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Countless scenarios raced through my mind. Tactics and strategies and a thousand different outcomes. But then Casimir glanced at me, a confidence in his eyes that promised we wouldn’t be the ones to suffer if anything went wrong.
Fair enough. I tilted my head in a gesture for him to go ahead.
A regal expression coming onto his face, the vampire turned back to Lord Thomas. “I am King Casimir zel Elric ver Altreya, ruler of Zenirya.” A precise smile touched his lips, not too friendly, not too cold. “I was turned into a vampire at the onset of the Witch War, and recently, I was reclaimed from my self-imposed exile by Princess Gwyneira. I too am loyal to the princess. Any who threaten her or her allies will answer to me.”
His fangs crept into his smile when he finished.
Lord Thomas recoiled slightly. Valeria’s hand flinched toward her blade again.
“King Casimir is a rarity among his kind,” Byron spoke up. “A vampire who retained the conscience and compassion he possessed as a human. And after she was turned by her stepmother, Princess Gwyneira was able to do the same. But most do not—including Queen Melisandre. She chose to become a vampire decades ago, and she turned the princess with the intent of sacrificing the girl to the Voidborn.”
Silence followed after Byron finished, and when Lord Thomas finally spoke, his tone held the caution one used when conversing with madmen. “You realize this story is scarcely credible, yes?”
It was hard not to scoff at the obvious. “Yes,” I replied. “But we would also hope the hero of the Azure Pass and the savior of the Elorian Gulch would be familiar with facing that which seems impossible.”
Lord Thomas’s eyes flicked back to me, a hint of wry estimation entering his gaze. “You’re the so-called traitor of Orlindria, aren’t you?”
“I am the loyal ally of Princess Gwyneira,” I replied.
He made a thoughtful sound.
I braced myself.
“I can’t say I support a soldier lying about their identity,” he replied. “And the fact that an Erenlian infiltrated our ranks certainly didn’t help with morale or trust among our remaining troops after you were discovered. The king and queen instituted all manner of safeguards after that, some of them quite… unsavory.” His mouth tightened briefly. “But what those soldiers did in Orlindria was a disgrace. You have my respect for trying to stop it.”
I couldn’t have been more shocked than if he’d revealed he was Erenlian too. An Aneiran general—a hero of their fucking war—respected what most of their side considered treason.
Holy shit.
I cleared my throat, realizing I hadn’t said a word, and old training rose fast, burying my shock beneath the neutral tone I’d used for years in the army. “Thank you, sir.”
Lord Thomas tilted his head in a brief nod. “Over the years, many have called me an idealist. Perhaps I am. But where some would see a princess allied with traitors and foreign powers, I see a woman who has managed to draw together forces who have every reason to hate her or use her, but who’ve devoted themselves to her with unwavering loyalty instead, even at a cost to themselves.” His gaze ran across us all. “Vampire or not, Gwyneira possesses the soul of what Aneira once was. A connector of countless nations, welcoming all and seeking peace not war. Gods willing, with her help that’s what this country will be again.”
I was speechless. Gwyneira had been right when she said we should come here. More than I could have expected or known.
Gods help us, maybe there was hope for this country yet.
The lord glanced over at Valeria. “Have the guards gather horses for these men. Bring one for Princess Gwyneira too. And give them any supplies they need.” His face turned somber. “Go save the princess, gentlemen. Whatever it takes.”
25
MELISANDRE
The ground lurched. The sun returned to the sky.
I barely noticed.
What Alaric claimed, the glowing-eyed reflection he showed me in that sword blade… it could not be true. None of it.
I would never believe his lies.
I’d seen him standing on the shore of that distant northern sea when I first came back to this world. His face had been like an eel, and his words were limited and sibilant. I’d witnessed how he transformed more and more into a man with every passing hour, until he’d taken on the despicable appearance of a nobleman that he wore now.
“Merely your fiction, pet.” The world faded, not flickering into somewhere else, but merely descending into the darkness of oblivion. Through it, his voice slid around me like an invisible snake. “Shapes your mind crafted to shield you from my intrusion.”
My head shook, the sensation distant in the dark.
“I learned this realm’s speech from you, and your mind tried to explain it away by transforming me from a mere monster into an image of something you hated. You invented it all to give yourself the illusion of being apart from me. To offer the false hope that you might escape.”
