Chapter Fifteen
I stood before the Council again, barely 24 hours after the challenge was issued. I had showered and napped before calling them to the chamber.
Nial was sitting back in his chair, flipping through some inane human magazine once more. He had showered as well, but had disappeared for a few hours. I’d had to wait for him before I could call the meeting.
“Back so soon, Gwynnore?” Lord Belshazzar showed no emotion.
“I trust you didn’t just gut him like a fish?” Lord Otto was definitely smirking.
“No, my Lords. I didn’t gut them. I resoundingly defeated the challenge as Lord Cato has issued it.”
“Master Niallan, what say the Monitor of Challenge?”
He flipped a page. “She beat the snot out of it.”
“Could you please be a little less flippant, candidate?” Lord Otto sighed.
Nial pointed to the television monitor, and it flipped on. He never let the Overlords forget his druid power. I watched as the current news came up, and the handiwork I had put in was on full display a moment later.
“Ginter, his fiancée, and a third unknown woman were found dead at his estate this morning. Preliminary reports from the police and the coroner’s office are pointing to a suicide pact the three made. A note left for Ginter’s brother stated that they could no longer handle living in a polyamorous lifestyle and hiding it constantly from public eyes. The note directs his brother, Paul, to take up the torch of justice and run for the seat in the Senate this coming fall. There is no evidence of foul play and the—”
A flick of Nial’s wrist, and the screen shut off.
He closed the magazine and laid it on the table as he stood. “Monitor of Challenge is satisfied that the conditions of this challenge were met above and beyond satisfaction.”
Nial snatched the magazine back up and walked away.
He was so damn arrogant.
“Candidate Gwynore, we have heard the Monitor’s words,” Pippin said. “Your remaining challenge will be sent to you soon.”
I glanced at Cato. He’d said nothing. He only stared at me. I wondered if he had a clue how much I now knew. I nodded at the males and left the chamber.
Nial was standing just outside the door. “You’re not telling on him?”
“I’m in the middle of trying to win the crown. When I am the queen, I will have his balls in bronze. And I will make sure anyone who thinks they can defy the Vampire Laws loses their head over it.”
He whistled. “You are a royal snob.”
“That, you idiotic bastard, is the idea.” I marched away from him, flipping him one of my favorite fingers.
I headed for the kitchen to see if there was anything good being offered. After all the blood I had taken, I would have thought food wouldn’t interest me. But I was wrong. I was going to need a really long nap too.
I meandered through the castle lost in my own head. As much as I wanted Cato’s balls in bronze, for just so many reasons, I was bound to those same laws. I was bound to uphold those same laws, and as queen, I would have to exemplify them.
Betraying the Laws was punishable by death. Immediate death. No judge, no jury. Vampires didn’t have the patience for that. We could sleep for a century, stalk our prey for weeks, but had zero interest in taking time to hear about why someone broke the law.
Even after centuries, I wasn’t sure I was sold on that.
I was, however, well versed in the law. How could I not be? I’d spent most of my life making sure I had every advantage in the world I lived in—and while the physical was important, so was the academic. The Law.
That throne would be mine. For so many different reasons.
I found a few odds and ends from someone messing around in the kitchen earlier. There were a lot of gourmet cooks in the stronghold. That happened when food was a pleasure and you had eternity to eat. But these dishes were Lord Pippin’s signature blazing inferno wings, jalapeno poppers, and, oddly enough, crawfish etoufee. Since I had never been a big fan of scalding my mouth while I ate, I opted for a bowl of the etoufee.
As always, anything Lord Pippin cooked was amazing.
This was melt in your mouth, not melt your mouth, too.
“Ayre dare, missus. You reckon I kin cook dat dere crawdads with sum mount of delicacy?”
My head snapped up.
Lord Pippin leaned in the doorway, black pants, white shirt unbuttoned, looking very much like he was out to seduce someone.
I laughed. “My Lord, you never lived in Louisiana, so I think you missed the mark on the accent.”
“What fun are you.” He shooed me away.
“It’s exceptionally delicious, and I wish I could cook like this.”
“You could learn. You have time.”
My lips twitched. “No offense, but I’m actually older than you, and I have never been able to figure it out. My specialty is burnt chicken ala overcooked pasta.”
He mimed being shot in the heart. “How do you not know how to cook pasta?”
“I have no affinity for it. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Would you like lessons?”
“I should think the queen won’t have time for such things.”
He looked at the tabletop. “Marcielle loved to cook. It was something she and I used to do for fun.” His gaze rose from the table, and I was surprised to see a tinge of red at the edges of his eyes. “If you are awarded the ring, you will need a hobby as well. Something to take your mind off the constant pressure of ruling these greedy, hungry, power-mad beings. It is not just this stronghold you will rule. It is all of our enclaves around the world.”
Chewing my last mouthful of the etouffee carefully, I studied him. I believe that was the first time I had ever heard him speak his queen’s name since her death.
“Lord Pippin, I have no hobbies. I have no use for hobbies. I have done nothing but prepare for the throne since the day I was shuffled to live with Grandfather. There has been nothing since, and there will be nothing after.”
The red faded from his eyes. “You do not know what it is to lose that which you love. That which you literally went through trials of hell to achieve.” His head tipped to the side, his beautiful eyes considering me. “You look like your mother.”
My shoulders stiffened, and my breath caught in my chest.
If he knew who my mother was, did that mean he knew who my father was?
I plastered a smile on my face, teasing, “How would you know? You were born fifty years after me. My mother died when I was seven.”
“Have you never been in his rooms?” A brow rose. “To your father’s rooms?”
And…that answered that.
If he knew, then the rest of the Overlords did too.
Bizarrely, relief fluctuated throughout my system. A weight lifted.
Maybe I had wanted to know after all.
I cleared my throat and set my spoon in my bowl. “Not since I was seven. Why would I have any interest in going into his apartments?”
“He has her portrait hanging in his parlor. There is a single hair clasp sitting in front of it. The item, her simple hair clasp, is worn and tired.” A deep contemplative sigh escaped the youngest overlord’s lips. “We live on long after those we pledge to love are ripped from us.”
Honest words tumbled out of my mouth without filter as I rubbed at my forehead. “I was a child. I lost my mother. I didn’t know what was going on. He sent me away and became King after her last breath. For centuries, I held the belief that her death was my fault and that’s why I was sent away. That’s why he rejected me.
“My grandfather was appalled at what I thought—no one blamed me for Alaine’s death. I wasn’t even on the same fucking continent.” I leaned forward and pushed the bowl at him. “Cato let a child believe she had killed her mother. I get the mating. I get the love and losing part of who you are. But I was a child. That’s why I’ll have his balls bronzed for breaking the law.”
Lord Pippin jerked his head up, and I mentally slapped myself.
I didn’t want to share what I had on Cato.
Narrowing his eyes, he didn’t break our stare. “There was no law broken by shipping you off to your grandfather’s. What are you talking about?”
I grabbed the bowl and heaved it against the far wall, shattering it. “It was a sham.”
“Excuse me?”
Spinning back, I stuck my finger in the Overlord’s face. I had my own set of brass balls at this point. “It was all a sham. The trial that Cato gave me was bullshit. It was a smoke screen. He has something going on that he’s not letting us in on. He used me to take care of his business, dirty business. And he’s breaking rules. So I will have his head and his balls.”
“What rules?” he questioned simply.
Though Lord Pippin’s glare was intense, and I didn’t really want to reveal what I had on Cato, but I also knew, as the Overlords, they needed to know about broken laws.
“When I was at Ginter’s house, the vampire we killed was newly made. She smelled fresh, clean, like she still had a lot of human in her. And with everything else that went on there, it is my best guess that she was Cato’s creation. You can’t go against the council, even if you are on the council!”
“Do you have proof that she was Cato’s?”
“No.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“She withheld her memories. You know that only the strongest can do that. How could she be newly turned and be able to do that, unless she was made by the oldest of us. Someone on the council. Since it was Cato’s devious plan, it’s a damn good bet that he turned her.”
“Speculation.”
I slammed my hand on the counter, cracking it. “Doubt it all you want. I know he’s up to something. He wants to rule the humans too, you know.”
Lord Pippin out and out laughed at me. “Humans? Who would want to rule the humans? They’re our food, Gwynnore. Food. You don’t rule food. You hunt it, you herd it. You don’t rule it.”
My temper was running too hot at that point. I had to get away from him before I did something extra stupid. Leaning in, I let my eyes spark red. “Cato is up to something. His machinations have always been a problem, and you know it. You had to deal with him as your King at one point. You and Otto. He’s a sneaky dick. Mark my words, he’s up to something.”
I turned on my heal as I lamented the stunningly delicious etoufee and lovely bowl I had thrown against the wall. That was more of waste than anything.
Storming through the levels of the stronghold, I didn’t head to my apartments. I was too hot-headed to lock myself in. Instead, I chose to climb the stairs to the peak of the mountain. I pushed the too-heavy door open and stepped outside.
Bone-chilling cold whipped through me. I stared west in the midday sun, watching it play off the water of the fjords miles and miles away. Another thing that made being a vampire amazing: cold didn’t harm us. My skin didn’t even pucker, but I still didn’t enjoy it. The heat didn’t touch us either. My eyes adjusted steadily to the bright, warm sun.
I was almost to my last trial now, and I had no idea who of these Overlords could be an ally. I thought Lord Belshazzar at first, but he had to abstain from nearly everything. Cato was a no. Cato had always been a no. Lord Otto appeared to be so neutral he made beige look like it was a radical faction. Lord Xenon was… well. Lord Xenon. My hope lay in Lord Pippin, which sucked in and of itself. The youngest and least influential of the five, he was still finding his place among the Overlords.
I’d had high hopes for him as an alliance.
And now I had no idea.
I would still need an ally on the council—that hadn’t changed. With the strength of the power-hungry there, physical, mental, financial, and emotional, As queen, I would need someone on my side. I needed them before I even reached the throne, and no one was stepping forward at all. Even Nial was being a perfect ass about all of this.
My temper started to cool to manageable. Gone was the ‘grab him and drain him’ feeling I’d had before. I did actually want to cultivate the alliance with Lord Pippin.
Leaning against the rock, I folded my arms and stared out to the glinting Pacific. Being this high up had its advantages… from 18,000 feet, you could see very, very far, even without the advantage of vampire-enhanced vision. I needed this fresh air, this view, this time to myself. I need to find my center. I had been used. I was discarded at birth and used.
And I hadn’t lied to Lord Pippin. Since I was a little girl, since my grandfather started teaching me the laws and the ways of the vampires, I had wanted nothing more, nothing else, than to sit on the throne and wear the Queen’s ring, the Black Star, a star sapphire of a blue the dark of night. I dreamed of that dark black-blue. I dreamed of that crown. Of the thrones. Of people respecting me, finally.
“I wish you were here, Grandfather. Not just your memories. But you.”
The wind howled, and there was no answer.