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

by Cege Smith

  “That still doesn’t explain how you knew about her,” Malin said, nodding his head at Elvry’s body.

  “My sources tell me that the vampires who entered Brebackerin included a woman of exceeding beauty. Add that to what the boy who died on the table in front of the Queen yesterday said, and my suspicion became a hunch which proved itself to be true.”

  Malin was incredulous. “You took a Lady hostage on a hunch?”

  “The question that I have for you, Chief Advisor, is how you knew,” Rhone said, neatly turning the tables on him.

  “She told me,” Malin said.

  Rhone’s laugh was a short bark. “They are deceitful, manipulative creatures. She obviously enjoyed her little ploy. Why would she have told you the truth?”

  Malin had a choice. He could tell a semblance of the truth, or he could lie. Although his training told him that he should do the latter, he realized that he was in over his head. He needed an ally beyond his sister, and having a true Blood Guard working with him might be just what he needed to turn the tide of darkness back that was threatening the kingdom. Plus, he knew that Angeline had a soft spot for the old Chief General. He thought about what she would do if she found out about what he was. He knew the answer without question. Angeline would tell him the truth. The only part that left Malin worried was that Eric Robart had never seen fit to take Malin into his confidences about what Rhone was, even though he was at his side almost every day for eight years. There was a reason. Eric Robart never did anything without a reason.

  “Part of her plan was to coerce me into doing something for them,” Malin said.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know,” Malin said truthfully. “But she threatened me and more importantly, she threatened the Queen. She had to be dealt with.” It was a close enough version of the truth that Malin didn’t think he’d have to manipulate the rest of the facts around it.

  Rhone stared down at the bleeding corpse and gave Elvry’s leg a swift kick. “Damn vampires. Always meddling and trying to cause problems. Alair Robart should have wiped them out when he had the chance.”

  Malin said nothing. He had no idea how far Rhone’s knowledge of the Clan or his part in it stretched, and there was no sense giving any of that away. “Rhone, I have to check on the Queen. She is going to be concerned about what happened, and I need to reassure her that everything is under control.”

  “Is it?” Rhone said quietly.

  “Is what?” Malin snapped.

  “Is everything really under control? A nobleman has been murdered. We have a dead vampire in our midst and possibly four others roaming the city streets. The highest-ranking noble from every house in Altera is currently inside this city. If those bloody vampires were looking to stage a coup, this would be the time. They’d just have to trap us all in and burn the whole damn city down.”

  Malin looked at Rhone in horror. He could see the scenes playing out vividly in his mind. If that were what the Master planned, by locking everyone away behind the city gates, they would have made the job all too easy for them. “Is that what you think they are doing? Rounding us all up for the slaughter?”

  Rhone shrugged. “That’s what I would do. Just for fun though, you create havoc inside the walls too. The level of paranoia will spread like a disease and eat the situation away from the inside out. I imagine for someone who has been locked away in the Forgotten Lands for over three hundred years, watching his enemies turn on each other and wipe themselves out for him would be exceedingly satisfying.”

  “You have no evidence of that,” Malin said.

  “You said yourself that this wench threatened harm to both you and the Queen. You don’t think everyone sees what a tenuous hold the Queen has on the kingdom right now? Right or wrong, there are those who support her, and there are those who support her only because she is marrying you. If something happened to call the marriage into question, those two factions would splinter into two in no time. Then the more ambitious nobles, like Lord Norburn, would see an opportunity to make a power play and do something they’ve been wanting to do for a long time, which is overthrow the Robart hold on the throne altogether. The country would be at war again, and this time, it would be with itself.”

  “That is paranoid talk,” Malin said. “You said it yourself.”

  Rhone studied him with a long look as he weighed his words. “While the ants play their war games, the vampires would have free reign to hunt in Altera in a way that they haven’t since the Great War. Unless there was a reason they saw fit to interfere, the Clan would sit in their lofty mountain caves and ignore it all.”

  “All of this talk is based on the presumption that Angeline and I would not be married in two days.”

  “It isn’t a secret that you have a roving eye and that the Queen seems to have transferred her affections elsewhere. There are those who spoke at length with Eric before his illness, and he spoke about how proud he was of his daughter’s independent thinking. How he thought that she would make an excellent ruler in her own right. People whisper that the Queen will overturn the ancient law that requires a female to be married within three days of her Ascension so that she can be rid of you.”

  “There are quite a few ‘people’ then who are wrong,” Malin said, trying to control the tightly wound anger in his core. “The Queen puts her people first, no matter what. She isn’t ruled by emotions or secret desires. She understands the importance of this union just the same way that I do. There are no hidden agendas here.”

  “The vampires were going to take advantage of that division between you. I guarantee it. If that doesn’t work, you can rest assured that they have another plan up their sleeves.”

  “Why didn’t you take care of this problem when you found their lair in the city?” Malin was desperate to turn the attention away from him, for fear he would say something that he would regret later. “You are a Blood Guard! A great and powerful warrior of legend who lives to kill vampires! Yet a group of them appear in the city and apparently disappear out from under your nose.”

  “My men are inexperienced,” Rhone said. “No matter how much training you have, when you experience the real thing, it can throw even the most staunch soldier for a loop. I cannot fault my men. They did the job.”

  “We just can’t confirm that it is finished,” Malin said.

  “You need to advise the Queen that she needs to make an announcement. For the safety of the people in the city, she needs to tell them that vampires do exist. We need to remove the cloak of shadow that hides them.”

  Malin looked at Rhone incredulously. “You can’t be serious. An announcement like that is sure to cause the panic that you just alluded to. That is far too risky. This must be dealt with in secret.”

  Rhone shook his head. “The people deserve to know.”

  “Why? So that further doubt can be cast on the Queen and her ability to rule?”

  Rhone grinned. “Exactly the opposite, Chief Advisor. Alair Robart is a legend. No one disputes that he was the greatest King that ever lived. He brought peace. He protected the people from the vampire. What the Queen needs to do is to demonstrate that she can do the same thing. It will not drive the people away from her. It will make them flock to her. It will secure her rule for the rest of her life.”

  Malin paused. The idea was brash, risky, and dangerous. It had the possibility of completely blowing up in their faces, but if it worked, Rhone was right. Angeline would never have a need to worry about someone questioning her or trying to usurp her rule. If the situation were played correctly, she would go down in the history books as an even greater ruler than Alair. The idea had potential.

  Malin stroked his chin. “It is an interesting idea, Rhone.”

  Rhone yanked the stakes that held Elvry’s headless body to the chair and then began to drag it toward the immense fireplace. Then he knelt down and flicked a match to start the kindling inside the fireplace burning. He pulled a bundle of herbs from his pocket and showed them to Mali
n. “Griden. It will help dissolve the body and cover the smell.”

  “I didn’t know that Griden had that kind of effect,” Malin said in surprise.

  “The Clan doesn’t know everything, despite what it thinks,” Rhone said. “It can be used to burn a vampire during an interrogation as well. It is a handy thing to have on hand when dealing with vampires.”

  As the fire began to gather strength, Rhone stood up and made his way into the corner. He grimaced as he picked up Elvry’s head and then he tossed it into the fireplace. Immediately, the fire flared up and then he cast some of the herbs onto it, and Malin watched in morbid fascination as her head began to melt away.

  “It’s more than an interesting idea. It’s the only way we’re going to pull this kingdom out of this mess. They will expect us to hide it. They are hoping to back us into a corner and then take advantage of our fear and paranoia of the unknown. Instead of playing the defensive, we go openly on the attack,” Rhone said.

  Malin looked away as the Chief General began to use the sword to break Elvry’s body down into smaller pieces to throw into the fire. Into her torso though, he drove another one of the stakes that he pulled from a pocket inside his coat. A stake through the heart was a guaranteed way to kill a vampire.

  Although Malin had a soldier’s perspective, he still couldn’t quite stomach the deliberate care that was necessary to take care of a vampire. In the old days, the stories said they stacked the bodies high outside the gates and set fire to them in the dawn’s light. They let them burn all day as a sign to any other vampires to give the city a wide berth.

  “The Queen needs to weigh in on this plan of yours,” Malin said slowly. Unfortunately, the real queen was many miles away, and he had no idea when she was going to be back. He desperately hoped soon.

  “Of course. She will agree if both of us advise her to,” Rhone said. Then he stood. Malin barely had a chance to blink before he found himself shoved against a wall with a dagger against his throat. He struggled to push Rhone away, but the old man was strong. “What’s your side game, Chief Advisor? Tell me you aren’t angling to make yourself king with your precious Clan.”

  “I love her,” Malin sputtered. He couldn’t believe that he said the words out loud, but he knew that it was the only possible argument that Rhone would believe, and fortunately, it was also the truth. “I don’t want to be king.”

  The dagger drew back ever so slightly and Malin stopped struggling. “Why should I believe you?”

  “I will go along with your plan. I will not tell the Clan what we are doing. I want Angeline to be queen for the rest of her life. I will tell the people during the announcement that, upon our marriage, I will continue in my role as Chief Advisor. I will not be king. There will be only one royal title, and it will be Angeline’s.”

  Rhone took a step back, and Malin was able to breathe again. “You would decline taking the title of king, even though everyone expects it?”

  “Yes,” Malin said. “Won’t that serve our purposes even better? Then it will truly be Angeline who is seen as the one leading her people out of the darkness.”

  “I want your word,” Rhone said.

  Malin searched the room and found what he was looking for, a piece of empty parchment. He slammed it down on the table and took a pen. He wrote carefully on it.

  I, Malin Baford, do hereby decline the title of King of Altera. It is my wish that my betrothed, Angeline Mary Ellen Robart, rule in royal title alone. I will continue with the title of Chief Advisor until such time as my wife decrees otherwise or upon my death.

  Then Malin took the dagger from Rhone’s hand and pricked the sharp edge into the flesh of his middle finger. He smeared the drop of blood under his signature on the document.

  “There,” he said. He handed the parchment to Rhone. “Your insurance that I will do what I have said. If you think that, at any point, I’m going against my word, you can deliver that to the Queen and let her decide what to do with me.”

  Rhone looked satisfied. He stuffed the parchment into his pocket and nodded. “Let’s go find her. There is work to be done.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It happened so quickly that Angeline didn’t know what to do. The guards appeared from seemingly nowhere and surrounded Connor, but he didn’t struggle against them. The panicked babble in her head was immediately there, and she felt the urge to lunge into the throng and break the necks of the men who all easily stood a foot taller than herself.

  Then Connor caught her eye just as she felt Thomas’s hand on her arm. Connor shook his head slightly and his gaze burned into her soul. He didn’t want her to fight for him. She couldn’t fight for him. That was what Theodora wanted.

  The realization crashed down on her. Theodora was trying to manipulate her to lose control. In losing control, the people around her would see that wraith side of her that she had so confidently said was firmly under her control actually wasn’t. Even though her reaction was born out of the fact that the man she loved had just been given a death sentence, she would be seen as irrational and out of control. Not only that, but she couldn’t guarantee that, in that state, she would be able to control herself from doing harm to anyone else.

  It seethed inside of her. She physically felt her hands clawing at the sides of her dress. It wanted her to let it loose. It whispered that it would take care of the guards, and then she and Connor could escape. They could run and leave the Clan behind forever. It was a completely irrational request, but its siren song was strong because of her love for him.

  She fell into that sensation. She loved him. She hated hearing about his deceit and manipulation. She knew that he had broken his word never to feed on humans recently, but also in a ploy to try to help her. Everything that he did for her turned into something ten times worse for him. In that moment, as acutely as she felt the swell of emotions of wanting to be with him, she realized that it was impossible. As long as he was what he was, she could never be with him.

  It choked at her, that cold logic, but she forced that rational part of her mind to repeat it over and over again. She took a step backward and then another one until she felt the chair hit the back of her legs. Then she sat back down in it. It was a hollow movement, and she felt empty. She looked up at Connor, and saw him shrug but he smiled at her. He knew, and he accepted.

  Angeline allowed a small smile back. She didn’t know why she couldn’t hear him or reach him, but in that moment, they didn’t need it. No matter what, he would try to find her, and she would try to help him escape if she could find a way, but whatever had happened between them was over. Tears sprung into the corners of her eyes, but she did not let them fall.

  Queens did not cry.

  As she watched the guards escort Connor from the room, she realized that what her father had done when he refused to remarry now made perfect sense. When you loved deeply, you opened yourself up to being vulnerable, and you put the one that you loved at risk. It was a horrible position. He had loved Melinda deeply. He told Angeline that every day. When she died, his heart was ripped out. The only thing that he had left of her was Angeline. So he devoted his time and attention to keeping Angeline safe. She could see now that probably proved to be a full-time task in and of itself.

  “Queen Angeline,” Theodora’s voice broke through the whispered din of the room. The excitement for the moment was over, but Angeline had no doubt that the Clan’s First Seat had other plans for her. “You have heard your sire’s testimony. He admits that you are wraith. Do you still dispute these facts?”

  Angeline sat straighter in her chair and forced her mind to focus. The game was still afoot, and she had everything to lose. Connor would have to wait, and she would hope that he would find a way out of his mess if she could not get to him in time. She had to trust him, just like she hoped that he trusted her.

  “I do. The Council heard testimony that Connor Radwin has no prior experience with wraiths, only legend and conjecture. I have successfully used magic, s
o that is in my blood. That is part of the reason I believe that I am different. I am not wraith.”

  Theodora slammed her hand down on the arm of her chair to quiet the voices once again. “So you still believe that you are the One.”

  Angeline wished she fully understood what her declaration meant, but she could only trust that her instincts on it were correct. She never knew that she was a gambler, but the stakes were higher than she ever imagined. She only hoped that she was right.

  “Yes.”

  “Then per the ancient decree, in one hour, the Trials of Truth will commence and they will tell us if your claim is true. You may pick one person to act as your liaison to the Clan during the Trials.”

  “I chose Connor Radwin,” Angeline said without pause.

  “Connor Radwin has been sentenced to death and will remain in the Clan’s care until the time when his sentence can be carried out. Besides that, a wildling vampire cannot serve as a liaison. Perhaps you should choose your cousin, Councilman Thomas.”

  Although she had felt a brief bond with Thomas, Angeline knew just by the fact that Theodora suggested him that he was a poor choice. Angeline thought that asking for Connor may have been a mistake, but she still had to try. “Does the law actually say that a wildling vampire cannot serve as a liaison?”

  Theodora’s eyes narrowed.

  “It does not, Theodora, and you know it.” The old man who had emerged from the alcove first before stepped forward again. He looked at Angeline. “However, you will want someone who is familiar with Clan legend to be your liaison, your Majesty. I offer my services to act in that capacity for you. I am Councilman Tobias Jerkin, Second Seat of the Clan Council.”

  Inside, Angeline felt a small burst of delight. The Clan was not as solid as Theodora might like her to believe. Although she was wary of the man, he still seemed to be more distrusting of Theodora, and that could prove to be an asset for her. “I appreciate your guidance on this matter Councilman Tobias. I would be honored for you to serve as my liaison.”