Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“You went quiet again,” Zev remarked.
“I was worrying about Varic and our trip to Decimus’s holding.”
He grimaced.
“What’s that about?” I asked him.
“Did Varic tell you specifically that you would be making the trip with him?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Those are the words he used? When you and I get there?”
I couldn’t remember exactly.
“I have to wonder about the prince taking his consort on a trip that could prove dangerous for both of you.”
“Oh, I’m going,” I assured him. “I’m not some delicate palace flower over here, yeah?”
“Yes, I know you’re quite capable, but this is different. You’re going to a place that’s deadly outside its walls, and inside you don’t know what you’re up against. Do you imagine the prince would want you with him?”
“He doesn’t have a choice,” I told him, confident in my relationship with Varic. “We made a new deal: no one goes anywhere without the other, except on short business trips that are going to be so brain-numbingly boring that my eyes would start to bleed.”
He stopped walking and turned to me. “That’s disgusting.”
“Really? The thought of bleeding eyes freaks you out?”
He scoffed as we started walking again.
“I do think Varic worries about what he’ll find in Decimus’s court,” I told Zev.
“Well, he’s had to end houses before.”
“When?”
“There was the one where you first met Tiago, as I understand.”
I remembered that night in Washington when I’d run out into the snow to save someone who turned out to be Tiago. The Rothschilds had him bound and were going to drain him. I knew that now, but at the time, I’d been terrified about what I thought was some blood sacrifice.
“The Rothschilds had left Europe,” Zev continued, “where they were suspected of many deaths, but nothing was ever proven. Finally, Varic got a location on them and sent Hadrian and Tiago.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Another example is that royalty used to marry its own. It was done all over the world by humans as well as vampyrs, at the level where you ruled. There was inbreeding, which only succeeded in making those set in the greatest positions of power to be riddled with disease, frail, weak-minded, and morally compromised.”
“Would we say all of them?”
He grunted. I couldn’t very well argue. He was the thousand-year-old vampyr, not me.
“Now, of course, we know better. But up until a hundred years ago, the Duke of Corbin, who has a small holding in Wales, was still marrying his sons to his daughters and wondering why his vampyr children never lived past twenty.”
“That’s fuckin’ horrible,” I said flatly.
“Very.”
“Who stopped it? Who educated him?”
“That would be Varic.”
“What did he do?”
“He had to kill the duke to release his family—or what was left of them, which consisted of only his sister-wife and their first daughter.”
“And where are they now?”
“Mother and child live in London, happily, and enjoy their time with friends. They make their money from the daily tours of their home, which is now a tourist attraction.”
“Well, no matter what’s going on in Decimus’s holding, Varic is going to fix by whatever means necessary because as deluded as Gideon was about other things, like me for instance, he was right when he said that all must submit to Varic’s reign.”
“Of course,” Zev replied with a sharp exhale. “And while I agree with Varic’s idea of equality for all, you know they can’t be.”
“No, I know. You have the nobility and the other pure-blood vampyrs, as well as made vampyrs, and some have so much wealth and others none.”
“That’s right.”
“But what Varic wants is the same laws and protections for everyone. That’s why he has to see what’s happening there, and either end Decimus’s time as ruler of his house or allow him to remain.”
“I get it, don’t think I don’t. I just don’t see the wisdom in taking you with him.”
But he would once we were all there, I was certain.
When Zev and I arrived in the king’s chambers, he was pacing. We both bowed and waited, then straightened moments later when he didn’t acknowledge us. Since I’d never seen him pace before, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I waited, standing there quietly, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Your Majesty,” I called over to him.
Nothing. No response.
Several more minutes passed. Zev bumped my shoulder.
“What?” I whispered.
“Try again. This feels strange, us staring at him.”
It did, and after a moment, I raised my voice. “Your Majesty, may Zev and I sit with you, or would you prefer we left?”
He looked up that time, saw me, glanced at Zev, and waved his hand vaguely before going back to pacing. Assuming that meant he wanted us to stay, I sat down on an antique love seat, and Zev grabbed an ornate lacquered chair, carried it over, turned it around, and straddled it, elbows on the back. He rested his head on his arms as we watched the king like he was an animal in a zoo.