‘You know of the documentation we found following Mistral’s death,’ my father says, ‘detailing the rebel network within Safe Zones. What’s been more difficult to track are any external cells, where the remaining rebels would be. As your mother says, they’re not easy to find.’
‘Gods.’ My throat is tight. ‘So if they don’t accept our offer?—’
‘—they’ll go back to their cells. And now they know about your project.’
Expose nothing that you do not wish to have exploited.Shit. I drop my head into my hands, despair rolling over me. How am I ever going to do this? Vampires have centuries of living to hone their intellect, to learn about the world. I only have my few human decades, and I need to sleep as well. I sit up, blowing out a deep breath.
‘They’ll accept,’ I say.
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I’m offering them what they’re fighting for! The chance to live a normal life. To be free. They’re being attacked, by Reapers. There arechildrenwith them.’
‘That’s what they told us,’ my father says. ‘But what else have I taught you about negotiation?’
My stomach lurches. Maybe I’ve really screwed this up. ‘To not take every statement at face value,’ I mutter. The faceless mannequins, dressed in the chain mail and silk of my ancestors, seem to be judging me, an audience for my failures. My mouth twists. Screw that. ‘I believed them,’ I say. ‘And it justfeltlike the right thing to do. To give something back.’
My mother nods. ‘Do not forget, Emelia, that you’ll be ruling vampires as well as humans. We are not the monsters you think us to be. Both need to be considered in your plans.’
‘I know.’ I do know this. But I also feel like vampires have everything, and humans don’t have much of anything at all.
My mother gets to her feet, one hand stroking my hair. ‘I am proud of you, you know,’ she says. ‘But this will not be easy.’
‘I’m getting tired of hearing that,’ I snap. ‘I don’t expect it to be. What would be helpful is being given all the information I need.’
‘I cannot cram a lifetime of knowledge into a few short months!’ My mother’s voice sharpens, her hand leaving my hair. ‘We’re telling you all we can in the time we have. I had much to learn when I gained my crown, and you are no different. So do not point the finger when you don’t know something!’
‘I’m not pointing the finger! But I think it would have been useful to know that not all humans live in Safe Zones, seeing as I’m trying to change things for them.’
‘Changing things for humans cannot come at the expense of your vampire subjects!’
‘Oh, yes, darkness forbid vampires are inconvenienced! Maybe I should start donating my blood as well.’
‘Now, Emelia?—’
‘Do not be ridiculous.’ My mother’s voice cuts across my father’s. ‘You might be human, but you are vampire-born.’
‘Sowhat?’ I snarl. ‘What does that give me, apart from a family name? I have to rule over vampires, who could kill me any time they feel like it, and to do so I have to let humans, like me, be brutalised just to appease them. I won’t do it! That is not the ruler I want to be! It’s why I ran away in the first place!’
The red is back in my mother’s gaze. I know my running away scared her, and she doesn’t like to be reminded of it. I drop my head in my hands, angry tears hot against my palms.
‘What is it, dear one?’ The cushion moves as my father sits next to me, his hand gentle on my back.
‘I just … I don’t know how to do this. Vampires … any one of you can kill me—No, you know it’s true,’ I say, over my mother’s rising protests. ‘How the hell am I supposed to rule people who can kill me without even thinking about it?’
‘Is this why you’re focusing on humans?’ My mother’s voice softens. ‘Oh, Emelia. Because they’re?—’
‘Because they’re like me. It’s just … this is such a huge job. I want to do it, but I have no idea how.’
‘Which is why your father and I will support you, as much as we can.’ Her hand returns to my hair. I take comfort in her gentle touch, as I have all my life.
‘I need to be able to rule on my own, too. To make the decisions I want to make.’ There it is. Another thing that’s been lurking under the surface.
‘And you will. I was eighteen, like you, when I took my crown. My father was very much part of things for the first years of my reign.’
‘How many years?’
My mother looks away. ‘Twenty.’
