by Sofia Daniel
We were in Hjem, an island on the western coast of Denmark, which had been protected by knockers until the four of us had torn down the wards with our combined power to confront the vampires. With the help of Pearl, her son, General Mollusk, and the other day-walkers, we found the vampire stronghold and freed the knockers from their enchantment.
“Are you ready?” Nero squeezed my hand.
“It’s not too late to back out,” said Raphael.
“Nonsense,” Dante scoffed. “Alicia vanquished Radu, Dracula, and that creature from the depths of hell. The Vampire Parliament is child’s play compared to those three.”
I smiled up at him and gave his hand a grateful squeeze. It was one thing to face a formidable enemy in the heat of battle, but I found public speaking in such a grand and formal setting somewhat nerve-wracking.
The sun hung low in a sky, the color of blood-oranges as we walked across the pastureland surrounding the building. Thin, indigo clouds hung overhead, not doing much to cool the breeze blowing in from the sea.
I hardened my heart. “If they don’t agree to our demands, it will be a massacre.”
“Indeed,” said Pearl from behind. She wore a thick chain of garlic-paper necklaces on her wrists, arms, and legs, giving her enough magic to be a threat on her own.
General Mollusk walked at her side, and behind her strode the day-walkers Dracula had brought with him to the battle. A few of them had been devastated to discover their mothers missing from the academy, shipped out to various Noble Vampire Houses.
Two-dozen vampires dressed in white sat on two rows of seats. A male in the middle with a purple sash rose to his feet and gave me his most withering stare.
“This is the girl who vanquished Radu cel Frumos?” he said.
“And Lord Dracula,” added the woman sitting on his right. I guessed from the hatred in her voice that she had been one of his many consorts.
“You and your entourage have torn down the wards of our sacred island, dismissed our servants, and now infiltrate our holy institution. Why?”
“I’m here to arrange the freedom of the frumosi.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “So they can develop into hunters and become another threat?”
“No.” Nero shook his head. “Until the vampires took them from their homes, most frumosi believed themselves to be human.”
The man with the purple sash, who I believed to be the chairman of the Vampire Parliament, sighed. “Radu would have recruited them into his ranks.”
“I would hardly call turning them into concubines better than becoming hunters,” Pearl snapped.
We continued like this, arguing the rights and wrongs of Dracula’s decisions until angry blood seared through my veins. We were the wronged parties, not them. I sent a blast of magic into their soul chakras, letting them know where the balance of power lay.
The man in purple stiffened. “One cannot blame our former leader for doing what he thought was best for all vampires.”
“What did Dracula do when hunters stole the census information containing the addresses of the vampires under your governance?” I asked.
The woman opened her mouth to argue, but I spoke first. “I know he hid all your children behind the wards of the Sanguine Academy, and they’ve mostly survived their encounter with Radu, but think about all those vampires not rich or important enough to have been protected.”
Mutterings broke out across the parliament. They knew I was right. Dracula had proven himself far from a hero, but the worst of cowards.
I spoke over the disgruntled vampires. “Dracula’s solution for keeping the vampire children safe also made it convenient for hunters to round them up for farming.”
“Where’s Lady Mantis?” asked the woman.
“Radu selected her for his concubine,” I shaped my energy around the next part of my falsehood, making sure the vampires wouldn’t smell the lie. “She died of complications from his abuse the day after I killed Radu.”
The chairman nodded, and I stopped myself from blowing out a relieved breath. We killed her in private after the confrontation with Dracula for writing a letter to Lord Stryx informing him of Dante’s treachery.
My lips tightened. The wretched woman hadn’t even considered the impact telling the truth would have on her daughter, who was still the concubine of the boys’ father.
“If you’re so concerned with frumosi welfare, how do you suggest the parliament deal with the hunters?” asked the woman at his side.
“That’s entirely up to you,” I said. “But I’m here to ask for reparations for all the frumosi you captured, whose families you murdered, and who you turned into knockers.”
The chairman raised his hands. “That was a project of Lord Dracula’s, not ours.”
“And you are his descendants, are you not?” asked Dante.
They exchanged troubled glances. “We are, but—”
“Each frumosi will receive a share of Dracula’s wealth to help rebuild the life his policies destroyed. You will enroll those too young to fend for themselves into a human boarding school where they will receive their money after graduation.”
“And what if we don’t?” The female vampire bared her teeth.
I spread my arms wide, letting flames shoot out of my palms. “You will face our wrath.”
“Lord Stryx will not approve of your involvement in another kingdom’s politics,” one of the vampires said to Raphael.
“Let us worry about our father,” Raphael replied.
The vampire woman’s gaze landed on Gates. “How does the werewolf fit into this arrangement? Is he your pet?”
“Our brother-in-arms,” snarled Nero. “Gates is another frumosi abducted around the same time as Alicia, and he no longer transforms in the full moon.”
I sent Gates my warmest smile, seeing no need to inform the haughty vampires that Gates could still shift into a dire wolf whenever he pleased. Only vampires and day-walkers could tell his former species by scent. Apart from that, he was the same as any other frumosi, if not a little hairier.
Negotiations continued through the night, with a few battles breaking out when the vampires deemed our demands too onerous.
After we reduced enough of the Vampire Parliament to dust, the chairman raised both hands. “Very well. We will spend the next few months making reparations to all frumosi, including those currently living.”
“And you’ll secure the freedom of each frumosi currently living in a Noble House?” I asked.
“Of course,” said the chairman a little too smoothly. “I will arrange for all sanguinary servants—”
“As well as concubines, consorts, and all their offspring.”
The vampire bristled. Annoyance hardened his eyes, but I met his gaze. His mesmerism clinked against the iridescent bubble of protection, making me smirk. Now that I knew how it worked, I could pull it out of any frumosi’s chakras, including my own.
I raised my chin. “Do we have an agreement, or will we need to scour every noble house to rescue the frumosi?”
“Yes,” the chairman said with an outward breath.
“That’s all I ask.”
Dante inclined his head. “Thank you for your time. Have the people delivered to the Sanguine Academy for Vampires and Frumosi.”
The chairman nodded and slumped into his seat, and a thrill of triumph shot through my insides. Dante, Nero, Raphael, Gates, and I walked with Pearl and her entourage out of the Vampire Parliament building and toward our boat.
“What will you do if the bloodsuckers renege on their deal?” Gates said, loud enough for the vampires to hear.
“They’d better not.” I let my voice carry in the wind. “Between my mates and me, we have enough power to destroy them all.”
Raphael grinned. “And that’s why we love you.”
END OF TRILOGY
ROYAL FAE ACADEMY
From Sofia Daniel
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