Chapter Eighteen – Rollon
Rollon sucked up the last of the blood in the bag he had been given as he walked. After all these days of fighting, it was the constant supply of these bags that kept him bolstered. Various cuts oozed blood and his fangs throbbed with the need to bury into flesh, but he didn't slow down. Eva had barricaded herself in an old stone-walled palace, one that had been burned years ago. The restoration was only half-done, and when he finally broke through the walls of shifters that attacked them as they moved through the forest, the path to his sister was clear.
He found Eva sitting in a polished throne room. It figured that she would make this room shiny and new while the structure around her still crumbled. Her eyes flared with anger as she sat on a golden chair. She wore a heavy red gown covered in glittering diamonds. A tiara sat on her brow.
"Brother. Come to pledge alliance to the new queen?"
"Only you, Eva, could be this arrogant." He shook his head as he towered over her. Zander and the rest of the men followed until he gestured for them to step back. This was between the two of them. He hefted his sword and pointed it at her. "You betrayed me: your king. You betrayed the kingdom. You betrayed the woman you professed to love and the child you promised to protect under every circumstance. Was it worth it to end like this?"
Eva snarled under her breath. She leaned forward and pressed her jugular on the tip of his sword. "Worth it? You say that I betrayed you? You betrayed me first, and we both know it. But that doesn't matter. You could kill me right now but that doesn't mean I'm not a queen."
"Fair enough," he whispered. He swung the sword in an arch.
Eva didn't even flinch. Not until her crown was knocked from her head. It fell to the ground sliced in two. Eva gasped and jumped, eyes widening in surprise.
"You're not going to kill me?"
"Not today." Rollon stepped back and gestured for his men to move forward. She made an incredulous noise as Zander pulled a set of cuffs from his belt.
"What do you think you're doing?" she spat.
Rollon replaced his sword, gazing at her coldly. "You would rather die than be locked away. But I don't intend on doing that. You are going to be taken back to the palace to be tried and judged according to the court. And perhaps one day you'll understand that you have hurt yourself more than anybody else. You were never a queen, Eva. You could have been one, but you chose wrong."
She let loose a loud snarl and lunged for him, but the guard was already there. They grabbed her and threw her back onto her throne as they bound her hands. She struggled and fought, hissing and spitting. Her eyes never left Rollon and he knew that if she ever had the chance, she'd kill him. He wasn't blameless, he knew that. He had failed her in their past, but that didn't justify her actions now.
"You are weak. Without me, you never would have been a king. You're nothing without me. You're bloodless, a coward. I will laugh when your kingdom falls around you!"
"Me, bloodless?" He snorted, shaking his head. "That's rich from a woman who decided to kidnap and threaten children to force the shifters into doing her dirty work. You were once a great warrior. Do you even remember how to hold a sword now? Or did you just not want to risk breaking one of your perfectly manicured nails?"
A vampire jogged in from the outside as Eva continued to twist and spit. It was the man that he had put in charge of finding the children. After a quick bow, the solider started to speak.
"We found the children, my lord. They were locked in cages in the lower levels. Only a few blankets, with bowls of stagnant water, covered in their own filth." The soldier shot Eva a look of pure hatred. "My men are freeing them."
Rollon had to wonder if he would change his mind about the trial if he saw those poor children for himself. "Contact the alphas and arrange for the children to be returned to their clans with an offer to sit down and negotiate a peace. They don't deserve to be punished for trying to protect those who are most precious to them."
By this time, Eva was thoroughly bound. Rollon glowered at her. Words could not describe his feelings at that moment. Even if she was his sister, that didn't mean he didn't want to see her destroyed. Part of him seriously considered handing her over to the alphas and letting them deal with her as they saw fit. But there was a due process to these things, and he wasn't going to decree judgment when she was as helpless as she was now.
"You are evil," he told her, "to treat children in such a way."
"They're animals." Eva shrugged. "I treated them as well as animals ought to be treated."
Rollon held his breath for a moment so he wouldn’t say what he so desperately longed to. There was more than he needed to know, and Eva was the only one who could tell him. "What have you done with Hilda?"
"Hilda?" His sister's eyes widened for a moment, then she started laughing. "You think I have Hilda? Oh, that is too precious."
"She isn't in the palace—"
"Of course she is," Eva snapped. The amusement was still in her eyes, a look of sheer cunning on her face. "She has been there this whole time and you didn't know because you were too busy coming after me. The big bad witch. The viper in her nest. Too bad you didn’t know that the kitten's bite can be just as poisonous."
Rollon's eyes narrowed. His heart began to pound. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you should have taken care of your home before leaving it to come after me."
He lunged. Zander caught him and pushed him back. The king snarled but knew that his head of guard was just thinking of the future. If he had killed her then, he'd have regretted it. "Where is Hilda?"
"In your palace," Eva said, her voice low and syrupy. "I didn't think it would actually work. I thought you must have locked her up by now for being a traitor. I knew you wouldn't hurt her, though. She's young and innocent and you . . . You have a soft spot for her, don't you? She was the perfect spy. She didn't even know what she was doing . . . Children are so very easy to manipulate."
"You evil—"
"Spare me the dramatics." Eva's smile faded. "I will say this, though. I regret hurting her. And Ingrid. I did love them."
"Not enough, apparently."
Eva glanced up at him and, for a moment, he thought he saw true regret in her eyes. But it was gone just quickly, and she shrugged. "Love is a weakness."
"Take her away."
Zander nodded. He dragged Eva out of the room. Rollon glanced at the golden throne and shook his head. He'd leave it for whoever wanted to take it away. The weariness of the past few days seeped into his bones. He headed back for the vehicles after ordering the majority of his men to stay behind and watch for shifters. They were not to attack, and if they were attacked then they were to avoid killing and instead try to diffuse the situation.
Once he was back in his hummer, Rollon slumped into the seat. His eyes dragged heavily, but he pulled out his phone to call Thor. If Hilda was still in the palace, then where was she? Maybe his son had news . . . Rollon hadn't been able to talk with him for days, except to brief him on what was happening.
When he glanced at the phone, he saw several missed calls and messages. Adrenaline kicked back into his system as he quickly called Thor. There was no answer. Instead of leaving a message, he called again.
"Dad," the answer came. Thor's voice was high and stressed. "You need to come home right now. We found Hilda. She attacked Tindra."
The air left his lungs. "Wh-what?"
"She said she was trying to turn her into a vampire. She bit her and drained most of her blood. Tindra's not doing well. You need to come home now."