‘Oh, don’t be like that,’ she cooed.She slid her fingers under Raleigh’s and forced him to peel his hand away.There was somethinghazy about her movements.‘I’ll have him for one song,’ she said to me, ‘and then you can have him back.’
‘I don’t—’
But she was stronger than him.The music crescendoed, catching them both on the breeze and spiriting them away into the throng of dancers.I tried to follow but was cut off by two couples swirling close together.He was lost.I was alone.
No one appeared to be looking at me, but I could feel the whole room’s awareness fixed on the only non-enchanted human.My leg itched against my dagger and I fought the urge to drag it out and start cutting until Raleigh was by my side again.I extracted myself from the dance floor instead, seeking somewhere quiet to take refuge, when someone placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
‘Are you all right?’
I whipped around, trying not to let all my feelings spill out.The woman who spoke looked concerned, her head tilted in appraisal.I would be stating the obvious to say she was beautiful: there wasn’t a soul in this room who wasn’t.She was ethereal.Her blonde hair, almost white, cascaded down her shoulders.She had been slightly older than me when turned, old enough to mature into her beauty, but young enough that the ravages of hardship had never touched her body.Her skin was soft, lips full, her black slip of a gown draping enticingly over her curves.She repeated her question, hand slipping down my arm to articulate her empathy.
The concern in this woman’s voice bore no resemblance to the teasing lilt from everyone else who had approached us.She was different.I thought of what Enrique had told me before, months ago.There were dissenters in the court, he’d said; not everyone was loyal to the Queen.We had potential allies.Was this one of them?
‘My—’ I looked to the dancers.Raleigh was still missing.‘I don’t know what to do.’And then, ‘Do you know Raleigh?’
She smiled with no hint of condescension.‘We all know Raleigh.This song may go on a while.Come,’ she said, extending her hand.‘Why don’t you walk with me?’
I glanced at her hand, then stepped backwards.‘I shouldn’t.’
‘It’s all right,’ she said.‘You’re quite safe with me.’
I dipped into a curtsey.‘With all due respect, miss, I’ve heard enough to know I’m not safe with anyone at this court.’
‘Shh.’The woman pressed her fingers to my lips, glancing around.‘You cannot say such things here.You never know who might be listening.’She caught the eye of someone over my shoulder and gave an unaffected wave.‘Please,’ she said.‘I would speak with you alone.Raleigh trusted me before.He will know where to find us.’
Others in the ballroom were openly watching me now.Those not dancing had their heads dipped in conversation, but their faces were turned to me.I kept catching flashes of watchful stares from the dance floor, the perfect synchronicity falling out in favour of gawking at the lonely human.There was still no sign of Raleigh, no one to help me make this choice.If I didn’t go with her, who would find me next?No one else had shown a fraction of her concern, nor a hint of her desire to resist.
I wasn’t fool enough to think I would be safe with her, but I much preferred my chances with one vampire than an entire ballroom of them.‘Raleigh will find us?’
‘Everyone has seen us together now.’She slipped her arm around mine.‘He will know.’
I relented.Arm in arm, she led me from the ballroom, into the veins of the palace.
It felt different with her at my side.No one gawked as we passed, their gazes instead politely sliding off us.We rounded a corner, and I spotted Waltz approaching from the other direction.I braced myself,waiting for a jab about how quickly I’d abandoned my fiancé, but it never came.To my horror, he bowed.
Something shifted.My vision grew sharper, the shape of Raleigh’s glamour hardening in my mind as another sought to push against it.There was a strange woman on my arm guiding me through the vampire queen’s lair.And I was an idiot.
It was too late to turn back.She had me quite literally in her grip.Stupid, I was so stupid.For all the warnings Raleigh had given me, all it had taken were a few sweet words and I’d made the same mistakes he had.
I kept my breath steady as we passed Waltz.‘Forgive me my ignorance,’ I said as cordially as Raleigh might have done, ‘but I come from a small farming town, and Raleigh is no enforcer of etiquette.Is Your Majesty the right mode of address?’
Her laughter was like birdsong.‘You knew?’
‘My apologies for not realising sooner.’
‘My dear, you mustn’t go to such formality,’ she said.‘You’re already family.’
I tried not to cringe at the word.‘How could I not beg deference to the woman who breathed eternal life into my soulmate, that we might meet so many centuries after his birth?’Maybe that was overdoing it.‘Your Majesty.’
She scoffed.‘He’s trained you well, hasn’t he?’
We reached a set of double doors, manned on either side by uniformed figures – whether they were human or vampire, I couldn’t tell.They pushed the doors open in unison as we approached, revealing the heart of the court itself: the throne room.
I thought I had seen decadence before, but I’d seen nothing like this.The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky, inset with diamonds for stars.Above the throne there was a canopy of thick velvet, the fabric spilling to the ground as the sky bleedsinto the ocean.Behind it, the wall was lined with shimmering stained glass.
If the room was the night sky, then the throne was the moon.It shimmered through the dim light, a gleaming white beacon inset with silvery cushions.At first glance I would have guessed it to be marble, but the colour was too even, too white.Ivory, perhaps.Father had some ornaments, but I’d never seen anything with pieces so large.It was only when the Queen lovingly caressed its arm with her draped fingers that I realised what it truly was.Elephant tusks were decadent, but the Queen of the undead demanded a greater sacrifice.
‘Oh, come now.’She must have seen the realisation in my face.‘You come from humble beginnings, do you not?You know it’s wasteful not to use all parts of the animal.’
