A moment later, the rest of the table joined him, and I flushed red, embarrassed.
I grabbed the napkin on my lap and threw it on the table, standing. “I’ll take my meals alone, thank you.”
Shoving the chair back, I walked away from the banquet and back to the door.
Savion was in front of me.
Vampire speed.
“You will sit back down, and you will finish your meal. You are alive at my pleasure, and it would serve you well to remember that.”
“I cannot change who I am, and I won’t be mocked for it.” I folded my arms, not moving.
His eyes flashed red, and his fangs dropped instantly. A primal hiss issued from him, and I desperately wanted to run.
I held my ground.
“Get back to the table, child. Youwilltake your meals with my knights and me.”
Staring at him, I unfolded my arms. “If you mock me again, I’ll take my chances with your teeth and sword,sire.”
Marching back to the table, I sat. I put the napkin back on my lap and picked up my fork to stab a carrot, and chew it carefully. Savion walked back slowly and sat.
“So, shall we discuss our usual business? Lord Knight Vasily, how are your crops doing?”
I tuned out. I didn’t care about crops.
I didn’t care about a thing in this whole blood-drenched kingdom.
I needed to talk to Odom, and I didn’t know how to do that.
SAVION WAS GRACIOUS ENOUGHTO ALLOWme to use the library.
I wanted to tell him to choke on his permissions.
However, it was the only place he would allow me. He seemed both delighted and disgusted by my resistance to his charms.
I couldn’t tell him it wasn’tcharm.
He was a snake, and I could sense the putrescence sliding off him as if he were shedding his skin. He had a fountain of blood in the middle of his entrance hall. There was truly nothing charming about that, and that was just the first impression.
Also, he’d sliced off my friend’s head.
Took a few points off for that.
The rest of dinner had been a torturous affair, with the men laughing and causing a ruckus about things I didn’t know and didn’t want to know.
One of the Lord Knights had ordered his dinner companion under the table to…
Well. She’d been happy to do it, and no one else seemed to mind. I patently ignored it as much as possible, though the shout when he came earned a round of applause.
Before Savion sent me to my room with Lord Aiko, he offered me several of the servants around to keep me company in bed.
I turned smartly on my heel and marched out.
First thing in the morning, Lord Aiko appeared and told me that I could use the library under guard.
“Why?” I asked.
