his face and kissed him again. No words I could say would be enough. Even with all the reading I had done, all the lessons I had completed, there were no words for how I felt that night. It was all so new, so exhilarating, I never wanted it to end.
When we broke away from yet another kiss, I noticed the fire in his eyes. It was the same as any other Royal had when they needed blood. I had been trained to recognize it and I found myself wanting to give it to him. “You need blood.” I whispered into his ear.
Isaac’s hands froze on my waist. He cleared his throat and blinked. “No, I’m ok.” He said.
“You’re lying.” I pressed myself against him. “I can take care of it for you. You said yourself that my blood was the best you’d ever tasted.”
Isaac swallowed hard.
I wasn’t sure if it was the wine weakening my resolve, but I wanted to give him my blood. I needed to. I needed to feel the release, the rush of pain. I reached into my pocket and withdrew the needle.
“No,” Isaac said. His mouth and his eyes told different stories. “If I do, I’ll never be able to have another’s again. You can’t do this.”
“Do you want my blood, Isaac?”
Isaac’s lips trembled. “Yes, more than anything.”
“Then don’t deny yourself, it’s just one night. No one will know.” I wanted more this time. I wanted to feel his lips against my skin. I wanted him to take me how they used to, before all the regulations and health codes. I wanted to feel the beast in him. I grazed the sharp end of the needle along my shoulder. Red bubbles of blood spouted up along the line.
Isaac hissed and plunged forward, pressing his mouth against my skin and licking the blood from the wound.
My vision blurred. I hung onto him as hard as he clutched me, letting him drink the life from my veins. It wasn’t a deep cut; the flow wouldn’t last for long. It was just enough to replenish his energy and to let me feel his body against mine.
I felt the shift inside of him. A raw animal-like desire. The fire that burned inside of him, growing hotter than the sun itself. This is what true power was. This is what it meant to be a Royal. To have every mortal at your mercy. To be a God on earth.
I grinned against his cheek as he pulled away, breathing heavily.
I had given him my blood; it was only a matter of time before he gave me his.
TWENTY-THREE
MY BORING WORLD SHIFTED THAT NIGHT.
I slept in the day and waited anxiously for midnight. After the servants and staff had retired to their beds, I slipped out of my room and met Isaac in the library. I was no longer bored, wasting away while I wanted Edmund to show interest in me. For the first time in a long time, I began to look forward to tomorrow.
Dressed in a gauzy blue gown, I entered the library and shut the door behind me, twisting the lock closed with a click.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up."
I found Isaac sprawled on a sofa, surrounded by a pile of books.
"I'm sorry," I said, taking a seat beside him. "The staff wasn't quick to leave tonight."
"All that matters is that you're here now." Isaac pulled me to him and kissed me. He brushed a stray curl from my eyes and ran his fingers along my cheek gently.
Though the time we spent together had only been brief, I knew without a doubt that there was something special between us. It was something that I had never felt before. I penned a letter to Amelia, trying to keep my words discrete in case the letter was opened before leaving the palace. I was counting on her advice to help me. She
was the hopeless romantic. I had laughed at her for it before, but now I was seeing the appeal.
I noticed a bruise on the Prince's arm, half visible under his rolled-up shirt sleeve. "What happened?"
Isaac glanced at the purple bruise. "Oh. That. I fell off my horse this afternoon during training," He laughed. "Don't worry about me. Royals heal quickly. It'll be gone before breakfast tomorrow."
Strength, longevity, beauty and power. That was what it meant to be a Royal. The more time I spent with Isaac, the more I cursed myself for being born a commoner. I kissed him and he returned it to me passionately.
Our kisses grew hot and demanding. I straddled him, deliberately choosing a light dress with no petticoats or corset for this reason. It took too long to get out of. His kisses ran down my neck and shoulders, his hands exploring and clutching my body.
"Did you lock the door?" He asked.
"Of course." I breathed in a break between kisses. My hands were trembling. I couldn't get enough of him. His body. His lust. His power.
"Excellent," The Prince growled in the back of his throat and pinned me down to the plush sofa.
When our lovemaking came to an end, Isaac cradled me in his arms.
I tried in vain to tame my shaking hands and button up my bodice. "Do you need blood, Isaac?" I whispered.
Isaac's grip tightened on me a fraction. "No," He said finally and eased back. "I had some earlier," He avoided my gaze before continuing. "If I don't use my Bloodletters, someone will get suspicious."
I clenched my teeth and nodded. I hated knowing that he was drinking from someone else, but it was part of the deal. No one could know about us. It was not unheard of for Royals to pursue physical relationships with their Bloodletters – but Isaac was a Prince and I was his brother's Bloodletter. It would cause a scandal and the ruling family didn't need any more doubts or rumors about Edmund.
I traced a finger on his chest. His skin was flushed. “I understand."
"You know that I care for you, right?"
I met his eyes. "Yes."
"Good," Isaac said. He kissed my temple and rose from the sofa. Once he was dressed, he went back to his pile of books.
I tilted to my head to read the titles written in gold leaf on the spine of the leather-bound books. They were mostly history books again. "Don't you ever get tired of studying? Don't you read fiction?"
"I used to when I was younger," Isaac replied. He found the thick volume he was looked for and leafed through the pages. "But now I do it to teach myself."
"You said that your parents want you to focus on military training, why is that?" I tucked my legs up to my chest.
"Well, Edmund is the heir. It's up to him to rule one day; make babies, wave at the masses, and dance in balls." Isaac shrugged. "I'll be a figurehead for the army."
"But Inwaed hasn't known war for centuries, why bother?"
"To keep me out of trouble, I suspect," Isaac mumbled. His face brightened, and he smiled at me. "Though, to be honest, I've been doing a lot less reading since you came around."
I blushed. "Do you think Edmund wants to be King one day?" I asked after a moment.
Isaac looked surprised. "Well, even if he didn't," he answered carefully. "That is his destiny. So, he'd best get himself a bride and learn to live with his fate." He set the book down. It was titled THE ROYAL BLOODLINES.
About an hour later, I left the library. While I could sleep the morning away, Prince Isaac could not. I admired him for all the effort that he put into being a prince, even if he was only a spare, as he referred to himself. I wondered if Edmund was as serious as Isaac was. In the two times I had met Edmund, he seemed withdrawn and unhappy with his luxurious lifestyle. I suspected it was just the pressure of finding a suitable bride that was bearing down on him.
I wished that Prince Edmund would come by my room at least once in a while to check in on me; it would be the polite thing to do. I wondered if there was any way for me to become Prince Isaac's Bloodletter instead. Or more, perhaps. His bride? I shook my head and turned a corner. That was just stupid. We would never be able to be together.
"Do you really think you have a chance?"
I looked up from the carpet. I had been caught up in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed someone standing against the wall. Greta.
"Greta?" I hissed. "What are you doing here?"
Greta smirked and tossed her loose hair over her shoulder. She was wrapped up in a long dressing gown. "I should ask you the same thing."
"Why aren't you in the Bloodletter's wing? And in your nightclothes too!" I looked her up and down.
"Says you," Greta motioned at my disheveled gown. "I know what you're doing."
I flushed red. "Doing what?"
Greta took a sauntering step towards me. She had a familiar look in her eyes, the cocky, conniving one that she wore nearly all the time when we lived with Madam Desjardins. "You're seeing Prince Isaac." She grinned.
"What proof do you have?" I spat.
"Well, you're not the only one who gets bored in this palace," Greta said, leaning forward to whisper. "I saw you both leave the ball."
I jerked away from her. "You weren't there!"
“Ha! In case you forgot, I am a staff Bloodletter. You couldn't take your eyes off Isaac, so I'm not surprised you didn't see me."
The ballroom had been full of over two hundred people, of course I hadn't seen her. "I was doing my job for Prince Edmund. I wasn't looking at anyone else."
"Right, sure you were." Greta rolled her eyes. "I wonder what Lady Carrol would say if I told her that you were stealing away with the Prince's brother?" She mused. "And meeting him in the dead of night in the library to do who knows what."
I clenched my fists. "You're not supposed to be out after dark either," I said. "You couldn't tell even if there was something worth telling. I was reading."
"So, you're sneaking into the library to study chastely with the Prince? Forgive me if I don't believe you." Greta ignored my comment.
I rolled my eyes and shouldered past her. "Shut up, Greta. Get back where you belong."
Greta made a disgusted sound in her throat. "Excuse me?" She hissed as loud as she could without alerting the staff. She stomped after me and seized my arm.
I ripped it away from her. "Don't touch me."
"You must think you're something special, don't you?" Greta sneered. "Let me tell you something, Violet. You're nothing to them. You're nothing to him. You're nothing but a source of food for these Royals. That's all you'll ever be." She spoke over my protest. "And let me tell you something else, if anyone finds out that you're sneaking out at night to study anatomy with the Prince – well, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the end of you." She spun on her heel and walked away.
I watched her leave, seething with rage. How dare she assume the Prince's feelings towards me? I wanted to chase her, punish her for her rudeness. But what could I do? I had to think of something before she let out the secret to Lady Carrol. Greta was right about one thing, if I was caught, there would be hell to pay.
∾
The next evening when Judy brought me my dinner, I heard keys jingle in her pocket. Every staff member must have a master key. I drummed my fingers on the table as the maid laid out another plentiful meal. If I could get my hands on the key, then I could confront Greta on my own terms. I bit my lip and stretched, knocking a bowl of soup onto the floor.
Judy shrieked; the soup was steaming hot.
“Oh no!” I exclaimed. “Judy, are you alright?” I bent down to help her clean up the mess, locking my fingers around the keys in the pocket of her apron. I stuffed them down my sleeve.
In the clamor, Judy didn’t notice the lightness of her pocket. “No, please, I’ll take care of it.”
“Let me help you,” I insisted.
Once the soup was cleaned up, Judy smoothed her hair and took the dishes away. “My apologies again, Miss. Shall I get you another bowl?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s quite
alright,” I said. “Have a good evening, Judy.”
The maid blinked. “Yes, you too.” She took the cart away and left.
I pulled the keys from my sleeve after the sounds of her footsteps had faded away. There were three keys on the ring, each gleaming in the light. I set them on the table in front of me and stared at them while I finished my dinner.
I wouldn't be meeting Isaac tonight. He had mentioned last night to me that his family was off to a party and that he was very sorry that he'd have to spend his time at a table full of stuffy Royals than with me.
My heart longed for his touch, but my body needed a break from the exhaustion of sneaking out nightly. I dressed for bed and hid the keys in my bedside table. I lay awake for a while, staring up at the ceiling. The fireplace crackled merrily on the other side of the room and the warmth eventually lulled me to sleep.
My restful sleep turned into a slew of nightmares, pulling and picking at my skin. Holding me down and taking my blood, my life, my soul. When I finally escaped their clutches, I awoke trembling and sweating. I looked around my room wildly, unable to remember exactly what I had been terrorized by in my dream. There were no memories, only fear.
I steadied my breathing, wiping my face with the hem of my nightgown.
Greta. Greta would tell Lady Carrol that I was seeing Prince Isaac after dark. She would tell her that we had stole away from the party and that I had abandoned my one purpose that night.
I gnawed on my bottom lip. I couldn't let her ruin everything that I had worked on. After some time, who knew, I could be more than a Bloodletter to Isaac. After all, his parents weren't exactly paying much attention to him because they were so desperate to keep Edmund's image up.
I couldn't let Greta destroy what little of a life I had left.
The Bloodletters Page 16
