by Leigh Walker
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you haven’t slept well.” Mistress Olivia’s kind eyes missed nothing.
“Of course. I’m only agitated because I’m excited. I can assure you, the prince visited me late last night, and all is well.” Forcing myself to relax, I gave her a genuine smile. “In fact, I would like to go and see him now to make sure he’s rested and ready for today—we have the foreign dignitary reception this evening.” Hopefully I would get to him before he spoke to anyone, especially his mother, about our estrangement.
“Ah, but His Highness is already gone from the castle, and with the queen.”
I almost spit out my tea. “Gone where?”
“To meet some of the out-of-town guests who’re arriving this morning. They rode out with the guard to greet them—they left before first light.”
I kept the smile plastered to my face, but inside I was reeling. I’d been too quick to try to protect the prince, and my plan had been too clumsy. I hadn’t thought it through. If Dominic told the queen he no longer wanted to marry me or that I was acting different…
Perhaps all the fears I’d had wouldn’t be a problem after all. I wouldn’t need to worry about the emperor, my mother, or even the queen—at least, not for long.
Today might be my last.
26
Going Off
The only thing I care about is Dominic.
I’d ruined things between us by letting him believe that I doubted him and our love. He was riding with his mother that morning. If he told her that the wedding was off, she would come for my head. And it wouldn’t be her, because she would never let her son know she had a hand in it. She would protect herself in her treason. So I had to be prepared—for anything.
Still, my only real concern was for the prince. Before the queen’s men came for me, I had to tell him that I loved him and would’ve married him with no regrets.
I left my room, deciding to pace in a private garden so that I could be alone with my regrets. Though I should be worried about seeing my mother and Isabel—not to mention the queen and Emperor Lucas—I could only think of Dominic. What if I never see him again? What if our parting last night was our last? It couldn’t end this way.
My tears flowed freely, and I didn’t bother trying to stop them. I wanted, more than anything, to go back in time, and not in the way that involved emerging from a filthy pond in New Jersey. I wanted to go back so that I could be in his arms again. I wanted him to know how very much I loved him, no matter what I’d said. Happy memories of being near him flooded me. I didn’t try to stop them, either—they streamed without restraint along with my tears.
How Dominic held me as we danced at the ball, never letting me falter. Our date together in the village. All the nights he’d spent in my bed… My heart twisted. If that was my last day, it was wasted because I wasn’t near him.
But it didn’t matter; I could do nothing. He was with his mother. Knowing Dominic, he would tell her that he wanted to call the wedding off. I will not marry you if you’re only going through the motions. I’ve no interest in such a course of action.
I couldn’t tell him the truth about his mother. But I’d been crazy to try to push him away. In an attempt to spare him pain, I’d ruined everything. Dominic, please come back to me, let me explain, I prayed.
But instead Anthony burst out of the bushes, breaking my reverie. “By the gods, finally!” he yelled. Breathing hard, he shook the leaves off of him, glaring at me in the process. “I’ve been looking everywhere! What’re you doing hiding out here?”
I put a hand over my heart. “What do you mean, what am I doing? You’re the one springing out of shrubbery!”
“I’ve been scouring the grounds for you. We must go. The queen and prince are on their way back, and they’ve got company that’s directly of interest to you.” He took me by the elbow and attempted to pull me from the garden, but I didn’t budge.
“I’m not ready. Give me a minute, okay?”
My voice shook, so Anthony got closer, taking a good look at my ruined face. “Oh balls, Tor. What’d the queen do to you?”
“N-Nothing. I mean, she actually did quite a lot. But that’s not the only reason I’m out here crying.”
He released me. “Tell me everything and tell me fast. We haven’t got much time.”
I looked past him at the shrubbery. “Is there anyone else in there? Queen Danica’s got spies, you know. They’re everywhere.”
“There’s no one near—all the guards are busy preparing for the guests. Now tell me what happened.”
I took his measure. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell another soul. I mean it, Anthony.”
“Yes, yes, I swear.” He held up his right hand. “Now get on with it!”
He didn’t seem to take his oath seriously, but I needed to confide in someone. “The queen knows who my father is.” My heart thudded in my chest. Telling my friend about it made it seem more real somehow. “So am I correct? He’s on his way here? With my mother and sister?”
Anthony’s mouth gaped open. “Emperor Lucas and his entourage arrive this morning. They are on their way to the castle with the queen and prince.”
I felt ill, though I’d expected the news. “Well, that’s just perfect.”
He stared at me. “It’s confirmed, then? He is your father?”
“Confirmed by Queen Danica herself.” I swallowed hard. “And she also said the emperor tried to kill me years ago.”
Anthony scowled at me. “What the bloody hell?”
I hugged myself, rocking back and forth miserably. “I’ve sort of been busy since I last saw you.”
“Okay, okay. Let me get this straight.” Anthony raked a hand through his hair, making it stand up in deep-crimson spikes. From the expression on his face, it looked as though he was processing all the information a mile a minute. “Your mother and sister don’t know you’re here. They don’t know who Lady Victoria from Margate is, but they will as soon as they see you.”
“I expect it will be a great surprise. Especially since it’s a thousand years in the future and I’m about to be married to the vampire prince. Well, I’m supposed to be,” I mumbled.
“What are you going on about?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“Then forget it for now—let’s stay focused.” Anthony’s tone was urgent. “Of course your mother and sister will recognize you at once, but will he? Does Emperor Lucas know you?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t know—the queen says it’s been many years since I’ve been in his presence.”
Anthony opened his mouth then closed it, appearing a bit gobsmacked.
“What is it?” I asked.
“So the queen knows everything.” He blinked as the truth dawned on him. “She knows who you are and where you come from. She must’ve known all along, even at the Trade.”
“That’s right. She’s known about every time I came through. She wasn’t tricked for a moment, but she didn’t let on to Dominic.”
Anthony cursed and stared blankly at the hedges for a minute. He seemed to be in shock. “You know, Dom and I thought we were exempt from her elaborate schemes. But it appears we’ve been fooling ourselves.”
“That doesn’t matter—we have worse things to worry about. She knows who and what I am. She knows I’m an intercross.” The word tasted funny on my lips.
“Of course she bloody does. Oh, Dom is going to have a fit when he finds out about all this—”
“He can’t find out about all of this, Anthony, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” My voice was quiet but firm. “The queen has given me strict instructions. I’m not to say a word to him. She told me that if I don’t do what she asks, when and how she asks, she will kill me and make it look like someone else did it. You cannot tell him what she knows or how she’s threatened me. Swear it.”
“Why would I do that?” he cried.
“Because he will try to kill her f
or putting me in this position, and he will lose.” I stared him down. “I cannot have that on my conscience. Can you?”
Anthony took a step back. “I will not become a traitor to my best friend.”
“I understand—and I’m not asking you to become a traitor. I’m asking you to refrain from delivering said best friend to his execution.”
“I have been by the prince’s side since day one.” Anthony jabbed a finger at his chest. “Of course I won’t let him be destroyed at the hands of the queen, but there’s more than one way to be ruined. He cannot lose you, Tor. It’s bad enough with all your coming and going. He cannot lose you for good.”
My shoulders sank. “He might not want me anymore, anyway…”
“Rubbish.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t told you the whole story—”
“It doesn’t matter. Enough of this bloody nonsense—for the love of all things holy, I’m done. We can’t leave you vulnerable like this, easy prey for Her Highness.” He hissed, then his eyes suddenly blazed, and his fangs sprang out. “I’m going to turn you myself.”
“Don’t come near me!” I shrieked. “Don’t you remember the guard who attacked me and imploded from drinking my blood?”
“Oh crap.” Anthony added a few colorful curse words and took a step back. “I forgot about that.”
“That’s because you’re an idiot.”
He took a moment to collect himself. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were their normal greenish color. “Sorry about that. I was getting a bit desperate for a moment.”
“You can’t drink my blood, and even if you could, you can’t turn me into a vampire right before my mother gets here, not to mention right before I get married.” I shook my head. “I would yell more, but we have too many other things to worry about. I’ve ruined everything, and my family arrives shortly. I haven’t even told you the half of it.”
He scowled at me. “Go on, then.”
“The queen said a great many other things to me yesterday. She wants the blood slaves to marry the guards so that they may bear her an army of intercrosses. She said that not only am I to be her spy, but I’m also no longer allowed to speak freely to Dominic. She wants me to have a child as soon as possible so that she can…study it. And if I deviate at all from her requests, she’ll have me killed. It’s as simple as that. She said she’ll turn me over to the emperor if it suits her.”
“She wants this wedding to happen,” Anthony said. “She will keep you alive at least long enough to walk down the aisle.”
“But that’s the problem.” Again, my eyes filled with tears. “I was going crazy, thinking of ways I could protect Dominic from his mother. If he finds out the things she’s threatened me with, he’ll attack her. And you and I both know he’s not ready for that—she’s too strong. So I thought that maybe if I did something to upset him a bit, he wouldn’t be so attached to me. Then it wouldn’t be so terrible if I disappeared before his mother could get to me, or maybe it wouldn’t even be so bad if she did get to me…” I stopped, realizing I was babbling.
Anthony raised his eyebrows. “I’m not following this.”
I sighed. “The point is we argued. I accused him of keeping the truth about my race from me. I was so cold, Anthony. I pushed him away, thinking that maybe I could spare him some pain if he loved me less.”
He pointed a finger at me. “You see, this is what’s wrong with girls. This is how you get into trouble, all of you—if I had a penny for every time a female overthought things, I would have a castle all my own.”
“Well, you don’t have a penny or a castle—and that’s not the point! I’m worried Dominic’s going to call the wedding off this morning. Then his mother will deliver me, with a bow on, to my father, the evil Emperor Lucas—who for some reason tried to kill me when I was a child and would apparently be thrilled to have the opportunity to kill me again!”
Anthony blew out a deep breath. “You were right—you’ve been busy.”
“I told you so.”
“We’d best get back to the castle. Whatever’s going to happen, we need to face it head on. We can’t leave the queen and, more importantly the prince, hanging.” He offered me his arm, but I hesitated. “Unless you want to go back to the pond and leave all the drama behind?” he asked.
“I would love to go back to the pond, to escape, like the coward I am, but…I can’t leave him. I won’t.”
Anthony grinned. “Per the accepted, long-standing definition, that means you aren’t a coward.”
I took his arm. “We’ll see about that.” Unfortunately, plenty of scenarios were about to test my friend’s theory.
27
The Departed
Mistress Olivia quickly and deftly changed me out of my day dress to something more formal, a beaded navy-blue gown I barely glanced at. Genius that she was, she also somehow managed to make me look human and like I hadn’t been crying all morning. I wasn’t sure if I was dressed for a reunion or, perhaps, my funeral. Either way, at least I looked decent.
I took a deep breath as I met Anthony in the hall, then we walked toward the castle entry.
“Stay close,” he whispered. “And remember, you’re not a goner just yet.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I arched my eyebrows but said nothing. I wasn’t certain that I could speak. The fact that I would see my mother and sister soon was sinking in, and sinking me—I felt like I was underwater. I wasn’t sure if they would be the same people I’d known and loved or what they would do when they saw me. What will they act like? What will they say? For my part, I planned to pretend they were strangers—that was the only way to stay undetected by the emperor. Of course, it had occurred to me that he would recognize me at once, and all my plans were folly. I’d no idea what to expect from any of them, least of all, from Dominic.
Dominic. My heart lurched at the thought of him. Has he forgiven me, or has he gone and called the wedding off?
My palms were sweating and my mouth was dry by the time we reached the formal lobby. The council was waiting along with the king. He smiled and nodded while Lady Dowd kept her nose stuck in the air, never bothering to acknowledge me.
My presence had a different effect on the guards, who were standing at attention, lining the walls. When they saw me, they smiled and bowed—a new development.
Anthony must’ve caught the confused expression on my face, because he leaned forward and said, “I asked around as soon as we got back to the palace—you are their new hero, my lady. The queen gave them the good news about marrying the blood slaves, and they feel they’ve got you to thank for it.” He nodded as another guard bowed his head in deference. “As I told you, you’re not a goner quite yet.”
“Thank you.” That could be good news but something I would have to file away to mull later. I wondered briefly about Alexandra and the other girls but only for a moment. Nothing could distract me from the waiting, the wondering.
Trumpets sounded from outside the palace, and I knew I wouldn’t have to wait much longer. The doors opened, and sunlight spilled through, momentarily blinding me. Figures entered the lobby, their outlines brightened from the sunshine behind them. A tall form, clad all in black, approached as my eyes adjusted to the light.
My heart leapt—it was Dominic, majestic and imposing in his dark tunic and leggings. He made a beeline for me as his mother and her guests followed inside more slowly, chatting with each other in low tones.
The prince reached me, and I immediately noticed that his face was pale and taut. No. “Oh, Dominic, please, you have to forgive me. I’ve never been so sorry in my whole life.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry.” He quickly took my hand and kissed it then bowed his head. “It’s such a relief to be reunited with you.”
I gripped his hand. “Do you mean it?”
“You’ve no idea, my lady.” He looked up at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of love, relief, and something that looked suspiciously like sorrow. “Now, I must
prepare you for a great shock. Take heart, and stay strong.”
“What is it?” I whispered. I made out three figures next to the queen—two women, one man. The group was still deep in conversation in the center of the room.
“You’ll see soon enough. But I must ask you, in my selfishness: can you forgive me? I can’t bear our distance a moment longer.”
I shook my head. “You don’t need my forgiveness, but I must beg you for yours.”
“You have it. Always. We mustn’t let our arguments divide us, because there is only one side: ours.” He kissed my hand. “Now I will stand by your side through this ordeal. Keep your expression neutral and don’t say a word out of turn, or all will be undone.” He came and stood next to me, never letting go of my hand.
The entire room fell silent. The king, the council, and the guard watched as Her Highness approached us. The queen was wearing a bright-white riding outfit with pristine snow-white boots. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, with tendrils loose around her face, which was flushed from her outdoor ride.
She smiled at me, true pleasure lighting up her dark eyes. “Lady Margate. I am happy to see you well this morning. The first of our esteemed foreign guests has arrived for the wedding festivities, and I cannot wait for you to make their acquaintance.”
I curtsied, trying to locate my courage. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
She gave me one last, piercing look then stepped aside as the guests came forward.
The man was first, with the women behind him, concealed from my view. Emperor Lucas was not as tall as I’d expected, but he had broad shoulders and a large chest that made him imposing nonetheless. He looked older—if he were human, I would have placed him in his early sixties—which made me wonder how many centuries he’d roamed the earth. His gray hair was combed back from his lined forehead, and he had pale-green eyes and a prominent, slightly hooked nose with flaring nostrils. For some reason, I felt he might be sniffing me and was not at all pleased.
