The Bloodtruth Series (Box Set: Heiress of Lies, The Queen's Betrayal, Trials of Truth, A Heart's Deceit)

by Cege Smith

  “The Clan desires only peace in Altera,” Malin said. “They will always do whatever they can to ensure that this land remains peaceful.”

  “Is that why they brokered the treaty between Alair Robart and the vampires three hundred years ago?” Angeline said.

  Malin looked surprised. “Have you been spending time in the archives when I wasn’t looking?”

  “Obviously there is a lot that isn’t included in the histories,” Angeline said. “That old vampire, Caspian, told me the real story of what happened between Alair and the vampires.”

  Malin rocked back on his heels, considering. “Somehow I doubt that. I’ve heard of that vampire. For quite some time he served in a similar capacity to the Master that the Bafords have served for the Robarts.”

  Angeline was suddenly exhausted. The day was wearing on her. The last month was wearing on her. Life had been so much simpler when all she had to worry about was completing her studies for the next day. It seemed like every time she was certain that she had one part of the story straight, someone or something else cast a shadow of doubt on it. It was like she was living a huge nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from.

  “I’m not going to debate this with you right now, Malin. What happened when I saw that boy kill himself? I haven’t felt that way since right after my transition.” She drew a deep, shuddering breath as the images of the blood spurting through his fingers filled her mind again. “The blood…I almost lost control. What happened was something that I understood wouldn’t happen if my wraith consciousness was bound back in Craven.”

  Malin pushed himself up and then settled into the chair across from her. Her chambermaid, Clarissa, reappeared with a bowl of cool water, and from the look on her face Angeline realized how inappropriate the situation looked. She and Malin were betrothed, but they weren’t married and he looked completely at home in her bedchamber in the middle of the night.

  Angeline gestured for Clarissa to set the bowl on the table at her side. “Thank you, Clarissa.”

  “Do you need anything else, Your Majesty?” Clarissa’s wide eyes were squarely on Malin, who was looking at the ceiling.

  “Why don’t you bring me some tea, Clarissa?” Angeline was feeling better, but she didn’t want to be alone with Malin for too long. Sending for tea ensured that Clarissa would be back to interrupt again soon, and at that time Angeline planned to send Malin away.

  Clarissa curtsied and then was gone.

  Angeline regarded Malin as she took the cloth from inside the bowl and ran it along her brow. The coolness of the water settled her. “You were just about to tell me why I was almost taken over by my wraith consciousness.” It wasn’t a question, but a command.

  Malin’s eyes finally drifted back to hers. “There hasn’t been a wraith in Altera in three hundred years.”

  “Three hundred years, three hundred years!” Angeline snapped. “That’s not true and you know it. Wraiths are rare, but they have existed in the last three hundred years, and if you don’t know that then it hasn’t reached the Clan’s ears. Caspian told me himself that he studied a handful of them over the years. I am sick and tired of being told that everything I need to know is information that is three hundred years old! I need to know something that is relevant and useful to me now.”

  “As your Chief Advisor, I am telling you what is relevant to you now,” Malin said. His tone was calm and unflappable.

  “The second part of that comment was the information is useful,” Angeline retorted.

  “Then perhaps you could let me finish,” Malin said with a raised eyebrow.

  Angeline bit her tongue. The bubbling anger was just below the surface, and that was when she knew that her demon was much closer than she expected. No matter what Malin said, it was there with her. That thought petrified her. She gave him a short nod to continue.

  “What the Clan did for you, Angeline, was something that had never been attempted before, including the last time that wraiths were known to exist. It is dark and powerful magic that governs a wraith’s creation and interactions with the world. It is extremely dangerous for anyone, including the Clan, to try to interfere with it. It is an aberration of nature.”

  Fear was rippling through her limbs and Angeline was cold even though she was sitting just a few feet from the fire. “So you are telling me that even the people who knowingly gave the vampire their bloodlust are unable to control a wraith.”

  “The wraith was not a species created by the Clan,” Malin said. “Half breed vampires and hybrids like the wraith are outside the boundaries of even the gods purview.”

  “The first wraith was created by Mamette after the Clan awakened her blood lust because they thought that she was the One,” Angeline said, remembering the story that Caspian had told her. “It was because of them that she killed her own brother in cold blood and her venom brought him back to life as a wraith.”

  Malin’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know about the legend of Mamette and Arduro?” Then his mouth twisted, as he must have realized the answer to his question on his own. “Those damn vampires.”

  “Those damn vampires at least told me the truth about the history of my kingdom, unlike those I trusted the most. So just remember, I’m not as uninformed as you may believe, Malin,” Angeline said. She thought carefully about Malin’s words. Species not created by the gods were wild cards and from what she understood about them, the Clan didn’t like wild cards. Everything was carefully controlled and manipulated and risks were eliminated.

  “The Clan didn’t bind my wraith part in Craven, did they?” she said slowly. It was the only thing that made sense.

  Malin sighed. “No. It was my hope that we would find a cure before there was any reason for concern.”

  “All this time, you’ve let me go about my life as if everything was fine, knowing full well

  that something could trigger this monster inside of me?” Angeline tried to keep her voice even but it didn’t work. “I could have hurt someone!”

  “I have confidence in the Clan, as should you,” Malin said, leaning forward in his chair.

  “Unless the plan all along was for me to hurt someone,” Angeline spat.

  “The Clan wants nothing more than the continuation of the Robart bloodline on the throne of Altera.” He repeated his earlier statement.

  “Why should I believe that?” she demanded.

  “It’s part of the legend,” he said.

  “What legend?” She shouldn’t have been surprised that there was more information that she didn’t know.

  “I told you. As long as a Robart sits on the throne, there will be peace in Altera,” Malin said. His jaw was set stubbornly. “There is urgency in understanding what’s happening with your wraith, but perhaps we should turn our attention to the matter of the vampires. Despite what I said in front of Rhone, it was obvious a vampire bit that boy. They have come out of hiding and breached the walls of Brebackerin.”

  “We don’t know if it’s one or many, or even a random occurrence,” Angeline said carefully. Malin knew, as she did, that there was at least one vampire within the walls, but Angeline refused to believe that Connor was responsible for what happened to Joseph.

  “Where there’s one, there’s always more,” Malin said. “They travel in packs just like wolves.”

  There was more there that Angeline wanted to ask, but Malin was right. She needed to focus. She wished that she had a way to contact Connor. She had to know if he lied to her about being alone. But she refused to condemn him until she knew for sure.

  “Joseph said that the Master was sending his regards,” Angeline said. She blocked out the bloody images in her mind and focused on the message. “The Master was the one who sent Connor to kidnap me. Connor said that the Master desired an audience.”

  “Alron is an old fool,” Malin said. For the first time, Angeline saw emotion on Malin’s face, and it was disgust. “If he is stupid enough to break the treaty, the Clan will deal with him.”<
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  “Like the Clan dealt with the binding of my wraith?” Angeline said. She couldn’t help herself, and it was because her demon was awake now and creeping just beneath the surface of her consciousness. “It seems like the Clan is in control of little right now.”

  “You’re right.”

  His agreement shocked her because it was so unexpected, and her next words died in the back of her throat. Clarissa entered the room with the tray of tea. The woman set the tray down on the small table near Angeline’s feet, poured a cup, and handed it to her. Angeline took the opportunity to sit and think. If Malin disagreed with something the Clan was doing, that may open an opportunity for her to use it to her advantage.

  “Would you like a cup of tea as well, Chief Advisor?” Clarissa asked.

  “No, thank you, Clarissa,” Malin said, shaking his head. “It is late. I should go.”

  Angeline was annoyed. The conversation had finally seemed to be getting somewhere and he was leaving. “Please, Malin,” she said. “Have a cup of tea since it is right here. There are a few more things I wish to discuss with you.”

  His face lit up with a small smile, and Angeline was chagrined to realize that she had done exactly what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to invite him to stay, and she had done that and made the request in front of Clarissa.

  “Of course, Majesty. I could never say no to you,” he said.

  Clarissa poured another cup and Malin took it out of her hands, but his eyes never left Angeline’s. Angeline nodded for Clarissa to leave and then she and Malin were alone once more. This time there would be no interruptions, and they both knew it.

  Angeline took a sip of tea. “I didn’t think you’d admit any wrongdoing on the part of your beloved Clan.”

  “Believe it or not, you and I are not that different,” Malin said. He seemed hesitant.

  Angeline bristled. She didn’t want to entertain the idea that they were similar at all. “How so?”

  Malin took a sip of tea and then set it on the small table off to the side. “We both are simply following the prescribed destinies that we were born into. There are no choices for us. When your mother died and your father decided not to remarry, it was inevitable that one day you would be queen. I was born into a family that has had ties to the Clan since the beginning of time. It chafes sometimes, doesn’t it? Always knowing that you have to do something a certain way even though you may not agree with it.”

  His confession was confusing because everything he said struck a chord within her. She had been born royal. Everything that encompassed her life prior to that very day had been to prepare her for it. She had never been asked if she wanted to be queen. It was her birthright and her burden wrapped into one.

  “Surely you would have been able to choose a different career if you had wanted one,” Angeline said.

  “Perhaps if my parents had lived and produced another son,” Malin said, staring into the fire. “But since they did not, it was my duty to take my father’s place in court and take on his responsibility to act as the Robarts’ connection to the Clan.”

  Angeline thought of how dour and ill-tempered Malin had been when he arrived in court after his parents’ death. She had written it off to the fact that he just lost the ones closest to him, but then she remembered the fact that she always found him training with the soldiers until her father called on him to assume the Chief Advisor role. She realized for the first time that there was more to Malin’s story than she had ever been privy to.

  “My point in telling you this, Majesty, is simply to remind you that while you look at me and just see the Clan, you need to remember that I am the man who has been at your family’s side for his entire life. I remember you being born. I shadowed my father while he served your father. Then when my parents died, your father took me in and treated me like a son. I owe a great debt to him.” Malin’s voice was hoarse.

  Angeline wondered in that moment if she had underestimated Malin. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was so late at night, or witnessing the horrifying death of the boy Joseph, but in that moment her feelings softened toward him. It frustrated her that the confession could be completely innocent, or part of a larger plan to manipulate her. She just wasn’t sure which.

  “If you want me to trust you, Malin, you’ll have to earn it,” she finally said. “You can do that by being completely transparent with me. Tell me everything you know and help me set things right for Altera. If Joseph is to be believed, there are dark times coming and I will need people at my side who are loyal to me.” The words seemed to fall out of her mouth and she hoped that she wasn’t wrong in saying them.

  Then Malin was on his knees in front of her again. “You are my queen. My loyalty is to you. I will do whatever it takes to make you believe me.”

  She was reminded of Connor kneeling before her in just such a fashion an hour before. Angeline didn’t know why, but she felt like Malin was truly giving her his fealty for the first time, and her father had always told her to trust her instincts. She gently touched Malin’s head but pulled her hand away as he reached up to take it. She leaned forward in her seat. “If you are truly my subject, then you need to contact the Clan now. The wraith inside me is awakening and they need to do the spell again. This cannot wait.”

  Malin stood. “I will go right now, Majesty. You should get some rest.”

  “I will see you in the morning, Malin,” she said. Then she turned away. She waited until she heard the door close and then considered her next move. She hoped that she had made the right decision. Otherwise there was a good chance she could live just long enough to regret it.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Connor moved through the dark streets of Brebackerin with Elvry by his side. His mind was whirling with everything that had just happened, and the plotted madness wasn’t showing any signs of stopping any time soon.

  Now that he had fed on human blood, every passerby was like a cacophony of sounds and aromas assaulting his senses. He could hear every boot that scraped against the cobblestone pathway, every breath they took, every beat of their hearts pounding within their chests. Each one had their own distinct smell, and some smelled much better than others. It was like everything he felt had been dulled for so long that he had forgotten how vibrant and engrossing the outside world could be. Deep within that he felt the desire to be with Angeline again as soon as possible. He wanted to hold her in his arms, feel her soft skin, and breathe in her smell with these heightened senses. But he knew he would have to temper those feelings so that he didn’t hurt her. He only wanted to love her.

  “It’s thrilling, isn’t it?” Elvry said, as if reading his earlier thoughts. “We could crush these humans so easily. I’ve never understood why the Master agreed to that stupid treaty. We were meant to be gods, not herded like farm animals to the edge of the world.” The bitterness was evident in her voice.

  Connor realized he’d have to watch his thoughts carefully. Although he never thought that Elvry could read minds like he could, he couldn’t rule the possibility out. He hadn’t developed that ability until after his transition. He had to be careful; if she could, he couldn’t risk her picking up an errant thought of Angeline running through his mind. He tried to remember what she just said and finally found that train of thought. “I’ve never wanted to be a god,” he replied. Connor had never aspired to be anything but at peace with himself. Even in death that escaped him.

  “Why not?” Elvry said with a laugh and a shake of her head. “You are so strange, Connor Radwin. You look down your nose at the rest of us, but you are no better than us. If anything, you are worse.”

  Connor stopped and spun on her. “Worse? How could I possibly be worse? You feed on the blood of innocents to survive. Our entire species is a race of parasites.”

  Elvry’s eyes blazed. “You are worse because you’ve never accepted that you are no longer human, Connor. You sympathize with what you will never be again and turn your back on the ones who are your family now.
”

  “My family has been dead for over a hundred years,” Connor said flatly.

  “No, you have been dead for over a hundred years. That life has been over for a long time and you are too shortsighted to recognize the gift that Monroe bestowed upon you.”

  Connor scoffed. “Gift? This is no gift.”

  Elvry stepped closer to him, but Connor refused to back away from her. He wasn’t about to show any sign of weakness with her. Otherwise she would eat him alive.

  “I know that you can feel it inside of you, Connor. You can’t deny it because I feel it too. The heat of the blood has made your senses sing once again. A diet of rabbit and fowl is no good for the vampire. We need to be strong. When you are as old as I am, you will find other, even more pleasant benefits to your existence. To live forever and answer to no human destiny is a gift whether you believe it or not.”

  Her words struck a place inside of him that he thought he had long buried. It was the place where his demon lived. As another person passed by them, he felt his mouth water as the blood lust emerged.

  “Oh yes, my love,” Elvry said, running her hand down his chest. Then she wrapped her arm around his neck and brought his ear down to her mouth. “The more you fight, the sweeter it will be for me to watch you finally succumb.”

  Connor shoved Elvry away from him hard. Her laughter rang in his ears and a red filter swept over his eyes. He hadn’t been raised to lay a violent hand on a woman, but Elvry was no human woman. As he saw her eyes glint dangerously he thought about how evil she was; regardless of how she might have become a vampire, she was his enemy. There was nothing redeemable about her, not after all those years living so gleefully in a life that he despised.

  He fought with the thirst that was threatening to close his throat and purposely took several deep breaths to let the rage inside of him die down.

  “It’s good to see you still have some fire left in your belly,” Elvry said. “Rumors around the coven said you had gone soft. Or maybe you were just saving it all for me.”