Phillip glares at him without answering.
“Oh!” Mother says as she joins the tense assembly. “You should know how proud I am of you, my son.” She puts her hands on Phillip’s shoulders and kisses his cheek. “I heard how you managed to stop before killing that filthy human girl. I didn’t think you’d have it in you. But it fills my heart with much joy that you did. Eleira would be crushed if her little friend died.”
Phillip goes absolutely still. “You meant for me to kill her,” he says stiffly. “So that Eleira would be turned against me. Isn’t that true?”
“Oh, pah, pah,” Mother says dismissively. She glides to an unoccupied white leather chair and drops down into it. “How you and your brother enjoy making baseless accusations against me. If I were a tad bit stricter—” her eyes flash at us, “—you would not be so free with your tongues. Especially not around such esteemed company as we have now.”
“What is
she
doing here?” I demand, looking at Victoria. “You know who she is. You know how
dangerous
she is.”
“And that’s why I’ve invited Captain Commander Smithson to provide protection for this meeting,” Mother flutters on. “Victoria wouldn’t be fool enough to try anything while he’s here. Would you, darling?”
To my surprise, the blonde vampire bows her head with the utmost respect. “Certainly not,” she tells Mother.
“See?” Morgan asks me. “There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Now, why don’t we resume our previous discussion? Before we were interrupted.”
“James,” I start to say.
“—
WILL NOT BE SPOKEN OF HERE
!” Mother screams.
Her voice rocks the room. In the ensuing silence, not a single breath can be heard.
“I’m sorry,” Mother says after a moment, having regained control of herself. “That was… unladylike of me.”
“You were provoked, my Queen,” Smithson says. He shoots an evil glare at me as he comes to her side. He kneels down and takes her hand. “Just say the word, and I’ll escort the two of them out.”
“No, no,” Mother sighs. “They should both hear what Victoria has to say. After all, if I cannot trust my only two sons with such information… who do I have left?”
It rankles me how easily she dismisses James—and makes light of how easy it was for her to treat Phillip and me as nothing more than vermin when Eleira got away.
“Shall I continue, then?” Victoria asks.
Mother nods. “Please.”
I listen on as Victoria starts to describe the inner workings of The Crypts. She talks about their defenses, their strengths, their weaknesses. She goes on and on about the ruling class, and how Father has fortified his coven to be a near-impenetrable fortress.
But her information is only surface-deep. There are no great insights she provides.
I grow tired of it. “Enough,” I say. “Mother, James or I could have told you as much from having visited. She is not telling you anything useful.”
Victoria sneaks a malicious glare at me when she thinks I’m not looking. I catch it.
“She should remain in chains underground,” I say. “I came here with Phillip to discuss things of
actual
importance to The Haven. Not to listen to her prattle on and on about frivolities in The Crypts.”
Mother ignores me. “You must excuse my son,” she says. “He’s had a difficult few days. He thinks only of himself—”
“That’s not true,” I growl.
“Perhaps of Eleira, too,” she concedes. “But little more.”
Mother stands and walks to the open window. She looks out into the night. “Victoria, why don’t you tell all of us of the link you have with my eldest son’s beloved?”
That request makes Victoria stop short. Her confidence wavers. “Excuse me?” she asks, thrown off-balance.
Phillip and I make eye contact. Ever so subtly, he shakes his head, indicating he doesn’t know what Mother’s talking about either.
Neither of us missed her referring to me as “eldest,” either.
It means she is truly set in her verdict against James.
“The link, sweetest,” Mother repeats, still looking out into the night. “Oh, poor thing, you didn’t think you’d be able to hide it from me, did you?”
Victoria looks like she’s swallowed a plum. “It’s only a trifling thing— ” she begins.
Mother turns on her in a fury. “Do NOT lie to me!” she screams. Power crackles out from her like a storm. A sudden wind blows through the window, making her dress and hair flare. She looks more menacing than ever. “I
know
it was your blood Eleira tasted first! I
know
the ritual you attempted to perform! How else, why else, would my precious human witch come back here bearing the full powers of
The Ancient
? It is only through you!”
The wind dies. The storm of electricity ebbs away. Everything goes still again, but the reverberations of Mother’s words echo around us and through the room like ghouls haunting the place.
Victoria blinks, maybe frightened—maybe acting? She gives a series of small nods. “You’re right, of course. You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s only that, I’m just beginning to understand the link myself—”
“Another lie,” Mother cuts her off. “Very well, child. If you insist on playing games, perhaps some time in the Silver Cell would be good for you.” She glances at Phillip, who supressed a quick shudder. “Smithson, why don’t you escort our guest to her quarters at the top of the castle? She can emerge after I decide enough time has passed for her to reconsider some of her… attitudes.”
“With pleasure, my Queen,” Smithson bows. He goes to Victoria and twists both her arms behind her back. The petite vampire doesn’t struggle against him, even though I know she easily rivals him in pure strength.
“Try anything I wouldn’t like,” Mother warns, “and you’ll find out just how well your borrowed power stands up against my
true
witchcraft.” She gives Victoria a nasty smile. “Fair warning. Ta-ta.”
With that, Smithson leads her out the room.
The doors close. Mother, Phillip and I are finally alone.
“Well!” Mother says. “That was certainly something. Wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re toying with her,” Phillip says. “She might take it quietly for now, but it only fuels her anger. Did you not see how she looked at you once you made the accusation?”
“You’re just the one to speak about meekness,” Mother mocks. “Aren’t you, Phillip?”
He starts to respond, but I cut in before he can speak. “Enough distractions. We came here to talk about James.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Mother snaps. “His fate is sealed. My decision has been made.”
“You have the power to reverse it,” I say. “Yes, we know he went against you. Yes, we understand that you’re angry. But surely nothing he did deserves the harshest punishment!”
“The harshest?” Mother laughs. “Raul, if you think being allowed to
live
beneath The Haven is the harshest
punishment, you are mistaken. Your brother here—” she motions at Phillip, “—knows all about the
harshest
punishment. He saw me inflict it upon Jacob.”
Phillip takes a step toward her. “You would
never
do that to James,” he says.
It sounds more like an order than an admonition. I look at him in surprise.
That is definitely
not
the Phillip I know to use such a tone with our Mother.
The Queen blinks, also taken back by the force behind Phillip’s words. But then she sighs and admits, “No, I suppose not. Such a fate is reserved for the usurpers… or those planning to challenge my rule.”
“Of which Jacob did neither,” Phillip snarls. Something about him is
very
off. The aggression he’s showing seems to be almost uncontained.
Mother waves the accusation away. “Jacob and Patricia have caused me more trouble than you know over the years. If it helps your conscience, know that it was not only the murder of my guards that sealed his fate.
My stomach drops. “You charged
Jacob
with murder?” I ask, my voice shallow.
Mother turns to me. “Why yes, Raul,” she says curiously. “I did. Funny that you would take such an interest in the matter. Don’t you think?”
I clear my throat. “Jacob was a friend.”
“And the guards he killed were my loyal servants,” Mother replies. “Surely four lives lost is worthy of the punishment he received.”
“I’m telling you, it couldn’t have been him,” Phillip insists. “He wasn’t strong enough to take on four of your best.”
“Well, he obviously had help,” Mother says. “His wife was one, for example. You know, I was hoping you would be more resolute in your stance against taking human blood, Phillip. I would have
loved
the opportunity to be rid of her. But…” she spreads her hands. “A just ruler never reneges on her word.”
Even more guilt eats me up inside that Jacob has to suffer because of what
I
did.
I
killed the guards. Somebody else took the fall.
The only solace I have is the feeling that Mother would have taken the slightest excuse to get rid of him, no matter how small or meaningless. The human lives I saved should help balance the scales of my conscience… but for some reason, they do not.
Since when have I become so sentimental?
I clear my throat, “Back to the subject of James—”
“There is
NOTHING
for us to talk about!” Mother screams. “Bring him up again and you’ll see how far my good will goes.” Her eyes blaze at me. “Don’t test me. Especially not now. Don’t test me, son.”
A terse silence descends on the room. Phillip moves to speak—but is interrupted when the door swings open.
A breathless vampire guard stands in their midst.
Mother turns on him in a rage. “You better have good reason to interrupt.”
“The humans,” he gulps. “They’ve begun to riot.”
The Queen curses.
“That’s not all,” he adds. “Your eldest son, James? He’s missing.”
JAMES
Seeing Raul was an unexpected ray of hope in the dark. However, it was extinguished the moment I understood that no matter his intentions, there was nothing he could do.
Mother made her decision, and I don’t expect him to change that. No matter how persuasive Raul manages to be.
And yet… only minutes after he left, a strange sort of resonance descends in the air. At first I think it’s my imagination. After all, the silver bars and the silver collar could be making me delirious.
But as I try to ignore the sensation, it only grows stronger.
It grows and grows and grows until the tautness is palpable.
Then, without warning, the entire cell starts to shake. There’s a breaking roar, and the ground beneath me gives way.
I leap aside to avoid falling. Everything goes still. The resonance is gone. Only the sound of crumbling soil reaches my ears.
I edge closer and peer into the crater. Far, far below me, I can see the faint outline of an underground river.
“Jump,”
a voice whispers in my mind.
I am so shocked by it that I lose my footing. Before I know it, I’m throttling through the air toward the water below.
I hit the surface with a gasp. An icy cold takes me. The water is freezing. I have never been the best swimmer…
Still, I fight the current until I emerge at the surface. The river thrashes me this way and that until I cling to a jutting rock in its middle.
I look up, trying to make out how far I’ve fallen. But the rapids sweep me far from where I hit the water. All I see is the enormous, cavernous ceiling above.
The collar around my neck distresses me. I try tugging on it to help me breathe easier, but the silver burns my fingers.
At least I’m free.
Was Raul behind this? The timing was impeccable. It couldn’t have been just blind luck that let me free, could it?
No. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my long centuries of life, it’s that luck does not exist. Luck is what those fools jealous of others’ ascent to the top claim was behind their success.
And yet… I can’t help but feel that my escape was engineered by…
somebody
.
I don’t know who. And I’m not out of the woods yet. The voice I heard—was that real, or just imagined?
I’ve dawdled for too long. As soon as my cell is discovered empty, Mother is going to send all her guard after me. And I don’t know yet where this river leads.
“So long, Haven,” I mutter under my breath. “You hold no meaning for me anymore.”
And so I dive back into the river and go wherever the current takes me.
ELEIRA
No matter my insistence, Patricia absolutely refuses to come with me to the blood banks. In the end, I resort to brining her bottles after bottles of fresh blood.
She devours them with a speed I never thought possible.
How long has it been since her last drink?
Her appearance improves by the minute. After she’s had her first sip, the changes sweep over her like tides retreating from a beautiful beach.
Her skin, which was borderline translucent before, becomes plump and shining. Her hair, so brittle when she came into my room, turns full and thick. Even the muscles on her body look stronger, fuller, more toned.
By the time her thirst is satiated, she even has her womanly figure back.
“How do you feel?” I ask when she’s done. I have a burning curiosity about the whole process—about how rapidly the change came about and how quickly she was restored and what it must be like to go through it.
“B-better,” she mumbles. Despite the outward difference, she’s still meek as a babe.
“Patricia, we’re alone,” I remind her softly. I look around my room. “There’s absolutely no need for you to feel inferior to me.”
Her eyes widen, then take on a haunted look. “It’s not that,” she utters under her breath. “It’s just… now that my senses are back, I can better tell how
strong
you really are.” She meets my eyes for a second, and then quickly looks away. “It’s astounding.”