Page 12 of Henrikk’s Masquerade

There was one striking quality that Melody possessed which he found endlessly attractive: she was Asher’s poor, loving, estranged sister.

The rift between the siblings was significant, and after their exchange of letters, he could understand why. Melody was terribly impressionable, and yet impressively obstinate, believing every world view spouted by her father. When her traditionalist father wasn’t racing horses, he was rubbing elbows with the elite—a group of ageing vampires who were the pitiful equivalent of high society in those forgotten backwoods.

Meanwhile, Asher was very different to his father and sister. He was an independent thinker, thoughtful and mindful of others, and possessed compassion for others in spades. These traits made Asher incompatible with his family, and he’d fled Abbishfold Manor into the arms of the military as soon as he came of age.

Henrikk remembered accompanying Asher when he returned to Abbishfold Manor a few years later. Asher had tried in vain to persuade his sister to leave with him.

But she was a daddy’s girl through and through, and she had naturally sided with her father—the lord of the manor. She would probably regret her blind loyalty in a decade or two, once she realised she could not make him proud the way his thoroughbred horses could.

Perhaps I’ll make her call me ‘Daddy’.

A wicked thought, one that didn’t heat his loins like it should have.

Undeterred, Henrikk had proposed to Melody the moment she’d stepped from the carriage. He’d been waiting outside in the snowstorm to greet her, but he was not at all cold; the tantalising thought of how Asher would react to the news of his sister’s engagement was more than enough to keep him warm.

Finally, Melody’s carriage had arrived. She’d come alone, as instructed. The father had not been invited; Henrikk had no need of him, nor his blessing.

His proposal had been succinct and to-the-point, and he hadn’t wasted any time with pleasantries; he’d asked for Melody’s hand as he helped her out of the carriage.

She’d been flustered by his question, and she’d had the audacity to ask him to repeat himself to be sure she’d heard correctly.

He did not repeat himself.

Nor did he kneel.

But he did present her with a diamond ring. It was bright and sparkling, just like her too-white teeth as she flashed him a perfect smile and said, “Yes, a thousand times yes!” as if she imagined herself a heroine in a novel.

The heartfelt answer made him cringe, but he hadn’t let it show. A little restraint now would be worth the large pay off later when he finally saw Asher’s face.

“My future queen.” He’d smiled, and it was the only smile he deigned to offer her as he led her inside the Keep.

Henrikk had danced with Melody extensively, but his attention had been fixed over her shoulder.

Where, oh where, is Asher?

Finally, Henrikk spotted him standing alone on the outskirts of the party.

My poor, sweet Asher.

In another life, Henrikk would have asked him to dance. Instead, he flaunted the woman on his arm to irk the man.

After their engagement was announced, Henrikk swiftly led Melody out of the ballroom and through the dark, mirrored halls beyond where no one else was permitted.

No one except—by his special instruction—Asher.

Flickering torchlight bounced off the thousands of floor-length mirrors that had been installed in the hall.

“What is this place?” Melody gasped.

The large hall used to be several separate rooms before he’d ordered the walls to be knocked down: a drawing room, assembly room, and music room. Now, it was a maze. A maze of mirrors he’d had especially made for Asher as a parting gift.

No one could accuse him of not being a romantic.

He explained none of this to Melody. “Mesmerising isn’t it?” he asked absently, before commenting on her gown.

Full of jitters, she eagerly filled the thick silence with an overly detailed story describing the gown’s creation, a tedious tale that featured several seamstresses and an impossible choice between two almost-identical bolts of muslin fabric. Henrikk did his best to tune Melody out as he led her through the maze of mirrored walls.

He sensed someone following.