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“I am.” A wry smile twisted her lips. She had exquisite dark violet eyes, unusual even among realm-folk, and she stood at least an inch taller than Batya. She wore her red-violet hair in several braids looped and twisted elegantly on top of her head.
“And you did this?” Batya asked, turning back to point at the men, still unable to credit that the queen, or anyone, had that kind of power.
“Come chat with me for a few minutes. Once I remove the stasis, the focus of my efforts will have to be on them.” She climbed three stone steps to her throne, turned, then sat down. “So, how long have you been a blood rose, Mistress Batya?”
The question startled Batya because on some level she supposed that the queen, living behind an enthrallment veil, wouldn’t be aware of what was happening in the Nine Realms.
“So you know about the blood rose phenomenon?”
She nodded. “I do. I might have kept Ferrenden peace from the rest of the world, but I have several spies and have always remained current on everything happening beyond our borders.” She smiled. “I believe the blood rose marks the beginning of a new era. So, how long have you known what you were?”
She moved toward the throne. “I think I’ve known for a long time, but I couldn’t believe it.” She put her hand to her chest. When had her heart started feeling so weighed down with blood?
She remembered now. The day Quinlan had trapped her in the corner of her gallery and kissed her neck, licking above the vein. That’s when the whole thing had started.
“Tell me everything.” The words were spoken in the same way Vojalie spoke to any realm-folk she meant to enthrall. Rosamunde clearly had the same gift because Batya began to talk. She told the queen about her gallery and Lorelei, about Margetta and the attack, Quinlan’s burns and healing, then their entire journey to Ferrenden Peace.
Rosamunde frowned slightly, biting at her lips as her gaze drifted to the two vampires hanging in the delicate balance between time and space.
Batya looked at them as well, but the experience proved difficult since she once more felt an overwhelming need to offer up a vein to each.
Steadying herself, she turned back to the queen. “May I ask a few questions of my own?”
Rosamunde shifted her gaze to Batya and smiled. She had the delicate features of the fae and softly pointed chin. Her ears were beautifully peaked and curled, well-studded with diamonds and gold. “Let me tell you about Ferrenden Peace first and about myself. Then if you have questions, you may ask them.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“First, I have been dreaming about you for two months now, which I believe is about the time Mastyr Quinlan sought you out.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Ah, that explains so much. You see, your presence here is fulfilling an epoch prophesied centuries ago. We’ve been waiting for your arrival and for Lorelei’s for some time, and I for one am grateful that the enthrallment has finally rolled away from this area. I have missed communion with the Nine Realms, and with Walvashorr.”
Batya listened enrapt, but suddenly all she could feel was the powerful depth of the queen’s loneliness, that she’d been in a position of solitude for longer than Batya could even imagine.
Rosamunde offered a brief history of Ferrenden Peace, that the fables mostly were true though much more elaborate than reality, that she’d ruled for a very long time, and that her kingdom was entirely self-sufficient and, like the namesake, peaceful.
She then turned the subject slightly and spoke of the time over a thousand years ago, before the creation of the terrible Invictus wraith-pairs, when wraiths were a natural and welcomed part of realm life, when peace reigned throughout all the realms.
Given the eras she covered, Batya said, “Then you must know my father.”
“Davido? Yes, of course.” She smiled, her violet eyes full of affection.
“But you haven’t spoken with him.”
She shook her head. “Not in all these years.”
“Will that change now?”
“In the coming era, yes, but not right away and now I think it’s time to bring the men back to earth.”
Rosamunde waved a hand, which sent another powerful vibration streaking through the air. Batya turned and watched as both men, rather than continuing forward through the window, dropped a hard four feet to the stone floor, although Quinlan landed on top of Seth.
He quickly pulled away, almost flying backward. “What the f**k?”
He turned and saw Batya first, then the queen. “I beg your pardon. But what happened? Ah, hell we would have gone through that window.”
Chapter Ten
Quinlan stood halfway between Seth and Batya, glancing back to his fellow mastyr then turning to look at Batya. His memory returned in a sudden flash, of Seth preparing to bite down on her, to take her blood, and his former rage returned, a flow of heat and anger so sharp, so sudden, that he was turning once again in Seth’s direction, when Batya suddenly appeared right in front of him.
She took hold of the front of his coat, gripping the soft leather in her hands and staring up at him. Her gaze kept him frozen in place, though fury still boiled in his veins. She leaned up and kissed him, not a simple touch of her lips on his, but a full, warm kiss that had him piercing her mouth with his tongue and enfolding her in his arms.
You’re not to feed him.
I know.
He drew back. “Then why were you going to?”
“Because I didn’t know what I was then. I’d hidden that truth from myself. Did you know I was a blood rose?”
He sighed heavily. “I figured it out while I flew you over the snowfields and you slept in my arms, why I pursued you like I did, why I couldn’t keep away from you, why I desire you so much. But I couldn’t tell you. I was waiting for the right time.”
She nodded. “I can appreciate that.” But tears touched her eyes. “Then none of this is real? We’re just caught in some kind of strange realm phenomenon?”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. I don’t know what any of this is.”
The queen intruded. “Are you done trying to kill the Mastyr of Walvashorr?”
He turned toward Seth, aware that his ire had diminished, then nodded.
Once more, the queen spoke. “And you, Mastyr Seth. Are you calm enough to speak with me?”
“Yes, my queen.”
“Good. Then will all of you approach because I have commands to give you from our kingdom’s prophecies.”
