Page 133 of Blood Curse

“I make everything sound easy. It’s one of my better qualities.”

A few mouths twitched. The fear stayed, but it stopped owning the room.

The man near the door looked at Stellan. “Are you still our king?”

Stellan didn’t glance at the dais. “Not because your blood says so. If you want a king after the Crown is gone, choose one while the gate is open and every answer is safe.”

“And until then?”

“Until then, I keep this household alive. You remain free to tell me when I’m doing it badly.”

A voice from the back called, “Can the old oaths return?”

“Not unless you freely swear something new, and I won’t ask for that while the Crown exists.”

“What if another king tries?”

“He can ask,” Stellan said. “You can tell him to fuck off.”

Mara sighed. “The only privilege I enjoyed.”

This time, the laughter came easier.

The man near the door picked up his coat. “If I leave now, will the gate open?”

“Yes,” Stellan said.

“And if I come back?”

“The gate will open then too.”

“What happens to my room?”

“Keep the key while you decide,” Stellan said. “If you settle elsewhere, send it back. Nobody loses shelter for testing whether freedom is real.”

A woman near the second fire lifted an empty cup. “And the blood stores?”

“Take enough for the road tonight. Tomorrow we decide how work, money and stored blood function without an oath attached to any of them.”

“Tomorrow?” Mara asked. “Optimistic.”

“Would you prefer to organise it now?”

“Tomorrow is excellent.”

The man nodded and pulled on his coat.

A second vampire moved towards the pegs. Then a third.

Nobody called them cowards. Nobody asked for a reason.

The grey-braided woman lowered her injured leg from the spare chair. “The west roof still leaks.”

“It does,” Mara said.

“Then I’m staying until somebody fixes it properly.”

“You said that the last time.”