‘When the North Wind almost killed my father,’ I say, ‘I wanted to speak with you. To find out what it was you wanted, why you were trying to hurt my family. Then I spent time in the Safe Zones, and realised how it really was for humans. Why you wouldn’t want that. And why you would choose to fight back.’
Surprise ripples through the room. Ira seems to be fighting the urge to smile. Jane and Andrew stare at me, their mouths half open.
‘I saw what was taken from you. How your lives were subject to Raven’s power. I witnessed the Moon Harvest and I also saw humans attacking vampires. This is a cycle of violence without end, unless something changes. And that’s what I’m offering. Change.’
This might not be what my parents had in mind. But it feels like the right thing to do, more than just about anything I’ve ever done. All the injustice, the pain and death and sorrow of the past few months well up in me. I blink away tears. My father said I had a voice here, and I’m going to use it.
‘After my experience, one of the first things I wanted to do was create a true Safe Zone. A place where humans can live without blood harvesting, free to follow the lives they choose.’ I pause, searching for the right words. ‘I want to change things, but I know it won’t happen overnight. I would like to offer you, and your community, the chance to live on the Channel Islands, in a vampire-free zone. In return, you end this rebellion. Completely. Change is coming, but it cannot come with blood. Not this time.’
The room is silent. This is most definitely not what my parents had in mind. But if they want me to lead, they have to let me make decisions, too. Not everything has to be about death. Jane has tears in her eyes.
‘Is this a true offering? We lay down our arms, and you’ll let us do this?’
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Though it must be all of you who remain, and a true surrender, rather than a ceasefire. Those who wish to return to Safe Zones may do so. Those who wish to be part of the new community will be taken there. And the North Wind ends here, today.’
ChapterSeven
RULING HOUSE
When we leave the War Room, I brace myself. I know my father told me to speak up, but my parents may have had other plans. Undoubtedly did, if I’m honest, and that didn’t involve giving Raven lands to the people who tried to kill them. But I can’t escape the feeling that it was the right thing to do.
My mother is quiet, walking ahead of me as we head down the long hallway. My father pats my shoulder, then goes to join her. I frown, quickening my pace. Varin is escorting the humans and Ira from the house, so I don’t need to worry about them overhearing anything. Bertrand is following me, of course, and my parents’ personal guards, but I know they can be trusted.
‘Mother!’ I hiss.
She glances back at me, slowing her pace. Red lines her eyes. Oh darkness. What now? I bite down my frustration, but honestly. First, she drops the Challenge on me, now this. Does she really think I’m just going to go to bed and not talk about it?
My father, his hand at her waist, steers her into the Costume Room, beckoning me to follow. The door closes behind us, the guards waiting beyond. My mother glides between the mannequins, clothed in family garments from across the centuries, and sinks gracefully onto the padded seat beneath the huge arched windows. Outside, feathery clouds scud across a navy sky speckled with stars, a pale crescent of moon visible above the swaying trees.
My father inspects a suit of shimmering armour, pulling the sleeve of his shirt over his hand to polish some non-existent smudge. I wonder what in darkness he’s doing. Then I realise.
I sigh, then make my way between the faceless dark figures, taking a seat next to my mother, my hands braced against the cushions. I don’t care what she has to say, no matter the ache in my chest. I stand behind my decision.
‘How do you feel that went?’ Her voice is a cool chime, moonlight silvering the curve of her head.
‘As far as I can see, it solved two problems at once.’
‘How so?’ She glances at me.
‘Well, it’s the end of the North Wind, if they accept our offer. And it also solves the problem of who to send to the Channel Islands.’ This has been one of the sticking points in the project. I would love nothing more than for every human in my realm to be free. But the massive fucking flaw in this plan is that vampires need blood, and if I shut down the Safe Zones and cut off their supply, chaos will ensue. The Channel Islands are supposed to be a symbol of my new reign, a place to show the world what’s possible. But how to choose which humans to send there has been bothering me for a while. The whole project has, to be honest, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Nor can I think of a better alternative at the moment.
‘And if they don’t accept the offer?’
‘Why wouldn’t they accept? Surely it’s better than staying wherever they are, waiting for Raven or Reapers to get them. And that’s another thing. What in darkness did they mean when they said they weren’t in Safe Zones?’
‘Not every human in the world lives in a Safe Zone.’ My father strolls towards us, casual as though what he’s saying doesn’t go against everything I’ve been taught.
‘What?’
‘There have long been human settlements outside Safe Zones,’ my mother says. ‘Mainly on the edge of the Great Forest. They usually don’t last too long; either hunted dry or cleared by Reapers. Raven move them on whenever they find them.’
‘Move them on?’
‘Into Safe Zones, where they’ll be safe. What?’ She frowns at me.
My mouth hangs open. I have about twenty things I want to say, none of them particularly wise. ‘Why has no one ever told me this?’
‘They’re small settlements, not easy to find,’ my mother continues. ‘Ten, twenty humans at most, some of them nomadic. We’ve always felt it best to focus our resources elsewhere. But now, it seems, we have to look more closely at them.’
