Page 69
He looked up, raising his eyebrows. “It’s that good, huh?”
“Better.”
He grimaced. “I hate to say it, but I don’t think there’s any woman fascinating enough to hold my interest.”
“A man then,” I said.
He laughed. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Hmm, I should have known a nice man or woman couldn’t intrigue you. You always did have weird admirations.”
He glanced up at me, his expression filled with disbelief. “What the fuck’s that mean? I didn't give an animal bedroom eyes or anything like that.”
“No, I mean, the only crush you ever had was for that cruel servant girl. She was mean. I almost soiled myself when she slapped me just for asking to speak with King Roderic.”
Another rousing laugh exploded from him and disturbed the camp, though nobody cried out this time with complaints. Only muffled conversation drifted from a nearby tent.
Once they quieted, Soren said, “You’re right, and that’s exactly what I mean. For me to be interested, she'd have to be worse than a thief and more captivating than all nine realms.”
I said nothing as I nodded one last time and left him to his thoughts. My heart pricked with gratitude as I marched back to my home.
Lux and I would never have a simple life on our farm again, but we’d at least die together, and I’d take solace knowing Soren would never break this promise. Even if he didn’t live as long, he’d find a way. I lacked foresight, but I was sure of this. Mine and Lux’s souls were stitched together by the fates, and I would not let them fray again.
Drak
Never had I witnessed so many people flooding Mara’s streets. Our patched-together army came in waves, and we marched on the castle with only a fervor fury can ignite.
Vylheim’s people filled the path to the peak, crammed together even in the largest village in the kingdom. Citizens still loyal to me—or loyal to the plot to overthrow Silver—showed up to restore me to that damned throne armed with axes, swords, and stakes carved from ash trees. I didn’t know the exact count of our army, but Axel surmised we had almost twelve hundred strong against the one hundred vampires that Lux foresaw at Mara’s Keep today.
This was nothing like the Battle of Sundered Sky.
With these numbers, we could not lose. The sheer amount of people would surround each vampire twelve to one. It didn’t matter how fast, violent, or strong the vampires were; even enough barnacles could kill a shark.
Queen Silver would be dethroned today, no matter what.
I only hoped that if Silver pissed at the sight of our siege, she would have the decency not to soil the throne.
I grimaced and wiped at the sweat beading along my brow. At dawn, Stasia had braided both my hair and Lux’s, keeping it free of our faces—before we said our final goodbyes and separated. My hair was swept back over the crown of my head while Lux had requested a copy of Ragna’s style, pulling all her hair to one side in a thick mass of auburn. But the style wasn’t enough to keep me cool and the sweat off my neck.
This was the kind of humidity and heat that came from an anticipatory crowd crammed so tightly that we stretched from the bottom of the mountain to the doorstep at Mara’s Keep. Anticipation and fear burned like pipe smoke choking the air, but just as much excitement and eager energy joined it.
We pulsed forward despite the telltale black vampire blood, ever alive and oozing down the castle walls. It spilled over window edges and from the spires’ bases as if the structure itself had been gutted and bled.
My gut lurched as my feet found purchase on the stone steps leading to the castle. Silver was so much more fucked up than I’d ever expected. She wanted revenge, but since it wasn’t focused on only her mother or even Lux, she was painfully unpredictable. And though we had Lux’s foresight, something felt wrong—off. How much had Lux missed because of the throne’s power blocking her? Fuck, I wished we had total insight on Silver. If only.
Icy fear jolted through me as we stepped up to the double doors, or maybe it was just from the sight of that eternal blood. It’d forever drip down the walls, staining the stone like black veins unless the castle was demolished and rebuilt.
Silver anticipated our imminent arrival, but she couldn't have known the size of our army. We didn’t try to hide or sneak in—not with this number. There was no stealth in this siege. It was all brute power and Lux’s strategizing.
The vampires standing guard had long vanished inside, ready to defend Silver at her throne, no doubt. Removing her from it was the key. My return would seal my rule in Vylheim and end this horror.
Simple, but not easy, not with Lux facing the rest of Silver’s army at the sacrifice.
Axel shoved open the doors to Mara’s Keep. The heavy oak groaned and scraped against the stone floor. Villagers wielded all manner of weapons, from scythes to till the fields, to swords and axes forged after I’d dissolved the Blood Council and bloodshed law. Even young men and women came to fight, armed with small daggers or stones and stakes they cut and honed to jam into a vampire’s heart.
I winced at the sight of them at the same time that pride swelled within me. This was our country, our home, our people. People Lux would keep alive across centuries through the sagas.
Twisting, I swept my gaze over the crowd, almost expecting to see Ragna’s half-shaven head and gleaming vampire fangs, but she was already dead, and we were here to avenge her and everyone else who stood strong against Silver. I brushed my fingers over the stake strapped to my belt where an ax once hung when I was a vampire.
