“Can you?” He asks.
What the fuck is Daire doing?
“I would need my mages to research it.” Lanlin’s brow furrows. “And that is made harder by the mask being silver. But I shall set them to work. I have lotions to help with burns. We could cover your delicate skin with bandages to keep the iron away from it, but I am unsure if that would work.”
Daire hums, noncommittal.
Yet I can sense his surprise and happiness through the bond.
How many people have cared about his pain, apart from me?
Except, Lanlin is not offering to help the warrior Daire, war hardened alongside the featherglass, is he? He believes that he’s caring for my soulmate, thedelicate, abused fae who has been cruelly treated by the dragons.
It appears that even Shadow Vampires need to see themselves as the white knights.
Wraith told me that this would be Lanlin’s weakness.
Daire and I are managing thefeigned weaknesswell with the help of that fucking sergeant.
Now, it’s time to exploit another tactic, which Wraith taught me in the Guild: Our shared experiences on the journey.
“What’s that sweet smell?” I wrinkle up my nose at the honey-like fragrance that is mixed with the cool night air.
“I shall try to remember that your night senses are not as enhanced as mine.” For the first time, Lanlin’s eyes brighten, and he looks younger. “White lotuses.”
When he waves his hand, a swarm of millions of bright fireflies light up at his command. They reveal streams, which run either side of the path down to the squat mud brick houses of a village at the bottom of a valley, which is overshadowed by the polished white limestone of a grand pyramid.
The sight takes away my breath.
The streams are covered in a bed of flowers, whose silky white petals are curved up to sleep like floating discs.
Beneath the fireflies, the lotuses look like stars resting on the water.
“Beautiful,” I murmur.
“We believe,” Lanlin’s voice sounds far away, as if he is remembering something that he was taught when he was much younger, “that the lotus closes at night to journey into the underworld and rises to open again with the sun, reborn. This is why we carve it on tomb walls and sarcophagi.” He gestures at the pyramid. “Both this village and my palace are named after the lotus. It is a symbol of eternal return — a night that does not end in darkness, but rather, the dawn.”
“Bloody strange for vampires to name anything after the dawn,” Daire comments.
“Don’t you worship the very things that you can’t see but still believe in? Faith?Hope?” Lanlin’s voice is liltingly hypnotic.
Daire’s expression becomes shut off. “Nay, it’s been a long time since I have worshipedhope.”
Lanlin considers him for a long moment. “Then may I be the torch to both of you that lights hope in your darkness, until the sun rises for you again.”
My throat is tight.
Does he mean that?
Lanlin’s devotion is overwhelming. Aurelius warned me that it would be.
Is it real? Or a trick?
“White Lotus is where I grew up for the first few years of my life,” Lanlin continues like he hasn’t just thrown Daire and me into turmoil with his unexpected earnestness. “Shadow Vampires can either be born, known as the Fanged, or be Turned from humans or other species. The Turned and their children face persecution. I allow them, however, to live in this village, which is the sacred heart of the kingdom, as a symbol of my protection and respect.”
“Is that why you’re bringing us through here, before we reach the capital?” Daire quirks his brow. “Show us what abenevolentruler you are? Because we’ve heard this story before from Aurelius.”
“I brought you here to introduce you to my family, before I introduce you to the court. I have been taught that it is the thing that should be done to honor you both.” He points at the pyramid.
