Chapter 15
As soon as we arrive at Greenwich Palace, Darius escorts me to the privy chamber, and I curtsy to the queen. Darius holds my arm, as if anxious I may spring and bite her neck. But I would not do such a thing to Her Highness.
I attempt to wrench my arm away, but he has it in a tight grip.
‘Release her, Darius, and leave us,’ says the queen from her crimson velvet chair. ‘I trust she bears me no malice.’ She touches the cushion in front of her with a slippered foot. ‘Come, Hester. Let me look at you.’
Darius bows and withdraws. I gather my skirts and cross the room. When I am kneeling in front of the queen, she tilts my chin and surveys my appearance intently.
‘Your eyes are greener,’ she mutters. ‘Your hair is shinier, and your skin glows. Hmph, you are more beautiful than before.’ This last is stated grudgingly, as if it displeases her.
I hitch a shoulder but remain respectful. ‘I cannot help the way I look, Your Majesty. It is a symptom of being undead.’
The queen shudders and draws back slightly. ‘Yes, I suppose it is.’
‘Forgive me, Your Majesty. But you have taken a rather extreme measure for the sake of a few hours of freedom,’ I cannot help saying. ‘Could not one of your other ladies have—’
The queen scowls. ‘No, there is no one I trust more than you.’
‘Oh.’
‘And this way, you can be my royal taster and my doppelganger.’ Her pale pink lips twist deviously.
‘But I do not need to eat. Now I only drink—’
The queen interrupts. ‘Dimitri assures me you will require only the merest morsel to detect any poison. And that you will not be affected if there is.’
I nod dutifully. ‘Very well.’
‘And then at night, we will swap places. If anyone tries to murder me, then they will discover I am not so easily disposed of with a dagger. And you will easily heal from a knife wound or two.’
Wonderful, I am to be used as a pincushion too!
‘May I ask where you will be while I am pretending to be you in your chamber?’
The queen averts her eyes and plays with the gold rings on her fingers. ‘That is of no concern to you.’
But I am determined. ‘Humour me, Your Majesty. I have sacrificed my humanity for you. I deserve to know your whereabouts.’
The queen sighs. ‘Very well.’ She leans closer and says sotto voce, ‘I will be with Robert.’
‘Oh, I see. And may I enquire what you will be doing in Lord Dudley’s chamber?’
‘Playing chess, of course.’ The queen flutters her eyelashes, looking innocent.
I raise an eyebrow. ‘Chess? A likely story.’
The queen looks annoyed. ‘I do not like what you are inferring, Hester. If you insist on being disrespectful, I can have you removed.’ I stare at her neck, and the queen hastily changes her mind. ‘But since you are the most trusted member of my court, of course, I shall gladly tell you.’
She speaks so softly I am glad I have vampire hearing to pick up on what she is saying. ‘Now that Robert’s wife is dead, we can give in to our ... carnal desires.’
I stare at her. ‘What do you mean his wife is “dead”?’
The queen shrugs. ‘Lady Amy was found at the bottom of the stairs in Cumnor Place the morning after my birthday feast. It appears she fell and broke her neck.’
My hand flies to my mouth. ‘Oh, how terrible! She was such a sweet lady!’
‘Yes, it is a most unfortunate business. Poor Robert has been beside himself and much in need of comforting...’
Hmm, no doubt ...
‘Yet life is for the living.’ The queen looks at me. ‘Well, for most of us.’
I grit my teeth and straighten my shoulders. ‘This is all very well for you. But it is highly inconvenient for me. So I would like to be rewarded for my assistance.’
The queen looks startled, and it is clear she was not expecting me to be difficult.
‘Rewarded? I would have thought that eternal youth was rather a large reward. Along with superior eyesight, hearing, strength, physical beauty’—she ticks them off on her fingers—‘and possibly several other unique powers that may appear in due course. Would that I were in your position ... But of course, all eyes are upon me. And when I do not age, my enemies would spread rumours that I am an unnatural ruler. I would be tried as a witch and burnt at the stake.’
My lips tighten. ‘So I am to be burnt at the stake?’
The queen flutters her fingers to remind me of how much power she holds. ‘Of course not. I will protect you from that fate.’
‘Still, I want recompense,’ I state firmly. I am pushing the queen to her limits, but I must think of my own kin.
She tilts her head. ‘Like what?’
‘I want my family to be handsomely paid for my devoted loyalty. Titles, land, and coin.’
The queen considers. ‘Your parents are already very wealthy. How many siblings do you have?’
‘Eight—four older brothers and four younger sisters. I am the middle child.’ She would know this if she had ever bothered to ask me anything about my life.
Her eyebrows shoot up. ‘Eight! That is quite a few.’ She hesitates, and I know I have her cornered.
‘Say you will do this for me. Or I will tell everyone that, and I suspect this is the truth, you and Lord Dudley have plotted to have Lady Amy murdered.’
To her credit, the queen does not even bother to protest the accusation. She knows I’ve checkmated her.
‘Yes, yes, the entire Everill family will be handsomely rewarded for your sacrifice,’ she says witheringly, throwing up her hands in defeat. ‘How I shall explain this to my Privy Council, God only knows.’
I grin like a cat who’s been given a bucket of cream and incline my head. ‘I am sure you will think of something, Your Majesty, since you are so clever.’
I barely have time to freshen up in my chamber before I am summoned to the dining hall for my royal taster duties.
It is only when I ingest a mouthful of pigeon pie and sip a cup of wine in front of the court that it becomes clearer what I now have to endure—the disgusting taste of human food and drink!
My body hungers only for blood. Resisting the urge to spit the mouthful on the floor, I catch Darius’s eye.
I will visit you in the queen’s chamber tonight, after you have changed places with her.
He smirks. Swallow your mouthful of human muck, and I promise, you shall enjoy true sustenance.
***
Darius comes to me through the secret door late that eve, when I am settled in the queen’s chamber.
He allows me to feed from his wrist. Afterwards, we copulate briefly in the stately purple-tinged room, the fire burning low in the grate.
It is an altogether satisfying experience, and Darius is an excellent lover.
But after he takes his leave, I lie awake, pondering in the endless hours of night.
A few evenings later, we are lying together, our pale bare legs entangled in the silk sheets, when he says, ‘Have I displeased you in some way?’
‘No. Why do you ask?’
‘You have barely spoken tonight, apart from a groan when you tasted my blood and a moan when you climaxed. It does not make for a very fulfilling encounter.’
I sigh inwardly. I do not want Darius to be grumpy with me, for then he may not come at all. ‘Forgive me if I seem melancholy. I have a lot on my mind.’
‘Would you like a friendly ear?’
‘Ah, yes ... If you are of a mind to listen.’
Darius places his hands behind his head, settling back into the pillow.
‘Then tell me your woes, sweet lady. And do not leave anything out, or I will know.’ He taps his temple, and I smile thinly.
Him reading my thoughts whenever he chooses is one of a long list of complaints I have about being a vampire.
But I will begin with the most important: the worry that is plaguing my mind.
‘My monthly courses have not arrived. Please tell me I can still bear children?’
Darius is silent for a moment, then states matter-of-factly, ‘No. I am sorry, but bearing children is not something a female vampire can do.’
A deep sadness overwhelms me at hearing his words. Yet no tears fall because crying is also denied to me.
I clench my fists. ‘W-what about falling in love and getting married? Can a vampire do that?’
Darius huffs a laugh. ‘Are you proposing?’
I shift my toes away from his. For although I like him well enough, I do not feel that way about him. ‘No, I am not. I am just ... curious.’
‘There is nothing to prevent a vampire from loving someone, another vampire or a mortal. But vampire marriages are rare, and vampire-human marriages even rarer.’
‘Oh.’ I contemplate this. ‘But not impossible?’
Darius rolls over to face me. ‘No, not impossible. Especially because you have time on your side.’
He smirks and rubs his large member against my upper thigh, the evidence of our coitus leaving a sticky smear.
‘If you have not found a mate in the next two hundred years, I will seek you out and propose myself. For as much as I like my freedom, I may want to settle down then. And I do rather enjoy your company.’
My mind reels. Not at being married to Darius, as I know he is jesting.
No, it is at the sheer amount of time he is talking about.
Two hundred years! Reality sinks in. If no one burns me at the stake or cuts off my head, then I am facing an excruciatingly long existence, and two hundred years will be the start of it.
If I cannot find true love, I will be doomed to walk the earth for eternity—alone! Oh, how shall I bear it?