Page 27 of Blood Curse

I crossed the empty hall. “We’ve both suffered.”

She laughed, quiet enough not to wake anyone. The sound warmed the space Adrian had kept empty for a century.

“What did the Crown say at the end?” I asked.

Her smile faded. “That a queen finally has her court.”

“It thinks they belong to it.”

“Yes. I don’t.”

“Good.”

“That answer came very quickly.”

“I spent long enough belonging to someone else.”

Bryony reached for my hand. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. It still isn’t your guilt to carry.”

She looked towards the open doors. “Twenty-three vampires are sleeping between us and the gate. Mara thinks twice that number will arrive by tomorrow night.”

“Mara enjoys alarming people.”

“Is she wrong?”

“Rarely. It’s one of her more difficult qualities.”

Bryony squeezed my hand. “We have an actual vampire court.”

“We have tired guests, a full house and several people pretending they didn’t hear us kissing in the passage.”

Colour warmed her cheeks. “They were pretending badly.”

“They need practice.”

“They also need to stay out of our bedroom.”

“On that, I’m prepared to be an unreasonable king.”

I led her from the Night Hall. Voices murmured behind closed doors, and someone laughed in the floor above us. Harrowmere felt occupied again.

None of it followed us into the King’s rooms.

Bryony shut the bedroom door and turned the key. “That won’t stop Mara.”

“Nothing stops Mara. The lock makes a point.”

“Which is?”

“If she comes in, I’ll make her reorganise the cellar.”

“Cruel.”

“I ruled effectively.”

Bryony leaned against the door, her blouse wrinkled and soot marking her jaw. I wanted her so sharply that my healing side tightened with the rest of me.