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“I was devoted to him, and to the covenant. I was grateful for my position here—though the daily doses certainly helped with that. But one day I realized, we’d grown apart. We were never in love, exactly. I was strong and proud. He was... quiet. I had my projects, and he had his. I suspected he was getting his blood elsewhere, and I got my elixir from the state, no questions asked. I thought we were both happy.”
“He wasn’t?”
“He wasn’t cruel, though he was distant, which maybe was worse. For years he’d gone to the choosing ceremonies, but he told me he wasn’t really looking; it was just for appearances. King Richard had to make an effort to make sure the compounds didn’t present their daughters to only one or two nonplussed elite. It had to seem like there was interest. This excuse, I believed, for longer than was rational. I shouldn’t have been surprised when he chose again.”
“He chose again, while you were still together?”
“It’s not against the rules. We were never intimate, in that way. It’s not that uncommon, to be fair. It’s a complex relationship. But I thought we were, friends of a sort. Companions certainly.”
“But he didn’t turn you. I mean, the ascension.”
“I didn’t ask,” she smiled sadly. “Anyway, he picked up a new chosen. I wasn’t invited to the ceremony. Chosen gradually grow old, and fade into the background. It’s expected that the elite will want fresh, vital, strong companions, as they don’t age and their thirst is strong. So it wasn’t a big deal. Until it was. The new chosen got pregnant. They tried to keep it a secret, but... I flamed the rumors. She was accused of adultery, removed from my household. I told myself it was for the good of the kingdom, but I was proud, and spiteful. She was returned to Algrave in disgrace, and I celebrated her downfall.”
I felt the blood drain from my veins.
She was from Algrave?
“Everyone assumed she’d had a human lover,” Master Svboda continued. “But they kept the affair private. After the three-month trial period, they returned her, to avoid the scandal. I thought my husband would get over it, maybe return to me. But he was destroyed. He thought she’d betrayed him with a human. He was angry, then remorseful. He began to travel. Dig up secrets. Became obsessed.”
“Then one day, King Richard approached me with a deal. He said the chosen I’d sent back had been murdered by her elite in a jealous rage, and that he must be punished for breaking the terms of the covenant. He said it had to be me, that it was my role to mete out his royal justice. So I betrayed my husband’s trust, and put a stake through his heart. I was the assassin, sent by the king to destroy my elite consort, and the struggle nearly killed me.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. “If you hadn’t obeyed, he could have just compulsed you.”
“Even so, he died by my hand, and killing elites carries a death penalty. No one knew the truth, however. Only that I’d failed in my sacred charge; to protect my elite with my life. I bore the shame of that failure, rather than confess the truth of my transgression. I’ve lived in fear ever since, waiting for someone to challenge me. To punish me. To uncover the stain of my betrayal, and kill me for it. I’m glad it’s you.”
15
“That’s not why I’m here,” I said, feeling my pulse beat a steady rhythm beneath my skin. I’d already sipped half the vodka, and now I was trapped in a small room with a formidable adversary.
I’d let my guard down, wanting to trust her. But she also seemed to know something about my past. I’d been so mesmerized by her story, it had blinded me to the dangers.
“I’m not here to fight you,” I said more clearly, even though she’d made no moves to attack and didn’t seem to have a weapon on her. Even without one, I wasn’t confident I could defeat my former mentor.
“Then you’ve come to ask for help, to recruit the chosen to fight in your rebellion? They’ll never agree. They’re too thirsty, too naive. Thoroughly smitten with their new lives, addicted and willing to die for the covenant. I know, because I trained them.”
“I was never like that,” I said.
“No,” she smiled softly. “But you weren’t meant to exist. At all. It’s poetic, actually. A romantic tragedy.”
“That woman, from Algrave… she was my mother?”
It seemed too much to hope for, but then why else had she told me the story, confessing her sins as if on her deathbed? Master Svboda sighed, looking weary. Not frail, of course, beneath her fine white suit, and not as old as her sister Kari. Living in the citadel had been kind, at least to her physical appearance. She was a little too intimidating to be called beautiful, and her skin was marred by a lifetime of royal service, but she had a hard, noble character about her. Even so, I’d never seen her look this defeated. Like she’d already given up.
“There was always something remarkable about her,” she said wistfully, her silhouette outlined by the window, the light picking up sparkles of gold and silver embroidery in her dress. “Large, haunted eyes. But sharp, clever. I trained with her. She was different, but I didn’t know it at the time, and I was too young to understand. I found out years later that the elite, my husband, never really killed her, as the king had said. He loved her. I didn’t see it happen, but I imagine the king was simply purging the world of anything outside his control. A scientist, to the end. He wanted clean results.”
“She was renitent,” I guessed. “And the king killed her for it.”
“He used me to clean up his mess,” she nodded, “and bind me to him with our shared secret. He told me to keep my mouth shut, and he’d confirm my position in the citadel, as his drug dealer. A third of the elites have a chosen consort, and they’re addicted to elixir. Two drops a day is unpredictable for humans. They turned us into addicts. Many of the girls flame out, or get into tiresome challenges. Some lose their minds after a few decades. The churn rate is pretty high. They are mist for the grill.”
“So you see,” she finished, “it’s not their fault. But if there’s a battle, most of them will side with the crown, no matter who is wearing it.”
“What about the soldiers?” I asked.
“The guards, they have no idea what to do. There’s never had to be a peaceful transfer of power, or any transfer at all. They probably believe in the covenant, such that it is, but they’ve also never had to endure unjust violence against them. But the chosen are tied to their elites, and most see it as their honor and purpose—even to the extent of tolerating violence—because that’s exactly what I told them it was. And for some it’s preferable to the opposite, being ignored, unwanted. The dream was never quite the reality, but it was enough for those closest to the seat of power. But now, with the king gone, the dream is dead. Whatever happens next, it’s not my battle. My secrets died with the king, and I felt it was time to share them with you. All I ask, is if you do face off against the chosen, not to hurt them too badly.”
“You’re letting me go?” I asked.
“You were never here,” she answered. She downed the rest of her shot glass and set it on the table, then her eyes seemed to sharpen with clarity. “Whatever Nigel is planning tonight, it’s not good. I’ve barely spoken to him, but he has to know this is unsustainable. I suspect as soon as he’s crowned, he’ll start taking players off the board, and culling the innocents. I doubt he’ll keep me around for long after that.”
