Of course, I already knew that – I had eavesdropped in on Eaglen and Henry’s conversation whilst I was out cold. But I did my best to feign surprise. ‘When?’
‘Immediately. Athenea would be the best place for you right now.’
I laughed nervously. Athenea is really not the best place for me right now, I thought.
‘Then why am I still here?’ Again, I knew the answer to that but I was interested to see what he would answer.
‘Because it would be impractical. You’re not a vampire and crossing the borders is difficult for humans. And you need the support of the council. And …’
‘And?’
I glimpsed a pale pink tinge appearing around the rims of his irises as he stole a look at me. ‘Whilst you were unconscious I went and told Henry that I wouldn’t let you go.’ The corners of his lips upturned a little.
‘I thought you were angry?’ I asked.
He nodded. ‘I was. Still am.’
‘Then why tell—’
He cut me off, walking to his bed and snatching a piece of paper from under his pillow. I knew it must be one of the Queen’s letters but he turned it over, pointing to what should be the near-blank side. Instead, interweaving between the wax seal and several blotches of ink was a scrawling message, written in an identical hand to the letter.
Don’t give up on her.
My eyes widened. That’s what the Queen had written.
Kaspar pointed to it, his mouth forming the words but no sound coming out. He turned the paper over, revealing the main part of the letter. ‘It’s a letter my mother left me about being tied to the Heroine.’ He turned it back over. ‘But that part wasn’t there before.’ His voice was soft and cracked a little on the word ‘mother’. I reached out and placed a hand over his, folding the paper into two.
‘I know,’ I murmured.
He raised his head, surprised. ‘How?’
‘When we came back from Varns’ Point, I came looking for you and found it. Autumn had just told me about the Heroine thing and I couldn’t help but read it. How else do you think I found out about being tied?’
He shook his head. ‘I thought Eaglen had told you. But why didn’t you tell me? None of this would have happened.’
‘I tried, but you wouldn’t listen.’
His brow creased as he thought back. Then he cringed. ‘Well, why didn’t you scream it down there?’ He gestured down to the gravel of the driveway. ‘You didn’t have to wait for Eaglen.’
I closed my eyes. ‘Valerian Crimson knew I was a Heroine all along. He would have driven a knife through my neck if I so much as squeaked.’ I rubbed my throat as I said that, able to feel the cool metal still pressing against my skin. I stepped out onto the balcony and Kaspar followed, grabbing my wrist and yanking me into his chest. I felt a little weak at the knees as he raised my chin and scrutinized my face, his eyes back to their usual shade of emerald now.
‘Why aren’t you angrier with me? I’m angry at you and it’s your father who is to blame, not you.’
‘I am trying,’ I replied dryly. ‘Why, do you want me to be angry?’
A perfected pout appeared on his lips and his eyes twinkled with mischief. ‘Well, you are kind of hot when you’re angry.’ I glared at him and wriggled in his grip until he let me go. ‘Inappropriate?’ he questioned, breaking out into a sheepish grin.
‘Just slightly,’ I laughed, running a hand through my hair to brush my fringe from my eyes. ‘God, we have issues,’ I added.
‘Major issues,’ he echoed and at that moment, there was the sound of crackling, followed by a roar. We both rushed forward; I leaned over the railings and whipped around to face the mansion again. High on the hill behind the building, a plume of smoke was rising and below it, I could just see a few tongues of fire lapping at the air above the treetops, near Varns’ Point.
‘The beacon,’ Kaspar breathed, a look of realization dawning on his face.
A sense of foreboding rose in my stomach. There was a reason the Kingdom was being called to court: the full council was going to assemble, and I would be there. I knew what I had to do at this meeting – the Queen had told me what to do – but actually seeing it through might not be so easy.
‘I’m sorry,’ Kaspar said. ‘For everything.’ He was leaning against the railing, his hands resting either side on the stone, his eyes watching the fire grow steadily higher and the smoke thicker and blacker – I could taste soot and the smell of burning filled the air, settling on my clothes.
‘Me too,’ I murmured, watching the fire as well. I placed my right hand on his left and he turned it over, letting his fingers slip between mine. Neither of us said anything and at that moment, the door to his room opened and a maid – Annie – slipped in, dressed in her dark dress. But today, she wore a black not a white apron, lined with emerald and emblazoned with the Varns’ crest. She stepped out onto the balcony, dropping into a full curtsy.
‘Lady Heroine; Your Highness. Your presence is required immediately at the council meeting.’
My heart leapt and Kaspar’s grip tightened around my hand.
FIFTY-EIGHT
Kaspar
I entered the council meeting alone. Eaglen had taken Violet aside to talk to her – hopefully to discuss some sort of plan, because this lot would eat her alive. Literally. I gazed around at the thirty or so men and women sitting around the table, careful to meet the eyes of the more prominent members of the council. But there were two notable absences: Ashton and Valerian Crimson. Their chairs were instead occupied by Henry and Joanna, and the chair Ilta had once sat in opposite me was empty, ready for Violet. Either side of that were two empty chairs for Eaglen and Arabella.
Whatever Eaglen has planned better be good, I thought. I had a feeling of what he might propose, but whether it would be accepted or not was a completely different deal.
‘We have enough men combined with the Sage to secure the border. No rogue or slayer will cross it,’ Lamair declared in his usual aggressive manner. ‘We can concern ourselves with the human government later. This is a time for defence, not diplomacy!’
There were several calls of ‘hear, hear’ and it wasn’t hard to see that my father half agreed with them.
‘Lamair, the defence of Varnley is my main priority, but I beg you to remember that the father of the girl is one of those in the human government. Not only is he a rash man, but we cannot run the risk of upsetting her. She is the Heroine, after all.’
Lamair was taken aback. ‘Forgive me, Your Majesty, but are you implying that we should let the man who ordered your late wife’s murder escape without punishment?’
The room held its breath. Nobody mentioned mother. Nobody. My father ran a hand down the back of his head and studied the ceiling, his face pained. ‘No,’ he eventually sighed.
‘Violet won’t want to hear that,’ I muttered, leaning back in my chair.
Faunder, Charity’s father, scoffed whilst his daughter scowled. It was no secret now that his master plan was to marry his daughters off to as many royals as he could. If only I’d seen that at the time. ‘Forgive me also, Prince, but I think you are unfit to give impartial judgement on such matters. It is common knowledge that you are, how do I say it?’ He paused, turning to smile at Lamair as they formed a cosy little faction. ‘Emotionally compromised by the girl.’
I sat back up and rested my arms on the table, grasping my glass of blood to prevent them from seeing my clenched fists. ‘Do your research, Faunder. I’m tied to the girl.’
‘Yes, Eaglen did mention it to us. Is that why you slept with her? In that case, I commend you on your foresight, Your Highness, because you knew she was a Heroine long before any of us.’
I went to stand up but my father grabbed my sleeve and yanked me back down. Don’t rise to it, he growled in my mind. I pulled my sleeve out of his grasp and sank back down into my chair, watching with disgust the satisfied grins of the Faunder family.
Sitting to my left, Henry, up until
now just an observer, spoke. ‘You have the promise of our best guards, who will be more than able to deal with the hunters and rogues. As to Michael Lee, I believe the best course of action would be to interrogate him by bringing him here—’
‘Bring him here?’ Lamair near screeched. ‘To the very heart of the Kingdom? How foolish!’
My father smacked the bare wood of the table and Lamair looked like he might topple off his chair as my father turned to him, eyes ablaze. ‘You will remember your betters, Lamair.’
So much for not rising to the bait, I thought. At that moment, the door opened and Eaglen appeared, followed by Arabella and, lastly, Violet. Chairs scraped against the wooden floor as they were pushed back in a hurry, everybody rushing to get to their feet. The women sank into curtseys and the men bowed, holding their positions as the trio rounded the table. Once they neared, I raised my head a fraction to watch her. Her face was beetroot red as her eyes darted from one person to another, taking it in. She was under-dressed in the same T-shirt and jeans that she had been wearing earlier, but then again, so was I. Nobody would question it. Nobody dared question it.
Girly, a Heroine. It still hadn’t sunken in. The feisty human girl who I had stolen from London; the woman I had learned to care for; the dhampir who had faced so much, now a Heroine, about to face even more. The odds seemed ridiculous. But there were no chances with fate.
Her eyes found mine and I cracked a small smile. Her lips upturned at the corners but she looked too terrified to smile: her eyes were wide and her pupils were dilated, so large that hardly any of her peculiar violet irises showed. When she sat down, the rest of the room followed. Every face turned towards her, whilst she stared into her lap.
Eaglen nodded and my father continued. ‘Henry, do carry on.’
The Sagean prince nodded and began to suck the tip of a pen. ‘As I was saying –’ he looked pointedly at Lamair – ‘it would be easy enough for us to restrain the hunters and rogues, without too much force even, if they don’t make this difficult. The rogues can await trial in either your courts or ours; the hunters, of course, we can do little about. Lee, as a human civilian, is different.’ Violet’s head, full of hope and fear, popped up. ‘Unless he directly uses force or infringes upon your boundaries, we can’t touch him because it would breach the Terra Treaties and that is something we cannot allow.’
Girly’s face lit up as the room erupted into speech. Of course she wouldn’t want him to be hurt. But she still had to betray him and he still deserved punishment.
‘You might not be able to touch him, but the Terra allows us to,’ Eaglen began, taking a long drag from the glass set in front of him. He motioned for one of the manservants to come forward, who filled it back up: one part whiskey, two parts blood. ‘I have a proposition.’ Father motioned for him to carry on. ‘Provided the Sage keep any of Lee’s accomplices away, it would not be hard to bring him here. My suggestion is that once he is here, we place the King and Crown’s Protection over him and the Lee family.’
There was a great roar of objection and I frowned, unsure of where he was going. Violet’s face fell and she went back to staring at her lap, fiddling with a loose thread on her shirt. I edged forward on my chair as near to the table as I could and reached across with my foot – the table was long, not wide – until I found her leg. I nudged it slightly. Her gaze shot up.
‘Are you all right?’ I mouthed. She nodded and smiled, but not very convincingly. ‘Really?’ She pulled a face and grimaced. No. I hooked my foot behind her leg and pulled it towards me. Not exactly gently, she kicked me as she started to slide off her seat. ‘Sorry,’ I added, hoping she would know I was apologising for a whole lot more.
How did I nearly let her go? What would I have done if they had …
‘Let me explain,’ Eaglen called over the noise. He took another mouthful from his glass, seeming unfazed. ‘The Lee family need protection. Once news of Lee’s deed reaches the wider dimension, their lives will be in danger. If we place the King and Crown’s Protection over them, it will act as a deterrent to anyone planning revenge, shall we call it.’
Faunder’s son, Adam, spoke up. ‘So what if they die? They are traitors and it fulfils the Prophecy, doesn’t it?’
Violet’s hands balled into fists and her eyes burnt with rage. She leaned forward and glared down the table at him. ‘That’s my family you’re talking about,’ she snarled in such a menacing voice she could pass for a vampire, any day. A few eyebrows were raised, but Adam said nothing.
‘Nobody beyond the innocents needs to die. Violet will fulfil that part of the Prophecy by becoming a vampire and thus denouncing her family blood,’ Eaglen continued.
‘That’s all very well,’ Henry said. ‘But I still don’t like the idea of having Lee in government. He’s dangerous to us all.’
‘Let me get to the good bit, young one,’ Eaglen chuckled. ‘We will instruct Lee to resign from his post as Secretary of Defence. If he doesn’t, we remove the King and Crown’s Protection and the Lee family … how shall I say it? Become dinner.’
I laughed, shocked rather than amused. ‘But that’s blackmail. Did you agree to this?’ I asked, turning to Violet.
Before she could say anything, Eaglen cut in. ‘It was Violet’s idea.’
My mouth fell open, as did everyone else’s. ‘Is that true?’
There was something unreadable in her eyes and expression as she nodded. ‘He’ll agree to it,’ she said, defiantly. I ran a hand down the back of my head. I had to hand it to her. She had guts. ‘He might be family, but it’s a risk that has to be taken. He can’t stay in government, I know that.’ Her words were not directed at everyone, but at me, and me alone.
Father leaned back in his chair, sighing in one of those rare moments he was stunned. ‘It’s flawed, but we don’t have much choice.’
The talk descended into logistics – the general consensus was that Lee had arranged for the rogues to be at the borders at one o’clock the next afternoon. Nobody knew if he was aware of who his daughter was.
It was another hour before anything definite was agreed. Violet would stay within the walls of the mansion, despite her protests. Most of my family would too, save for Arabella, who would join the Sagean Princess, Joanna, and Eaglen, alongside some of the more trustworthy members of the council who had been charged with bringing Lee back. In theory, it would work. In reality, a lot could go wrong. We didn’t know what Lee’s plans were. We didn’t know how he would react. We didn’t know how Violet would react: she couldn’t go soft on her father. There was a mounting sense of unease in the pit of my stomach. This had been too easy and I didn’t like it.
‘There is one more thing,’ Joanna said, standing up as the meeting headed towards a natural close. ‘As the Lady Heroine has declined My Majesty’s protection, the Lady Autumn Rose has requested the presence of Lady Violet and the council at court, in Athenea, as soon as possible. I understand that it is inconvenient, but we have the capacity to welcome as many as—’
Father cut her off with a wave of his hand, standing up. ‘The court will spend the winter season in Athenea.’ A wave of shock passed around the room. I stared, aghast, at my father. The court had not moved from Varnley since the Forties and even then, that had only been for a few weeks. ‘I suggest you communicate with your families to inform them to ready themselves. We leave in two weeks. You are dismissed.’
Most seemed too stunned to speak and silently filed out. I remained rooted to my seat until one of the attendants appeared by my father’s side, as he instructed him to inform the sizeable court of the move. Distracted by that and Henry, beginning to formulate more detailed plans for the next day, I didn’t notice as Violet slipped towards the door. But my father did.
‘Violet,’ he called, not bothering to look up from the notes he was writing. She froze, hand on the door. ‘You cannot leave this dimension and enter Athenea as a human.’
Her eyes widened. The meaning was implicit. She had to turn
, and she had to turn soon.
FIFTY-NINE
Violet
I think Kaspar saw the fear in my eyes when he told me he was going to hunt. I think he knew I would sit on my bed with my arms wrapped around my knees, curled into the most uncomfortable position so I wouldn’t fall asleep. I didn’t want to follow him in my dreams, which was irrational. I knew that soon, I would have to hunt too. I had to turn. I had no choice now. Whether I wanted it or not – which God, I did – was irrelevant. But it was more than that. I didn’t want to know his thoughts. I didn’t want to know what he wanted to do to my father and I certainly didn’t want to know what he had been thinking when he left me to die.
Maybe that was why as he swung his cloak around his shoulders, he caught my hand and said sorry.
There was so much to think about and yet he was thinking about her. Not that he minded hugely. It was better than lingering on the thought that in twelve hours, Lee would be within a hairsbreadth of Varnley’s borders. It was not an event that he would ever have foreseen before the previous July and he felt a familiar anger rise towards the surface, which he didn’t try to quench. There was no point trying to hide it from her. Lee was the man who had consigned his mother to death; he had a right to be angry. It was bad enough staying restrained in public. He couldn’t do it in private as well.
He was thirsty but most of the deer had fled to where the Sage camped, drawn to their high-pitched laughs, which settled amongst the canopy. It sent a shiver down the figure’s spine. The Sage might move in harmony with nature, but they were not of this Earth – no creature that could kill a man with one word was of this earth. The cloaked figure sighed. It wasn’t hard to see why Athenea was the most powerful Kingdom. Nobody dared question their authority. Either way, he was glad he was not a slayer having to face them later that day.