The Vampire Gift 3: Throne of Dust

by E. M. Knight

  “I want to help you,” I say. “Just as I’ve been trying to help Smithson.”

  Her eyes narrow in suspicion. “I don’t need your help.”

  “Are you sure?” I ask. “The former Captain Commander could be put under interrogation.” I run a hand through the young girl’s hair before forming a fist. I pull her head to me and hiss in her ear, “Who knows what sort of secrets might escape his lips.”

  She jerks free of my grip. She has definite spunk, this one. “I don’t see how that concerns me.”

  I sigh, and stand up. “Fine,” I say. “If you want to be obstinate, be obstinate. But I cannot be the only one who noticed the time you and Captain Commander disappeared, together, underground. Nor am I the only one—” a cruel smile plays on my lips, “—who might be looking for any sort of information… that might help my position with the new Captain Commander of the guard.”

  April looks at me with hard eyes. “And who is that?”

  “Phillip Soren,” I say.

  She gasps.

  “You didn’t know? I don’t fault you.” I shrug. “It only happened a day or two ago.”

  “That’s when Phillip brought me here,” she whispers. “He didn’t say anything about that.”

  “Yours was the first blood he tasted, was it not?” I shake my head. “Don’t bother answering that. It’s common knowledge amongst the Elite.”

  Again she stares at me. “Why did you come, Carter?”

  “To offer you friendship. That is all.”

  “What makes you think I need the friendship of another vampire?”

  “Is that a no?”

  “I don’t know you,” she says. “I certainly don’t trust you. How can I tell if you’re not just planning on using me for your own gain?”

  I chortle a laugh. “That, dear April, is the one thing you can absolutely rely on.” I stand. “But my gain, and yours… do not have to be two mutually exclusive things.”

  I wink and turn away. “Consider my offer before turning it down. One more ally in a pit full of enemies can never hurt.” I gesture at the other humans, all far, far away from us. “I can tell you have few enough friends here.”

  And then I walk away.

  But a moment later I hear her voice. “Carter—wait.”

  I turn around. She runs up to me.

  “Tell me what you want,” she says, exhaling. “And I will see what I can do.”

  I smile. “For now? Just keep your ears open and listen.” I lower my voice and cast a long look around us. “Not all humans hold as much tolerance for my kind as you do. If you can be my eyes and ears on ground level… I will see that you are properly taken care of. You will be protected.”

  “It’s not protection that I need,” she begins.

  My eyes twinkle. “Of that, dear girl,” I say, “I wouldn’t be too sure. I will visit you again when the time is right. Have a pleasant night.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  RAUL

  DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN

  “The Royal Court has been called to order,” a messenger informs me from the doorway. “Your presence is requested.”

  “I’m sure it is,” I growl.

  The vampire takes a step back. He can sense that I’m not in a pleasant mood.

  “How long do I have?” I ask.

  “They’re gathering right now,” he replies.

  “Mother knows?”

  “The Queen is the one who called the assembly.”

  “Fine,” I say, dismissing the weaker vampire. “Tell them I’m on my way.”

  He ducks a hasty bow and hurries out of my room.

  I look at Eleira, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Her eyes are closed, her face a perfect mask of concentration.

  She is so beautiful, I think. And then: I do not deserve her.

  There is a set of thick playing cards spread out in front of her. There are symbols on the front, of the same sort that I saw in The Book of the Dead.

  Morgan gave those cards to Eleira and told her they would help channel her magical abilities. She did it right before taking Cassandra and Phillip out of my room.

  I remember the confused look Eleira gave me in the aftermath. “I don’t know what she expects me to do with these,” she’d said. But then she’d propped herself up in the spot she’s in now and started to study them. A light went off in her eyes, and she murmured, “I can’t read them… but it’s almost like I know what these symbols mean.”

  Ever since then, she’s been absolutely quiet, picking a card up, examining it, studying the marks, and then setting it back down before turning to the next.

  I did not want to interrupt her, so I left her to it. After our fight, I’ve been trying my best to keep my temper down.

  The wound is causing me more pain than ever. Since Cassandra rescued me, the wound has been throbbing non-stop. Every second I’m awake is spent in absolute agony. The pain is acute, it’s pervasive, and I can do absolutely nothing to lessen it.

  It makes me feel, somehow, like less of a man.

  That is why I’ve kept my mouth shut. The only comfort I have is Eleira’s presence. I do not want to screw anything up by snapping at her—and I’m liable to do so if we engage in conversation.

  Suddenly, her eyes pop open. She finds me looking at her. I start to look away, but the smile that spreads across her face makes it impossible.

  “What?” I ask.

  “The way you look at me,” she answers. Her voice hitches. “It’s like… like I can sense your love.”

  Sudden hope blooms in my chest. Maybe I’m not so far gone as to be unredeemable.

  “You truly think so?” I ask.

  She nods and stifles a giggle. “I know I’m not imaging things.”

  I limp to the bed, using the walking stick to support the majority of my weight. Eleira is like a beam of pure, white light in the darkness. Seeing her smile, hearing her laugh—it chases all the heaviness away.

  “It’s true,” I say when I reach her. I crawl onto the mattress. “I do love you, Eleira. Even if I’ve done a crappy job of showing it.”

  I lean over the playing cards and slowly bring my lips to hers.

  The kiss is sweet and sensual. She lets out an adorable sigh when I finally pull away. It tugs on the very strings of my heart.

  “When I saw you on the floor,” she says, taking my hand and gripping it tight, “I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake again. I wasn’t sure—wasn’t sure if I would ever hear your voice, or look into your wonderful green eyes again.” Her grip becomes even tighter. “It scared me.”

  “Hey. Hey,” I promise. “I’m here now, aren’t I? Cassandra’s given me another chance. This time, I won’t blow it.”

  “She’s given you time,” Eleira clarifies. “But we don’t know how much. What happens when that runs out? We don’t have a cure.”

  I shush her by placing my lips on her mouth again. “I will not go softly into the night,” I vow. I hesitate for a brief second, then make up my mind. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I haven’t told anybody else.”

  “Yes?” she asks, inquisitive.

  “The vampire who cut me with the blade. He said that there would be a mess—”

  But I’m cut off when the door slams open, and Phillip rushes inside.

  “You’re still here!” he exclaims. “The Court is getting angry. They’re all assembled—they are all waiting for you!”

  I curse. “Can’t they start without me?”

  Phillip looks at me like he’s never seen me before. “You are the Queen’s eldest remaining son,” he says. “You are second only beneath her. You cannot skimp your responsibilities to the Court again!”

  “Again?” I demand. “You say that as if I’ve done it before.”

  “You know what I mean,” Phillip grouses.

  With a disgruntled sound, I shove off the bed. “Fine,” I say. “But I can’t say I like it.”

  “You don’t have to like it,” Ph
illip reminds me. “It is your duty to be seen there.”

  “To be seen weak and hobbled, like this?” I kick out my bad leg.

  “Raul…” Phillip says. “This isn’t like you. Look, I know things are difficult. But—”

  My harsh laugh cuts him off. “Do you, now? Are you the one who almost died?” I can’t stop the bitterness from bubbling out of me. “Are you the one who hasn’t been given even a second’s reprieve since? You talk to me about duty as if you know what it means. What do you really know, Phillip?”

  “Raul,” Eleira tries to cut in. I snarl right over her.

  ‘You are the Captain Commander now, and how much have you done? What have you changed? Is The Haven safer now, with you at the helm, than it was before? I don’t think so!”

  “Raul, that’s hardly fair!” Eleira exclaims. “He’s only had the position for a few days. What do you expect him to do?”

  “The Narwhark is still on the loose,” I say. “No vampire is safe with it there. And—”

  “This is a discussion,” Phillip interjects, “that should take place before the Royal Court.”

  He shares a look with Eleira. I don’t like it.

  She nods. “Phillip is right.”

  “Fine!” I say. “Fine, fine. Let’s go, then. Let’s show all the Haven vampires exactly what their Prince looks like right now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ELEIRA

  DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN

  I’ve never seen Raul in as bad a mood as he is now.

  It’s understandable, of course. Going through everything he’s gone through in such a short span of time…

  Still, the darkness I glimpse beyond his eyes is frightening. It’s like something else took hold of him after having been revived with Cassandra’s blood.

  I know he’s fighting it. I know he’s worried. I just wish there was something I could do to help.

  Raul, Phillip, and I reach the enormous chamber where the Royal Court sits assembled. All conversation dies down when we enter.

  Carter, the grey-haired vampire I can’t help but have bad feelings about, sneers the minute he sees us. “Took you long enough,” he says.

  Raul and Phillip walk around to take their spots on either side of the Queen. I stand back on the sidelines.

  I hear some of the vampires behind me give snarky remarks about my relationship to the Soren brothers. I ignore it. Their japes can’t hurt me now.

  “Now that we’re all here…?” Morgan starts. “The session of the Royal Court can begin. Last time we were gathered—”

  “You left to assess the damage done to The Haven,” Deanna cuts in. She looks around at the Royal Court and all the other vampires in the audience. “So? We are all anxious for your verdict.”

  “The damage is extensive, as you no doubt know,” Morgan replies. “For now, it is safer for us to remain underground.”

  “Yes, but for how long?” Deanna asks. “What steps have you taken to allow us to return to our homes?”

  “Are you so anxious to go,” the Queen replies, “before the wards are back up?”

  “And how long will that take?” Carter demands. “We are wasting away down here, subsisting on nothing—while doing nothing to ensure the future looks brighter than it does now!”

  “And there’s the Narwhark!” somebody else cries out. “The demon has to be contained. It has to be caught and killed—”

  “You cannot just kill a demon,” a vampire pipes in. “The two guards it killed were our most capable fighting men.”

  “Then we need to hunt it! All of us, banded together as one!”

  “Whoever unleashed The Convicted can strike at us again!” a worried female vampire says. The meeting is quickly descending into utter chaos. “What assurance does our Queen give us that another strike will not come?”

  “None!” a vampire across the assembly exclaims. “She’s done nothing for us since the wards fell!”

  Morgan stands. The movement is smooth, but it’s enough to draw everybody’s attention. The frantic voices quiet down.

  “It is true that I have not done as much as I would have liked,” she begins. “But it is not for lack of effort. If you remember, it was this court that agreed to keep me locked away while Smithson took control. The days we lost cannot be recovered. Luckily—some things can.”

  She meets the eyes of two guards standing behind me. They are posted at the second pair of doors leading into the room. She gives the slightest nod.

  On her cue, they pull the heavy doors open. They pick up two heavy, black chains from within, put them over their shoulders and start to pull.

  There comes a deep groan. And then, from out of the darkness, sitting atop a short trolley, the Queen’s massive crystal throne appears.

  The guards grunt with effort as they roll it all the way into the room. It comes to a grinding stop not far from the Royal Court’s table.

  “This,” Morgan announces, “was excavated from the rubble of the castle. You all know what it is. You’ve seen it in the throne room. What you don’t know—” her dark eyes sparkle, “—is how lucky we are to have found it undamaged.”

  Morgan steps away from the table. As she does, I feel, just for a flicker of a second, a wave of great power come from the throne.

  I suck in a breath. My heart starts to beat a little bit faster. Now that I have experience with magic, I can tell what the throne really is:

  A great and powerful torrial.

  Carter surges up and bangs an open hand on the table. “Did you forget that you answer to the Royal Court now?” he demands. “The throne is a symbol of who you were—who you used to be. There is democracy in The Haven now!” Murmurs of agreement float down from the watching vampires. “There is accountability. You do not rule alone. And you insult us—” Carter turns a circle, and gestures at every single vampire in the room, “—you insult all of us by bringing it back? I say, let the throne be buried! I say, let it remain in the ruins of the castle—exactly where it belongs!”

  “Hear, hear!” a voice cries out. Dozens more take up the rallying call.

  Carter sits back down and crosses his arms, smug as a cat.

  Morgan looks vaguely amused. “You must think I have the memory of a five year old and all the cunning of a blind fish.” Now it’s her turn to sneer. “I did not bring the throne here to remind you of the past. Carter, you prove your ignorance with that riling speech. The throne is an object of magic. It is a torrial, though the meaning of the word is lost on you.

  “It is what permits maintenance of the wards. Without it, they would never have been sustained for all the long centuries of my rule. They require a constant stream of magic. The crystal throne is key to that. Even a witch as strong as I am cannot do that without such help.

  “Now, here is the key. I’ve used the throne to maintain the wards for hundreds of years. It can only be linked to one witch at a time. When the castle fell, my link to the throne was broken. It cannot easily be restored. The throne answers only to the Queen of The Haven… and as we all know, time is nigh for a new Queen.”

  Morgan looks straight at me. “The real reason I called this assembly?” she asks. “Was to begin the process of succession.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ELEIRA

  DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN

  On the Queen’s pronouncement a chorus of voices rings out. The cries range from offended to incredulous. Mostly, the vampires are confused.

  “The succession can only take place under light of the full moon,” Morgan continues. “That is when the throne’s magic can be passed on to another. That gives us approximately two weeks. Two weeks in which the proper arrangements must be made, and—”

  “This is ludicrous!” Deanna exclaims. “The girl you’d have as Queen knows nothing about us! She is not one of us—she does not even have a seat on the Royal Court!”

  “Her name,” Morgan reminds her. “Is Eleira. And she is the most powerful vampire in this coven. Yo
u would do well to remember that.”

  “I remember, all right,” Deanna fires back. “I remember the frightened, anxious child you brought before us at her introduction. I look at her now and see the same girl! Nothing’s changed—why should she be the one to lead us?”

  “If you want The Haven restored to what it once was,” Morgan says, “you will see that Eleira is named Queen. It is the only way for us to use the throne and restore the wards.”

  “So why wait?” a vampire calls out. “Why delay until the next full moon? The throne is back. You are at the helm—you can set the wards once more!”

  A rush of voices join in agreement.

  “Unfortunately, no,” the Queen says. “My link to the throne was broken when the castle fell. It is what the enemy wanted. Only through Eleira can we re-establish what has been before. And—” she holds up a hand before more protests can rain down, “—before you ask, a witch can only be linked to it once. I am truly sorry,” she does not show it at all, “but that is the way of magic. It cannot be changed.”

  Hushed whispers take hold of the crowd.

  “At least,” Deanna finally says, “we now have a deadline.”

  “Wait,” Carter says. “You speak without hearing from the girl. I am as guilty of that as the next, I admit—but I say it is beyond time for us to hear from Eleira. Let us see what she thinks! Let us hear her thoughts.”

  Morgan turns her head to me. At her side, Raul stiffens.

  She smiles sweetly. “You and I have discussed this before,” she says. “Why don’t you tell the Royal Court the conclusion we reached?”

  I look out at all the hostile faces. I can feel their enmity pulse through the air.

  No matter what’s happened, they still view me as an outsider. It’s a title I doubt I will soon shake.

  I stand up and carefully approach the table. The Royal Court members on my side scoot away from me to give me the smallest bit of space.

  Morgan inclines her head in invitation. “Go on,” she encourages.

  I open my mouth to speak—and find myself blanking.