“And you dunk people into the same blood you drink?”
“No. That’s foul, and the blood is weak. There,” Lord Aiko pointed to the corner. “That’s where we dunk the offenders. It’s older blood, close to fouling.”
I twisted my lip. “You’ve dunked in spoiled blood, haven’t you?”
“Again, not my purview. I am part of the king’s council. Not his guards and not his constabulary.”
How many lost their blood into the fountain?
The cold copper stink of blood in the air was making me dizzy. I hadn’t eaten in who knew how long, but my body threatened to heave what it could up my gullet.
The lord knight quickly strode through the room to the back doors, only two stories tall after the monstrosities at the front, and into a grand hall.
I whipped around, hearing that same scream trembling through the air.
Before I could think on it further, Aiko grabbed my arm and pulled me forward into the hall.
Another grand hall.
This one had two doors on each wall, and Lord Aiko strode directly across to the open ones at the back.
Yet another oversized hall with oversized windows, an oversized fireplace, and an oversized table. Lights hung from the ceiling, spotlighting the center of the table covered in dishes and bowls and plates of food.
It smelled divine.
My traitorous stomach growled.
Lord Aiko smirked. “It has been too many hours since you ate, Mistress Breaker. The king bids you join him at the head of the table.”
There was an empty chair next to the blond-haired, now-green-eyed King of the Vampires.
He clapped like an over-stimulated child when he saw me in the doorway. “Come, come! Mistress Breaker, come, sit, eat! Let us talk!”
I swallowed. Hard. I wasn’t ready for this. Not any of this. I wasn’t a diplomat. I had years of training to go before I would be. I was good with my sword, not my mouth. Not in conversation.
Holding my head up, and trying not to shake like a leaf, I put one foot in front of the other to make my way to the chair.
Savion’s chair sat taller than everyone else’s did. His seat was actually higher than the rest, and when I sat, even my tall frame didn’t come to his shoulders.
He wanted to intimidate everyone.
Clanging his knife on the metal goblet, it brought all eyes around to himself.
“Gentlemen, ladies, I would like you all to meet Kimber Raven, the Breaker of the Spine. She has graciously given up her freedom for the lives of her friends.”
The whole table chuckled.
My stomach heaved. I needed to find out what really happened to everyone who had been with me.
Savion didn’t break stride in his little show.
“Mistress Breaker, these are my Lord Knights, the most loyal of the loyal vampires.” He pointed around the table, and each inclined his head. “Dargo, Emil, Guilliame, and Aiko you know, Nillaston, Georgios, Vasily, Piotr, Billan, Robero, Corlos, and Kane. Also, Generals Odom, Tatano, and Illian.”
Odom was staring at me hard again. Studying me. It seemed almost as if he were trying to tell me something or get me to tell him something.
On top of everything else going on, I didn’t need this creepiness.
Creepiness.
