“A good candidate, yes. And I don’t want to fail my mate either,” I say, sitting up and moving to lean against the headboard. “Previous rulers have chosen to use the trials as a matchmaking game.”
That’s the best way I can describe the behavior.
But it’s not quite accurate.
“As I mentioned, the humans in my world know Strigoi exist.” I informed her of that when discussing the trials and the importance for my world. “So a contest typically ignites among the mortals to…auctionbrides.”
Viviana moves on the bed to join me by the headboard, my shirt still clinging to her arms yet hanging open to reveal her perfect form.
I try to ignore the allure, but it’s difficult.
However, I need her to understand this—the importance of what she means to me.Whyit’s taken me so long to find her.HowI ended up in this world.
“Are the auctioned brides usually willing?” she asks, her dark eyes holding mine.
“Yes. Always. Because becoming queen in my world is a coveted position.”
“Becoming a queen in this world is also coveted, I think,” she replies. “Wealth. Power. It’s something a lot of humans desire.”
I nod. “I’ve noticed that throughout the centuries. However, I’ve avoided monarchs and their frivolous politics by making payments and using compulsion.” I study her. “Though, sometimes a clever mortal stumbles upon records of my existence.”
“How do you usually handle thoseclever mortals?” she asks.
“I send them on a path that leads them elsewhere.”
She waits for me to elaborate, and I can hear in her mind that she’s wondering if anyone else has ever arrived at my doorstep.
“You’re the first outsider that I’ve allowed to learn my secret,” I murmur. “Only the staff in my home are aware of who and what I am, and their families have helped safeguard me for many generations.”
“So Marius is… a descendant?”
I smirk. “Marius isn’t human, Viviana. He’s a Strigoi. My second-in-command, actually. And my best friend.”
Her eyes widen more and more with each statement I make. “So he’s not a familiar?”
“Strigoi don’t havefamiliars, pet. We have staff. We have humans who allow us to feed. And, well, some of us have harems, too. Marius, for example, has very much enjoyed being the acting monarch in the Strigoi Kingdom. Which I suppose brings me back to theauctions—Marius has received many humans as gifts. All of them wishing he would take one as a mate.”
“But he has a harem instead,” she says slowly.
“Precisely.”
“So you, too, could have a harem?” The wariness in her tone tells me how she feels about this concept. And the wave of possessiveness coming from her thoughts almost makes me smile.
“Yes, I could,” I admit. “However, I’ve never desired a harem. I’ve always wanted to find a mate, not dally with inconsequential relations. Which is why I left my home world and came here. I craved someone different. Someone unique. Someone… not offered up on a platter for potential slaughter.”
I go on to reiterate the purpose of the trials, how my kind tests potential mates for Strigoi royals.
“They have to approve of their king and queen,” I stress. “It’s widely understood in my realm and accepted as a challengeamong the mortals. My predecessors enjoyed the carnage. At least until one of them fell for a candidate who died.”
It’s not a story I like to think about, yet it’s one that haunted my childhood.
Because that candidate was my mother’s older sister.
“The trials are about testing a human’s worth as the mother or father of a royal heir. So many of the tasks focus on stamina and strength, the goal being to ensure that whoever procreates with a Strigoi is capable of adding impressive traits to the match.”
It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. But it’s an archaic practice.
I’ve always felt that I should be trusted to pick an appropriate mate. And that’s mostly why I set off on my own to find someone worthy of the task.
