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

by Cege Smith

  “Who is Theodora? Is she your leader?” Angeline didn’t want to let the line of questioning about their shared ancestors die, but she could tell that Thomas was buttoned up like a clam. She could wait a little bit longer. She would pry his jaws right open again after the Council meeting, one way or another.

  “Yes,” Thomas started to walk down the hall once again.

  Angeline picked up her pace to keep up with him. It was as if the man couldn’t wait to be rid of her now. “Tell me about her. You’ve offered to advise me. What do I need to know?”

  “You don’t want to get on her bad side,” Thomas said.

  “That’s any ruler,” Angeline scoffed. “Tell me something useful.”

  “If Theodora believes that what you ask for is in the best interest of the Clan, she will give it to you. She is exceedingly fair.”

  “You make that sound like it’s a bad thing,” Angeline said.

  “Theodora is hard to explain. If we had the rest of the night and all day tomorrow, I wouldn’t even begin to scratch the surface of who she is and why she does what she does.”

  “Then tell me this,” Angeline grabbed Thomas’s arm and spun him toward her. His mouth dropped open, and he grabbed at his coat sleeve in alarm. Angeline realized that her nails drove right through the fabric of his coat. She could see the five distinct tears. There was a part of her that wanted immediately to apologize, but then her father’s voice echoed in her mind once again.

  Queens do not apologize, even when they are wrong. You right your wrong in a way that both of you save face, but showing your weakness through an apology is worse than having someone think you are cruel.

  “What exactly do I owe Theodora that I don’t know about?”

  A sweet smell hit her nostrils, and Angeline realized that she had drawn blood. Thomas backed away from her and bumped into the wall. He looked torn between wetting himself and running back down the hallway in terror.

  “You can’t hurt me. I’m Clan,” he said. His voice wavered.

  Angeline slowly wet her lips, willing the hunger inside of her to go away. She was in control. She took a deep breath and let her emotions slip back within a manageable range. “I won’t hurt you, despite the fact that you are Clan,” Angeline said. “You said it yourself. We are blood kin. Alair Robart and every Robart king would never have bartered with the Clan unless there was a mutually beneficial reason to do so. What did they ask of the human Robart bloodline? What did Theodora want that my father would not give her?”

  “As long as there was any possibility that the One would be born, the Clan would never do anything to harm a Robart,” Thomas said in a low voice. “The human Robart bloodline has enjoyed generations of peace and prosperity, and the Clan has been content to wait.”

  “For the One,” Angeline said suspiciously. “The Clan thought Mamette was the One. Look where that got her. What is it about the One that is so special? Why does the Clan want to find him or her so badly?”

  “It is through the One that the Clan becomes equal with the Gods,” Thomas said.

  “What does that even mean?” Angeline asked in frustration.

  “Truly immortal, but without the blood lust of the vampire. Melded with the magic so all powerful.”

  Then the doors in front of them opened interrupting Angeline’s train of thought. A beautiful woman with long silver blond hair stood there expectantly.

  “Queen Angeline, welcome. Please come in. The Council awaits.”

  Thomas bowed to the woman deeply. Angeline could feel the magic emanating from the woman in front of her. It was obvious that the time of waiting had ended and the time of negotiation had begun.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  When Feldon brought the mirror into the room, Connor laughed and waived it away. “Did you forget that I don’t have a reflection?”

  “Special kind of mirror. Just for the vampire’s vanity. You think I’m an idiot?” Feldon grumbled.

  Astonished, Connor approached the ornate plate of glass with trepidation. He felt his hands shake as, for the first time in over a hundred years, he beheld his reflection. His fingers made their way to his face. It was amazing. Although he felt the weight of the years on his shoulders and in his bones, he still had the face of the young man who cavorted around Brebackerin as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  He stood straighter, searching every inch of his image for any indication that time had passed. With the dress coat and pants that Theodora provided, he looked as if he were getting ready to attend a merchant ball all over again. Once upon his time, his father had been eager to marry him off to one of his partner’s daughters, but at the time Connor had no interest in marriage or settling down. He had too much fun drinking and entertaining multiple ladies. His quick wit and sharp intellect made him popular.

  Connor wished that he followed his father’s wisdom and guidance. If he had, then he would be dust in the family plot, but there was a chance that he would have lived a full and happy life. He wouldn’t have murdered his own father. He would have had a normal life that had nothing to do with blood or death. But then, he would never have met Angeline. It was a trade-off that felt unfair considering he would never have that kind of life with her.

  “Yes, you are pretty,” Feldon sneered from the background.

  “Why did you bring this to me?” Connor asked.

  “Your Mistress wants you to feel at home here,” Feldon said. It was obvious by his tone that Feldon didn’t share Theodora’s sentiment. “She wants you to see that she is generous to those who are loyal and that she treats us well.”

  Connor’s anger at Theodora’s treachery boiled beneath the surface. He had been stupid to take her so quickly at her word. Her cunning bribe had just the right effect and then he was trapped as neatly as an insect in a spider’s web. He straightened the collar of his jacket and pulled the cuffs of his shirt out just a bit further. He would wait for the right opportunity, and then he intended to make Theodora pay for thinking she could trick him so easily. If there was one thing Connor found he was exceeding adept at in his afterlife, it was breaking rules.

  “I am ready,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Feldon seemed relieved. “The Mistress said that you are to remain in the back of the room until she announces you. You will be able to go to the Queen’s side then, and you may follow her commands until the Mistress says otherwise. You can assume that the Mistress considers the Queen’s safety your most important duty right now.”

  Connor was annoyed at the way the small man talked down to him. He grabbed Feldon’s coat lapels. “I will do whatever I damn well please.”

  Feldon didn’t seem surprised or concerned by Connor’s outburst. “You’ve had a mere taste so far of Theodora’s power. You will find out soon enough you have no control anywhere. Be glad that the Mistress has taken a shine to you, vampire. There are those of your kind who have come into our midst and were not as fortunate.”

  Releasing Feldon’s coat, Connor took a deep breath. “I don’t understand. Do you hate the coven vampires or not? Are they your allies or not? This game of cat and mouse intrigue is growing tiresome.”

  “Nothing is black and white,” Feldon said. “Having lived as long as you have, I would’ve thought that you’d know that better than most.” Feldon turned on his heel and started from the room. “You coming?”

  Connor cautiously followed behind Feldon. He reached the door’s threshold to the passageway and now was able to pass through with no issue. The spell that held him inside the room was gone. He wanted to ask the small man to hurry up. He was anxious to see Angeline and make certain that she was unharmed. In this place of magic and mystery, he could only imagine the webs of deceit that may have ensnared her as well.

  The hallways meandered and twisted around corners, and they seemed to go one direction and then another. At one point, Connor thought that he heard the sounds of water rushing above his head. He wondered how far beneath the surface they were and how l
ong the Clan had burrowed within the ground’s depths. They would be difficult to find even if someone knew where to look, which he assumed was the point of their underground lair.

  A staircase seemed to appear out of nowhere. Feldon started up them two at a time. “We’re going to be late! Theodora will not be happy if we are late!”

  The panic was evident in the man’s voice. While there was a part of Connor that would gladly have let the woman wait, he knew that, at the end, Angeline waited for him. He hoped that she didn’t think that he had deserted her. He thought that he had done enough to prove his loyalty to her, but he wouldn’t blame her if doubts still lingered in her mind.

  After all, he had kidnapped her and turned her into a creature that was despised even more than a vampire. Angeline, being the woman that she was, had found a way to manage even that. The more time that he spent with her, he was even more convinced that there wasn’t a thing that she couldn’t do if she set her mind to it.

  Connor’s spy inside the convent where Angeline went to school was a small mouse of girl name Phillise. Phillise wanted to become a nun. She came from a small village in the sixth province of Altera. She was the fifth child of twelve, so her parents had been more than happy to pack her off and send her to the Sisters of St. Abath.

  Phillise was an easy target for Connor. She didn’t need any persuasion other than gold to send tidbits of news his way about Angeline. He paid extra when her notes were more detailed, and so by the end, Phillise’s missives were stacks of paper outlining almost all of Angeline’s movements and conversations.

  As he thought about Angeline’s tenacity and stubbornness, he remembered a story that Phillise shared that happened about three months before the events that brought Angeline fully into his life. Angeline completed the final test that should have marked the end of her schooling, but because she completed her studies in two years instead of three, the nuns had to decide to either create new curriculum for her or send her back to Brebackerin.

  Connor knew from his spies in the capital city that the Chief Advisor had no intention of letting the young princess come home quite yet. Instructions were sent from the Chief Advisor to keep Angeline at the convent for another year. However the nuns decided to do it didn’t matter, as long as Angeline stayed put.

  When Angeline discovered that she was going to have to stay at the convent for another year, she started writing in a secret journal. Phillise was privy to it because, over the prior two years, Angeline had grown to trust the quiet, shy girl who cleaned her room and did her laundry. Angeline’s journal was a review and critique of every law in Altera.

  Connor realized in reading Phillise’s notes that Angeline was planning to overhaul the entire legal system when she became queen. Connor asked Phillise to include examples lifted from the pages of the journal, and he discovered that the Princess was more than thorough in her logic about why the antiquated laws of Altera should no longer apply. She leveraged all of her studies of economics, politics and history to plan thoughtful revisions that would bring the entire ruling structure of Altera into the dawn of a new era.

  Angeline wasn’t content with the way that things had always been done. She saw everything with new eyes, unencumbered by the tethers of the past. Connor had no doubt that she would be able to do it. It would be difficult, and there would be those who would fight her the whole way, but her vision of the future would propel action. She was a queen for the people.

  That was why Connor wanted to be near her. Her youth added to her passion. Her legacy would be greater than even Alair Robart’s, but only if she lived to see it. Even if it meant sacrificing his own life, Connor would be part of her story and her legacy. The people needed her, and that was why he couldn’t be selfish with her, no matter what his heart said.

  They climbed six flights of stairs before arriving on a level that Connor immediately could tell was very different from the one that he had just come from below. The elaborate paintings on the walls and the plush rugs that lined the floors hinted at the wealth of the Clan. One obvious thing that he couldn’t see was a window. He wasn’t sure if they were still underground or not.

  “So this is where all the Council members live?”

  “This floor has many purposes,” Feldon said. He stopped in front of a door that had a carving on it that Connor had never seen before. “Remember, you are not to announce your presence to anyone, including the Queen, until the Mistress calls for you.”

  “I’ve got it,” Connor said tersely. He felt the rush of blood in his veins and his skin tingled. Angeline was close by. He tried to quiet his mind. It had been a long time since he had to try hiding his mind while still attempting to communicate with someone telepathically. The Clan knew about his special ability to hear thoughts, so he had to be careful, but he hoped that he could reach Angeline. It may prove to be the only way they’d be able to communicate and hopefully formulate a plan. After trying for a few moments, he heard nothing but static. Frustrated, he waited for Feldon to open the door.

  Feldon seemed to be waiting for something, but Connor couldn’t tell what that was. Finally, the man nodded and gripped the doorknob. He turned it quickly, and it was as if a rush of cool air sucked out into the hallway. Although Connor rarely felt temperature anymore, if it was extreme his senses would detect it. Feldon shivered and then slipped inside, gesturing for Connor to follow him.

  It took Connor’s eyes a moment to adjust, but then he couldn’t hold back his gasp. They were in a small alcove at one end of an immense room. The chill in the air came from the massive opening above their heads. There was no ceiling. He could see nothing but the star filled sky that seemed to float right above their heads. The moon, almost full, was so close that it could have been inside the room. It was tinged blue, and he had the wild sense of thinking that if he just reached up his hand he would be able to touch it. He imagined that if one could sit in the sky, the sensation he had at that moment would be how they would feel. The immersive effect of the room was mesmerizing.

  “Here, we are gods,” Feldon whispered in awe, staring at the sky as well.

  It took a few minutes before Connor’s senses cleared enough that he heard the whispered conversations going on around him. As he tore his eyes from the amazing scene above him, he saw that all around the room there were more alcoves just like the one where he and Feldon stood.

  Then, starting on the other side of the room, a light flared inside of the alcove there. One by one, going around the room, light came on in each one, revealing a seated figure wrapped in bearskin rugs, no doubt to keep away the chill of the night air. Connor was surprised when his alcove remained dim, even those on the other side of them lighted up as well.

  Feldon nudged him in the ribs, and Connor saw him thumb toward the back of the alcove. There was a chair there. “Help me move it up closer.”

  Connor made his way to the chair, and then saw that Feldon hadn’t moved. Annoyed at having to play the part of a servant, he moved the chair to the front of the alcove nonetheless.

  “Thanks for the help,” Connor whispered sarcastically.

  Feldon raised an eyebrow. “She’s your queen, not mine.”

  Connor was about to ask what that meant when a flash of smoke near the massive metal doors at the other end of the room caused a murmur of excitement to ripple through the room.

  A figure appeared through the smoke, and Connor knew by the ripple of silver blond hair down her back that Theodora had decided to make a rather dramatic entrance. Then the doors swung open, and he caught a glimpse of the most beautiful sight he thought he’d ever see.

  Angeline stood there, resolute, whole, and serene looking every bit the queen that she was meant to be. The Council meeting had begun.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Fool.

  That was the first word that crossed Malin’s mind the moment he saw the small man enter the room and scream his panicked message to the crowd. Even when they were younger, Malin had not liked Kraber, and t
his was exactly the reason why.

  The way that it was supposed to happen was that Kraber was supposed to find Lord Redley’s body in his room. Malin had assumed correctly that Elvry used and abused Lord Redley as she assumed the identity of his daughter. Kraber should have brought that information privately to the Queen, and then Malin was prepared to spin his web to ensure that all suspicion of the murder fell upon the young Lady Redley. It would be disruptive, but controlled in a way that ensured that Malin guided the message.

  Instead, the man ignited panic across the court, and a small flame turned into a fire. Women screamed and fainted. Men called out in outrage. Moments later, every eye turned to the raised dais at the back of the room. They called for an explanation and an answer that there was no way that Corrinda could answer.

  Malin didn’t need to look at Corrinda to know that she had no idea how to control the situation. It wasn’t something that they prepared for at all. Of course, he wasn’t sure that Angeline would have known what to do either. This made the whole situation that much more treacherous for many reasons.

  He pushed his way through the crowd trying to get to the dais. The shrill shriek off to his left grabbed everyone’s attention. The false Lady Redley was doing her best to draw all eyes to her.

  “How could this happen inside the palace? How can she protect us? Our enemies surround us. This is the beginning of the end!” Elvry’s voice somehow cut through the din of voices, and her words echoed through the room.

  The effect was immediate. Everyone turned and rushed toward the door. Malin fought against the momentum of the bodies headed in the opposite direction. Corrinda stood in front of the throne searching for him. Guards appeared on either side of her and grabbed her by the arms. It was standard protocol in the event of a mob rush. Get the Queen out as quickly as possible.