“Then you must have a real affinity for him. Well, congratulations, cousin. I’ve often thought about you living like a recluse in this dreary castle, wondering when some dashing knight might come along and liberate you from your celibacy.”
Sinclair surely wished for me to deny it, so I ignored him completely. “Is there something else I can offer you, in lieu of marriage?”
“I wish for you to support my ascension to the throne.”
“You have that already,” I assured him, for I’d never intended to interfere with Kazimir Clan business.
“It may require a show of power,” Sinclair said meaningfully.
“Troops?” I asked.
“Precisely.”
Trouble at home, I presumed. Lady Catrin had never been stable, but I figured she would support her only son’s ascension. She’d been grooming him for the position since he was a babe.
“So long as there is not an uprising on the horizon, I can lend you some of my forces during the transition period. Do you think your mother will oppose you?” I asked.
“She is mad,” Sinclair said with a weary sigh. “Her whims change as easily as the weather. I wouldn’t put it past her to cause some commotion, and there are several of our clan who are loyal to her and might oppose me even without her direction.”
I was grateful that the threats I encountered did not come from within my own fortress. I pitied Sinclair that he did not have a safe space, however dreary it may be. “Very well, consider it done.”
“There is one other thing I want,” he said, “though it is rather small. I daresay, inconsequential.”
“I doubt that any of your demands are inconsequential, Sinclair.”
He grinned, showing off his pointed canines, which for a full-blooded vampyre, were always engaged. “I fear Sir Grantham is a spy,” he said with a maudlin sigh.
Not the direction I thought our conversation would take. “A spy? Are you sure?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Do not mock me, Mercier,” he snapped, showing his first true glimpse of fury. “He isyourspy and I know it because I’ve caught him at it.”
I swallowed. I needed to be careful here, for Sir Grantham’s sake especially. “I wouldn’t go making such grave accusations without proof.”
“Then deny it,” Sinclair said, crossing his arms like the petulant child I’d known from our youth.
“Sir Grantham is not presently my spy,” I told him, the truth.
“But he was?” Sinclair said, eyeing me closely. I couldn’t deny it; my integrity wouldn’t allow it. My extended silence was his answer. “That’s what I thought,” he said peevishly.
“Have you confronted him about this?” I asked, fearing for the man’s safety. My cousin had a terrible temper, especially when he thought he’d been betrayed.
“I have not. So, my demand for you, Mercier, is that I want him. As my captive. You will not come for him nor inquire about him nor speak his name aloud to me ever again. He is mine to do with whatever I wish.”
That gave me pause. I didn’t want to sign Sir Grantham’s life over to Sinclair, a vampyre famous for his bloodlust. At the same time, I didn’t wish to start a war with my cousin. Yet, Sir Grantham knew the risks when he entered into our contract.
“Will you kill him?” I asked.
“Not right away,” Sinclair said with a sinister smile. “Though if it soothes your conscience, I could have done this without your permission, as Sir Grantham is my own guard of honor andsubject to my discipline, so I am really only informing you of my intent as a courtesy. Understand?”
Perhaps I could get a warning to Sir Grantham ahead of whatever reprisal Sinclair had in store. I’d pay for his passage to the fae realm and sponsor his citizenship there. The plan was taking shape when Sinclair said, “I see where your mind is going, Mercier, and I would caution you that any interference on your part would make meverydispleased. So displeased that I might choose to retaliate. Your betrothed makes for an easy mark.”
I stood from the table, hands trembling. “Are you threatening me, Sinclair?”
“No, I am only laying out the consequences of your actions, should you choose to break the terms of our agreement.”
“I’ve not agreed to anything.”
“Haven’t you, though?” Sinclair smiled and stood from the table, his business having concluded. “In that trunk is the dress your mother wore on the night your parents and the elemental sorcerer were murdered. On the dress you’ll find evidence of the person responsible. Do you wish for me to take it with me or leave it with you?”
