I shook my head. “No. My first queen was a fucking nightmare who trapped me with my honor and used me to exterminateentire nests. She never had any sexual interest in me, thank the Mother.”
“But you do share this queen’s bed?”
Heat pulsed through me just thinking about my queen. The scent of her skin. Her hunger. “Every single moment I’m allowed.”
His head tipped to the side. “How does that work exactly? With so many Blood, I mean. Not…”
I slapped him on the shoulder with a hopefully friendly smile. “My queen’s appetite is ravenous in all things.”
He didn’t return the smile, merely nodding as we stepped inside. Vivian was showing everyone the hot food Winston always had in the ovens, the wide array of prepared food in the massive refrigerator, and then she took them to the new walk-in commercial freezer where we kept the raw meat for Sekh, Mehen, and now Vore.
“Was she always ravenous?” Vlad asked without turning his head.
“Yes, at least once she came into her power. She’s still very young for a queen.” I hesitated a moment, trying to decide how much to say. I didn’t want to imply any reservations about his queen or their possible relationship but also help them understand and set realistic expectations for what it meant to serve a queen, especially if she’d been injured and abused. “I can only imagine the horrors Queen Karmen endured in Heliopolis, but I know what a powerful queen feels like, and your queen carries tremendous power. As she heals, her hunger will certainly grow to sustain her.”
“Goddess, let it be soon,” Vlad whispered beneath his breath. Then he shoved his way between Sunna Blood so he could load a plate of food. “We’ll be ready.”
41
SHARA
Usually Guillaume leaped at the chance to escort Gwen’s knights for a visit, but with the Soldiers of Light already in the nest, Rik sent Daire to quietly update her on the situation and bring them inside.
With very little notice, Winston had prepared the larger, formal dining room that we hardly ever used. The entire table was set with glistening china and crystal with fresh flowers and candles. Bright eyed and silently drinking everything in, Regina assisted him in the kitchen without complaint. Of course my Blood made themselves useful too, pairing up with groups of visiting Blood, making introductions, and offering food and drinks.
Though I didn’t fail to notice the very careful pairings to ensure no Soldier of Light was left unattended, and both Sekh and Guillaume were in my sight at all times. Not hovering. Not blatantly guarding.
But available and charmingly deadly.
Not to mention my invisible silver wolf, who glided silently at Eivind’s back.
I introduced Karmen to Gwen and got everyone seatedaround the table. Most of the Blood quietly stepped outside of the room so we could dine, though of course the alphas stayed at their queen’s backs. Karmen kept her closest Blood at hand.
I answered her questions and tried to explain general Aima life. Rik helped with Blood hierarchies. Despite her calm, nearly frozen expression at first, her color had improved, and the more she touched her Blood and talked with us, the more her body language relaxed.
Hopefully she enjoyed this meal far more than I’d enjoyed Marne Ceresa’s terrible tea party.
Though I had only met Karmen twice now, she seemed vaguely familiar, even though we hadn’t had the opportunity to chat casually. As if I had seen her before, even before the attack on Helayna’s nest. At first, I accounted the resonance to her sunfires and Smoak. Energy crackled around Vivian, and her bond hummed with the overflow of emotion. Joy. A sense of belonging. Completeness. Smoak was a part of the sunfire collective. In all honesty, they probably should have belonged to Karmen instead of me.
As soon as I thought it, a surge of ugliness pulsed through me. Jealousy.
A burst of sunfires rippled around Vivian before she could control it. In her bond, the phoenix shrieked, sweeping us both higher into a night sky. Twirling us together, our bodies joined, pausing, hovering for a moment in thin, crystalline air. Just the two of us.
:With all due respect, Your Majesty, Smoak and I aren’t fucking going anywhere.:
:That’s good, because I’m not ever going to let you go.:
Karmen tipped her head back so she could look up at her alpha, and I suddenly saw her as a child. Her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. Hiding. Under a bed.
So I had seen her before. When I touched the secondTriskeles chair, I’d seen a child hiding beneath a bed. Karmen. No wonder she seemed so familiar.
A Triskeles chair waited for her. If and when she was ready to accept it.
She smiled up at her alpha and then turned her attention to me. “I thank you for all the assistance you’ve given us. Is there any exchange needed to make things right between us? I’m willing to swear to you like Gwen if needed.”
Chilled at how easily a queen ignorant of Aima courts could be entrapped with a blood bond, I shook my head.
What if she’d gone to House Ceresa for help instead of us? Would Marne risk trying to make her a sibling? Even if Karmen was stronger, Marne was more experienced. She knew all too well how to use her power and warp situations to suit her.
