44. Degraded and Demoralized
R ose followed the uniformed vampire male, longing to lie down. With each step they climbed, her body felt heavier, and the world wavered. Ciel’s trickle of magic was the only thing keeping her from passing out. She kept her hand in his mane, needing that connection, and breathed a sigh of relief when they entered a room with a rectangular table and portraits of past Kings on the walls.
King Florian stood from where he sat at the head of the table. On his right, Adrian stood as well. Rose didn’t like the defeated look on his face, though he tried to hide it. Possible causes ran through her mind, each worse than the last, and she took a misstep.
Adrian rushed forward. “What’s wrong?”
“I am fine, Your Highness.” But she struggled not to lean into him as she took in the King, swaying slightly as she sunk into a deep reverence. “Good evening, Your Majesty. ”
“Good evening, lovely Rose.”
Adrian walked to the open doorway. “Timothy.”
The guard stepped forward immediately, shutting the door behind him. Giving a bow, he said, “Prince Dimitri assaulted her, Your Highness.” Holding out Rose’s torn underwear, he sent her an apologetic look as she blushed.
“Bloody fucking hell!”
Rose flinched but said, “I am fine.”
“Don’t—” Adrian held up the underwear in a tight fist, making her blush deepen. “This is not fine, Rose!”
Setting shaking hands on his arms, renewed panic clawed at her throat at what the drunken Prince had almost done. Hardly aware of Adrian taking her to a small sofa, she let him lay her down, holding tightly to his hand.
We’re both spares, slave, never good enough. The words repeated in her head, causing bile to rise in her throat.
“Fetch a tray of snacks and tea,” she heard as if from far away. “I want to know everything.”
“She’s been cleaning the West Terrace with the other maids, who were all ordered away. I thought nothing of it until three of Prince Dimitri’s guards jumped me, and your brother cornered her.”
“And what of Larkin?” Adrian asked .
“He was hunting,” Rose answered.
“Convenient.” Adrian looked at Javier. “Fetch Dimitri’s guards.” While Javier gave orders to a servant in the hall, Adrian focused on Rose. The gentleness in his fingers as he brushed her cheek belied the hardness in his words as he asked, “Was he successful?”
“No.” Rose squeezed his hand. “I’m okay.”
“Do not lie to me. Nothing about this is okay.”
“I know. I know, but I’m not hurt. I fought him off.”
“Fought him off?” King Florian said. “You are a wispy slip of a girl.”
Rose bristled, but Adrian asked, “You used your power?” He kissed her wrist, noticing the bruising on top of her scars, and his nostrils flared.
“I had to.” Though empty, used up with her emotions out of control, she couldn’t fall apart here, not in front of the King. Taking a deep breath as she petted Ciel, Adrian’s cool fingers twined with hers, and her panic faded. She was safe now.
“He won’t hurt you again, love, I swear.” He looked up at his father leaning on the table. “Don’t be surprised if he’s admitted to the hospital wing tomorrow after our sparring. I’m going to shred him.”
“Don’t kill him,” the King replied.
Adrian laughed coldly. “We shall see.”
“If three of Dimitri’s guards jumped you, how are you fine?” the King asked Timothy.
Timothy nodded to Rose, the King following his gaze, his confusion clear. “She healed me. I was a mess of broken bones and pulp when they finished with me. As the Prince said, she used her power.”
“Magic.” King Florian’s eyes went distant. When they refocused on Rose, they were appraising. A chill shivered up her spine as those garnet irises stared as if reading her deepest secrets. So like her nightmare, they took her back to her kidnapping.
Her instincts screamed to get away, get away, run far, far away.
A knock on the door drew everyone’s attention. A glance from King Florian to his butler standing with arms folded along the wall had the door opened and a servant walked in to set a tray on the table before he returned to his station outside. Another servant announced Dimitri’s guards, whom the King sent to the room next door under watch.
“Do you feel strong enough to discuss some important matters, my dear?” King Florian asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I am fine.” With Adrian’s help, she sat up.
“You’re not,” her Prince said, helping her settle at the table before the tray. “You slept for a full day after you healed me at Silvershade.”
“I am stronger now, Your Highness. And food should help.” Reaching for the cherry tart on her tray, she petted Ciel on her lap. The sugar immediately made her feel steadier. As she poured honey into the tea, which smelled of ginger and cinnamon, she looked to King Florian. “What must we discuss, Your Majesty?”
“Your relationship with Adrian. And your future.”
“Future?” Her heart leaped at that word. But glancing at Adrian, his expression was guarded, almost cold.
They were mates, he said, destined partners made for each other by the Gods. They were part of each other, bonded on the deepest level. Nothing could sever what had been forged between them.
That truth lived deep inside her. It renewed each time they made love.
But it would change nothing for the King. If anything, that knowledge would give him something to use against them, a means to get them both to fall in line.
We’re both spares, slave.
Her tart suddenly tasted bitter, and she sipped water as determination filled her. She would not be a blind sheep desperately doing the King’s will. He may have been the leader of their land, but she’d always been a fighter.
There was nothing more worth fighting for than her mate.
Even if her insides quaked at the idea of standing up to the monarch.
“You are aware of the . . . unique precariousness of your situation with my son, yes?”
“You are referring to the unhappiness of the ladies of the court? ”
The King smiled. “And my wife.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard her temper has been quite fierce.”
The King chuckled. “You seem well-informed. Perhaps this will be easier than I thought.”
Adrian squeezed her knee. “Let her stay with me and it will always be easy.”
His father waved the words away. “Don’t listen to my sentimental son, young Rose. You know, don’t you, what must be done?”
“You need me out of the way so as not to upset His Highness’s chosen bride.”
King Florian sat back in his chair, openly surprised but pleased. “It is my recommendation that you become Adrian’s official mistress. I have a manor ready on the outskirts of the city. It will be fully staffed with servants to cater to you day and night. Everything you need will be provided, along with a sizeable allowance every month. You will want for nothing, I promise you. You’ll be pampered as a mistress to the crown should be, the envy of many, and your relationship with Adrian will remain intact.
“Of course,” His Majesty continued more slowly, “you must never come to the palace. You must not talk openly about your relationship. You must not interfere with the royal couple’s affairs, and you must remain on contraceptives. You are already taking a concoction, yes?”
Rose swallowed more bile. He was cheapening her relationship with Adrian to sex and money like she was a harlot. She looked at Adrian. His hard expression and the clench of his jaw told her how angry he was.
“She takes a tea,” Adrian answered, lying through his teeth. Setting her hand over his on her knee, Rose rubbed the tense muscles in his forearm, trying to recall when her last moon flow had been. Her cycles had always been irregular, if she had them at all. She’d always been malnourished at best and an exhausted, beaten mess at worst. It was possible . . .
The King tossed a packet on her tray, startling her. “Drink it.”
Rose stared at the innocuous lump. Dread filled her gut even as intense dislike radiated through every fiber of her body.
As she reached with shaky hands for the tea, she used her limited leftover magic to search inward, probing her womb. There was no pregnancy, though the lining was thick and lush. She’d likely start her cycle within a few days.
Opening the little satchel, she dumped the dried leaves and powder in her hot cup, gave a cursory mix with her spoon, and lifted questioning eyes to Adrian.
His father wouldn’t poison her, would he?
His hand on her knee squeezed as he gave a short, barely perceptible nod, though Rose was sure his father noticed. Lifting the teacup, she drank the entire thing in two gulps. The vile stuff tasted bitter and made her want to puke. But she showed no reaction, not even to drink water and rinse her mouth. She showed the King the empty cup before setting it down with a clink.
“Is that all?” she asked haughtily. Adrian rubbed her knee.
“You did not respond to my offer.” King Florian’s gaze on the teacup lifted to meet hers. “You are in danger here, little flower. The target on your back is huge. What my eldest son did tonight proves that. It will only get worse as resentment grows. The best option is to quiet the talk, get out of the spotlight, and settle elsewhere so you can resume your relationship more privately, more happily, without all the drama and fear.” He pushed a thick document toward her on the table and held out a feathered quill.
“And if I don’t agree?” Rose asked.
“Pardon?”
“What if I don’t want to become an official mistress and move to your fancy manor? ”
King Florian cocked an eyebrow. “This is the offer of a lifetime, Rose. Mistresses to the crown have freedom and protection known to few, not to mention the favor of the crown. To turn down such an offer is . . . sheer lunacy.”
“No offense, Your Majesty, but giving away all my rights is not an offer of a lifetime.”
“Giving away . . . Young lady, I am offering you comfort, luxury, convenience, and a continued relationship with my son.”
“No,” Rose argued, “you are limiting my relationship with your son and demanding I share and keep my mouth shut while also taking away any hope of true happiness.”
“You must give up everything if you don’t sign this agreement, pretty flower. Are you willing to give up on your love?”
Tears burned Rose’s eyes as she brushed off Adrian rubbing her knee. “How long do I have to decide?”
“I will give you two weeks. If you haven’t signed the contract by then, your position in the palace will be terminated and you will leave the city.”
“No,” Adrian said.
Rose ignored him. “Fine. Am I free to go?”
King Florian raised a hand to the door, which Rose took as her dismissal. She immediately walked out, hardly noticing as Adrian followed, matching her strides down the hall away from the servants and toward the stairs.
“Leave me alone.”
“I can’t. You’re hurt and I get it—”
“You get it?” She spun to face him, and he stopped on the spot, holding his hands up. “You know nothing , Adrian. You say you love me?” She laughed bitterly. “Love doesn’t betray or belittle as you let your father do to me. Love doesn’t compromise as you’re asking me to, as you’re obviously willing to.” Some of her anger faded as her heartache began leaking through. “You had me convinced of our bond.”
“Rose.” He touched her arm, but she yanked it out of reach and backed away. “What choice do I have? To stand up to him would be the end of us.”
“So, it’s better to let him manipulate and control us?”
Adrian ran a frustrated hand through his hair and pulled Rose to the side as a pair of maids walked by, whispering to each other with their eyes downcast.
“We should discuss this privately.”
“No.” Pulling away, she swiped a stupid tear that escaped. “No. I’m done discussing. You know how I feel. You knew before I even stepped into that room. I can’t be around you anymore today. I’m going to finish my work and then go to bed. Upstairs.”
“Rose. Love. I don’t want this. It’s just the political game.” He reached for her, but she pulled away yet again.
“Don’t touch me, Adrian.”
“It’s not safe. You’re not safe.”
“I am fine ,” she spat, the flames in the wall sconces flaring with her anger. “Pretty soon, I won’t even be your concern anymore. Once you let your father run me out of the city—” Her voice broke as another tear streaked down her face.
Adrian deflated, and it solidified the realization that he didn’t have the fortitude to face down his father.
“Aldric was right.”
“Aldric? What the fuck does that dog have to do with this?”
“He told me,” Rose replied, wiping her wet cheeks. “He warned me how it would go. I kept defending you and he just laughed. Your agreement with him won’t be honored, will it? ”
“Rose . . .”
“No.” Shaking her head, she retreated again. “Sun God, I’m so foolish, thinking things can change. Things won’t ever change.” She closed her eyes, pressing her trembling lips together. “I should have never given in.”
“Rose. We can figure this out.”
But she shook her head. “I won’t play the game, Adrian. I should have taken that dog’s offer. At least there was hope in that.”
“What offer?”
She walked away instead of answering.
“Partner with Horace,” she heard behind her, making her want to laugh. She needed protection from him . He had the power to hurt her more than anyone else.