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I hope I am successful at hiding my fear that he will accept the offer.
“No,” he says softly. “I will be glad to never see this place again.” Alaric steps around my skirts and crosses to the windows, gazing out over the landscape bathed in moonlight. “These halls are haunted by the countless deaths spanning the centuries. Elizabeth built it to separate herself from the rest of the world, to show that she was above them all. That she alone held power over everyone, whether or not they were hers to rule. This place is a symbol of everything we are trying to change.”
It is everything he says, but when he faces me, I see that there is more he left unsaid. It is the pain he endured by her hand. It is my loathing for this place. It is a reminder of all that was taken from him.
“Are you ready?” he asks quietly.
I nod. “As ready as I will ever be.” I bite down on the inside of my bottom lip.
Alaric cups my cheek, and I lean into the touch. “The hardest parts are done. This is all that remains.” Then he dips his head and presses a chaste kiss to my lips. “I will see you soon.”
Guards accompany me through the halls, but I barely notice the walk, lost in my thoughts. Standing before the double doors to the throne room reminds me of another time I stood in this spot and how things have changed since then. I am not waiting to be reclaimed by someone who would happily spill my blood for sport. This time, I will stand before a crowded room to establish my authority.
I nod, and the guards open the doors. The room is packed, split down the middle with a thick, black velvet runner leading to the dais where Alaric waits. On either side of the aisle is a sea of bodies—every living vampire summoned here today, and far more than I imagined there would be. Not just nobles and gentry, but all. I intend for things to be different, and this is one way I plan to make that clear.
Stretching out along the bottom of the steps is the new court. The vampires who pledged loyalty, an equal number of wolves and swans. Though they are all in human form, their clothes are embroidered to resemble symbols of their animal shape—claws, teeth, wings, and feathers.
Standing before the thrones, Alaric waits for me. I walk forward, keeping my gaze locked with his because if I look at the sea of bodies surrounding me, my legs might not make it to the end.
Gasps and hushed whispers rise in my wake. Because I am human, and a sharp crown of night-forged silver rests upon my head.
I climb the stairs and take his hand, and he gives me a smile that says,Didn’t I say this would be easy?
Then we turn to face our audience. Most are strangers, but all along the back, mixed between the vampire guards who swore fealty, are more wolves and swans, though their presence is temporary.
The Voice steps up and speaks. Looks of uncertainty pass over the throng. It will take time for them to feel comfortable with a human as the vampire queen. But much of that is eased at my announcement to crown Alaric, not as consort, but as king. Two rulers holding equal power is unheard of.
The backs of my eyes prickle with heat. I do not care about our titles. Only the steady echo of his heartbeat I feel inside my chest.
I thought it had been severed when Elizabeth tried to kill me, but somehow, when I held my sliced palm to Alaric’s, it reignited. Neither of us understands why or how any of it happened. I am only glad it’s restored.
I barely pay attention to the words the Voice speaks. Before I know it, a crown identical to my own sits atop Alaric’s head. The night-forged silver shimmers like liquid starlight.
“Bow to your queen and king, and pledge yourselves,” the Voice commands.
A few kneel immediately, then more and more. Only a handful vampires remain standing. I sense Varin’s presence from somewhere in the shadows.
A wave of magic pulses out, much as it did before. The strength of it makes the air shiver, flickering and crackling with its charge, binding every vampire to their choice. The strength of their powers is tied to their word. As long as they obey our rule, it will remain as it always has. But should anyone decide they want to return to Elizabeth’s laws, it will be tethered, diminished.
We conclude by introducing the new court, letting all know from now on, it will represent those it governs over. The power of this world is shifting, and we want it to suit all who inhabit it.
***
Alaric and I stand just outside the grand entrance, watching the last carriage depart. Bram pulls the curtain back and waves out the window with a wide grin, bright teeth flashing. His face disappears for a second, then Lewis joins him, with notably less enthusiasm, and a simple nod. This past week following the coronation has been full of goodbyes.
“How does it feel to be a queen?” Alaric asks, echoing the question I asked him weeks ago.
Queen. I shake my head. “It is only a title. I can play the part, when necessary, but… I do not think I will ever see myself as one.”
He nods, accepting what I say rather than trying to convince me to feel otherwise. “It is the same for me. I will be glad to return to Windbury.”
I glance up at him, surprised. He hasn’t said or acted in a way to indicate any of it didn’t suit him. My heart flutters from the effortless way he confided in me.
Though we are oath bonded and the curse broken, his memories remain trapped in some dark abyss. There’s no telling if they will ever return or if the curse fed on them when the bond prevented it from devouring him.
The curse changed him. There is something wild and fierce around his edges now. But at his core is everything I fell in love with. Perfectlyhim.I love every side of him, the pieces I know, the pieces he lost, the pieces that are new, and the pieces we have yet to discover.
From the edge of the courtyard, the Voice stands beside a man. One of our new allies, the swans were the first to leave except one. He is tall and quiet, never straying far from her. Even now, he watches her closely as she turns from him and walks over.
