Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Pip is still tired from her play in the forest last night, but that doesn't stop her from being excited about getting food this morning.
I push open the door into the dining room and she hurries in, going to sit by my chair. I pause for a moment, trying to work out what's different about the room.
"They've not set a place for Eliza," Bella says without looking up.
"Oh." I go to sit in my chair. "I guess I thought she and her husband would be living here like you and Thomas do."
She snorts. "Definitely not. House Vermouten doesn't have apartments at court, so Thomas and I stay here when we're here."
"I didn't realise." I smile at the servant who sets down a goblet of blood for me, and help myself to breakfast.
"He has a charming castle up north, so I've heard."
"You've never been?"
She shrugs. "I've never had a reason to."
We lapse into silence, both of us eating while Pip devours the food in her bowl.
I'm not sure if it's the fact she's technically a vampire too, or if it's because she's eating regularly and the food is better, but she's looking a lot healthier than she used to, and it's not even been a month since we arrived at the palace.
The door opens and Bastian stalks into the room, taking his seat without saying anything to either of us. I'm not sure what exactly is frustrating him, potentially that Eliza's wedding forced him to accept that his own is coming soon.
When the door opens again, I pay a little more attention as there's only one person whose arrival it can announce. The three of us stand as Lord Fallmartin enters the room.
"Ah, good, you're here," he says, though it isn't entirely clear which of us he's talking to. My assumption would always be that it's Bastian he's after, but I could be wrong.
We all sit back down, but none of us start eating again, probably because we can all tell that something else is coming.
"I wanted to talk to you this morning, Beatrice," my father says.
I freeze in my seat. "Me?"
"Yes. I have excellent news."
My stomach drops and I slip my hand into my pocket to rub the key Linc gave me. It isn't quite as good as the twine from Pip's old rope at centring me, but it's been doing a good job so far.
"Your betrothal has been secured," Lord Fallmartin announces, a note of pride in his voice. "I was able to finally secure it last night.”
My eyes widen. "My what?"
"Your betrothal. You'll be married at the next full moon," he says.
"That's barely a month from now."
Lord Fallmartin gives me a look that says he doesn't particularly care.
"Who is it with?" Bastian asks, not even looking at me. He probably feels guilty because he lied to me about the fact my betrothal was part of the deal for us becoming vampires in the first place.
"The Prince." The satisfaction on Lord Fallmartin's face is impossible to ignore. If I wasn't so horrified about the idea of getting married, I might have even understood why. It's a high match.
"Marcus?" I ask, horror coming through my voice. "He's our cousin."
"The other prince," Lord Fallmartin corrects. "Sadly, my aunt would never approve of your marriage to Marcus. It would be good to have a crown princess in the family, but no matter."
A dizzy feeling takes over me as I process what he's saying. My betrothal is here.
And it means an end to a lot of things. My freedom. My safety. Linc.
"It's an excellent match," Lord Fallmartin says, without any idea of the turmoil currently passing through me. "Especially considering that you've only been at court for a few weeks. We couldn't expect better."
"I could have fallen in love with someone," I mutter, my mind straying to Linc without it meaning to.
I know I'm not in love with him, but considering I can still feel the echo of his lips on mine as he kissed me goodbye only a few hours ago, it's hard not to.
That's going to be our last kiss now that this has been done.
Lord Fallmartin sighs. "I wish I'd known about you earlier, then I could have prepared you for court life better."
I barely refrain from pointing out that he would have left me to die if he'd known about me earlier and hadn't been desperate enough to concede to Bastian's demands.
Lord Fallmartin sighs. "If love is really going to bother you, then just take a lover once you're married. You'll have to be discrete about it lest you be staked out in the sun for treason."
I blink a few times. "That's your solution?"
"That's how it is, Beatrice," he responds without a hint of malice in his voice.
That's genuinely what he believes to be the solution.
"We need this marriage in order to affirm our alliance with the royals, and you're the way of doing that, particularly after everything that happened with the princess. "
"What happened?" Bastian asks.
"No one truly knows. I had put forward for a marriage contract between you and her, but the King rejected it. Then she disappeared from court. No one knows exactly where she is, but there are rumours that she married against her father's permission."
"Did he kill her?" Bastian asks.
I look at my brother, trying to work out his response to the idea. Does he like the idea of killing someone who doesn't do what he wants?
"There's a question," Lord Fallmartin muses. "He wouldn't be the first father who killed a wayward child. But no, I don't believe so. The King has a sentimental streak. He tries to hide it well, but it's reasonably well known. I suspect the princess is hiding somewhere in the country."
"When will the betrothal be announced?" I ask.
"I'm not entirely certain of that, the King will want to make sure this is all done properly. But you should be pleased, daughter, this is a good match."
"I am pleased," I lie, but only because I think that's what I think he wants to hear.
"Good. Bastian, we have a meeting to get to," Lord Fallmartin says, downing his goblet of blood and striding towards the door.
My brother scrambles to his feet, seeming to at least have some fear towards the man with power over us.
It isn't until the door shuts behind them that I slump back in my seat. Everything around me seems a little hazy, and I barely even care that Bella is still in the room.
"What just happened?" I murmur.
"I'd have thought you'd be pleased," Bella says, picking up her goblet.
"Why would I be pleased about being betrothed?"
She shrugs. "You seem to like the Prince."
"I've never met him."
"You don't need to lie, I've seen you dancing with him multiple times," she says.
I blink a few times, trying to think back through all of the people I've danced with since arriving at court and wondering which of them is the man I'm supposed to marry.
None of them said they were a prince, and surely someone else would have said something if I'd been spending time with a prince without using the proper terms of address.
"Anyway, whether you like it or not, it's happening," Bella says. "Better that you get used to it than fight it."
I give her a weak smile, not entirely sure how I'm supposed to respond to that. I don't want to be used to it. I don't want this to be happening at all, but it seems that's not an option. At least not now.
So I have to just accept it.
And even worse, I have to tell Linc.