Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
SILVANUS
There were three ballrooms in the palace, and I gathered everyone in the one on the north side of the palace. It was smaller than the others, but large enough for most of the vampires and thralls to gather in.
Those who couldn’t fit, watched on screens from other rooms in the palace.
Vaughn had led the charge in gathering everyone here, along with sending communications to connect me to the other palaces. The were cameras pointed at me, and techpads at the ready to livestream my address.
I stood on the stage, looking out to battle-weary faces, palpable fear infecting me from within the Heart of All.
I have a sister…
Aidan stole something from me…
Moonlight under my skin…
Fortifying myself against my emotions, I beckoned two thralls to join me on the stage. Rebecca, a human, and Daniel, a werewolf. Two sweet things who’d been weeping in the front row, my thralls for the past year.
“Come to me,” I said.
They climbed up, wrapping their arms around me and holding me tightly, such sweet mortals.
My charges, thralls, were created by me and me alone. They chose to be mine, giving their lives to be close to me and dependent on my blood. If they failed to feed from me every three days, they would die.
“There, there,” I soothed.
I reveled in the soft joy of being with my thralls. I loved them as deeply as my vampires, the responsibility of their mortal existences a constant weight on my shoulders.
I couldn’t go off on a quest without factoring feeding in. I’d have to rely on Medusa to ferry me back and forth, depending on how long we were away.
Thralls. Created to expand my power in this realm. Despite my deep-rooted love, they were still pawns on the chessboard of domination, along with my vampires.
How did my rise to power differ from Aidan’s goals? I’d killed many. I’d changed this world.
Don’t do this, I chided myself.
Rebecca and Daniel sniffled in unison. They did a lot together and were Layla’s favorites. The three of them had shared a bed every night, until my friend lost her life to Paris’s crystal blade.
Before my inner voice could remind me of that clear and painful fact, I spotted him in the crowd. Elio, his imploring hazel eyes glistening with sadness, a dark cloud over his head.
He’d been so dedicated to my happiness and my pleasure. Even his decision to shoot at Paris should have been considered honorable. Only, Medusa had been in the firing line too, so no.
Elio. A master of sex, a beautiful elf.
As beautiful as Paris?
I tore my gaze away from him, done with this mental pontification.
“Back to your seats,” I gently instructed Rebecca and Daniel.
They obeyed, appearing lighter for having hugged me.
A pity I didn’t feel the same. Only Paris provided me such comfort now.
I beg your pardon?
Vaughn signaled we were ready.
And so, I began my address.
“My dear ones, I stand before you to offer my sincerest apologies for the hell you have experienced. For being so absent in your sorrow.” I hesitated, afraid, ashamed to admit my failings. “I was preoccupied with Paris Raine.”
My statement was followed by a pause, a heavy silence, every eye drilling into me.
But I had to confess everything, to explain what I’d been doing. They were my subjects, and they deserved the truth.
I left no stone unturned, I was an open book.
Why do you have to explain yourself? an angry voice countered.
Lucius wouldn’t capitulate like this, his hand heavier. But I couldn’t be like that.
Could I?
After a pause for my people to process the information, I continued. “Aidan will fall. We will find a means to kill him and free Quintrealm from his rot. Mark my words. There is hope here, and answers waiting for us to unpack.”
It was meant to be rousing yet seemed like a pathetic puff of air against a hurricane.
There were nods, gentle applause, but spirits were dim.
Tilly, one of the rebel vampires freed from the dungeons, spoke up. “What about the mortal attack?”
There were bloody tear stains down her pale alabaster cheeks. She’d been close to Gilbert, his death another thing to be used against me.
I stared at her for a few beats, not one inch of her afraid of me.
She would be if I drove my hand into her chest and crushed her heart.
Maybe you should…
“I am considering our options,” I answered.
She rolled her scarlet eyes. “Right.”
Trapping the executioners wasn’t enough for her? Did my single-handed destruction of those warchoppers mean nothing?
Ungrateful.
Traitor.
Must be punished.
“There will be a retaliation,” I explained, anger sparking.
“Right,” she repeated, cold, uncaring, her disappointment obvious.
My eyes narrowed. “Is there something you wish to say to me?”
She huffed. “Doesn’t matter.”
Such arrogance. “Please, go ahead.”
Tilly stood without permission, flaunting her disrespect. “Where is the declaration of war on the mortals? Where is the fire in your belly? We remember Lucius and how brutal he could be. We want that from you.” She took a breath. “We want that elf dead, we want—”
“Watch yourself,” Vaughn warned from his position in the front row.
I folded my arms, my anger simmering. “Paris is key to our success, so mind your tongue.”
Touch so much as a hair on his head and I will rejoice in your screams.
“While you are allowed to feel how you feel,” I added, “it doesn’t change anything.
I must work with him to save us all.” I met all their eyes then.
“Everything I do is for you, for your safety. I want to give you a brighter future, but being at odds with each other won’t help us.
We must unite.” I sighed, hoping this would be enough.
“I’m sorry I’ve let you all down so profoundly, that I’ve brought chaos into this palace.
And I will forever remain in your debt, striving to be the king you deserve.
” I paused, closing my eyes in the silence.
The Heart of All cooled, its worries on hold.
How many of them agreed with Tilly, aside from the other rebels? I couldn’t read their thoughts, but I could sense their energy, that fervent disappointment smothered in fear.
I’d let them down.
I’d make it right.
“This is the time to fight,” I continued, wanting to stress my point again. “This is the time to be stronger than ever before. We will learn all the truths; from my sister’s name to what happened to our Selene Haven. And maybe we will go home, if there is a world out there waiting for us. Maybe—”
Tilly scoffed, the sound echoing around the ballroom.
A rush of irritation skipped across my skin. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Disrespectful!” Vaughn hissed.
She didn’t care. “You can deliver all the speeches you want, Majesty. Pretty up the situation with your waffle until you pass out. It doesn’t change anything. You’re weak, you’re leaving us open to attack, and involving us in something that doesn’t concern us.”
Goodness, the loathing in her expression was sharp enough to cleave diamonds.
Vaughn tried warning her again, but I held him off.
“It does concern you,” I responded. “This affects everyone in this room.”
Her lips spread into a malevolent smile. Bryan, a fellow rebel sitting beside her, got to his feet in solidarity.
“If Aidan is this great godly power,” she spewed, “then maybe our loyalties should shift toward joining him.”
For a moment, I couldn’t quite believe what I’d heard. I went numb, dumbfounded by such ridiculousness.
Low voices mumbled their surprise.
“You mean the same deity who murdered my brother?” I rebutted.
She simply nodded.
I remained confused. Had she heard herself? “Tilly, why would you want to join him? Why wouldn’t you loathe him with every fiber of your being?”
“I do,” she said.
My patience weakened. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. He is the enemy. Never forget that, and never make such ridiculous suggestions again.”
“A vile thing to say,” Vaughn stepped in. “We don’t share beds with our enemies.”
A mistake on his part, one that spread Tilly’s lips wider.
“Unless you’re the king,” she said, vitriol in her tone. “But I suppose you get a free pass, Your Majesty.”
“That’s it!” Vaughn barked, jumping to his feet. “I’m dragging you out of here.”
As much as my anger burned, I stopped him. I wanted her to speak, to expose the insanity of her rebellion.
To be an example to the others.
I gestured for her to speak.
And she did. “Of course, I hate him, but he’s bent our minds to believe so many lies. You can’t deny how impressive that is.” She lifted her hands in exasperation. “Come on. He’s clearly the side to be on. United, we can be an unstoppable threat. Together we could change the game, big time.”
“You’re delusional,” a vampire named Patti said.
Tilly groaned, cracking her knuckles. “We have to adapt. We have to survive. We can’t go up against someone of that power. Who knows what he’ll hit this world with next? But if we’re on his side, we might get a seat at his table.”
Bryan nodded.
How divided were we in this? How many would like to submit to Aidan?
Curse this. Every single one of these vampires should be on their knees in supplication, praising my actions tonight, knowing their place, agreeing with me, declaring their loyalty.
I asked the question. “Raise your hand if you agree with Tilly.”
Less than half did, but that was still too many.
Tilly didn’t like the response, her face twisting with fury.
“You’re all fucking stupid. It’s like you want to die.
It’s like you’re happy knowing your king fucked an executioner.
” She laughed, the sound hateful. “Remember what got us here in the first place.” She pointed at me.
“Him. Because of his mercy. Because of his weakness with Aidan. Because our fucking king only thinks with his cock.”
Vaughn bristled. “Say the word, Your Majesty, and she’s out of here.”
I regarded her as appalled voices rang through the ballroom, paired with those who agreed with her. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her, studying her every twitch, the gleeful glints of triumph in her eyes.
My anger moved from a simmer to a steady boil. Not spilling over quite yet. More controlled for the time being.
“Come here.” My deep timbre vibrated through the air, throwing a blanket of hush over everything.
Her smirk dropped, her posture changing, unease a sickly sheen passing over her face.
Unable to refuse my command, she headed for the stage. I saw her throat bob, practically smelling her fear.
It only fed my rage.
She arrived before me, bowing with the respect that had been missing until now. Meek in the face of danger.
“My king,” she whispered, going to her knees.
“Did I ask you to kneel?”
Her hands shook, her eyes blinking rapidly. “No, Majesty.”
“No. That’s right.”
She stood up.
“Do continue with your rhetoric now that we are in a more intimate position?” I asked.
She licked her lips, clasping her hands together as if in prayer. Pitiful, her convictions dead without any buffer between us.
“Go on,” I pressed.
“I just think that—”
“I know what you think, I know how you want me to be.”
Deadly fissures crawled across my reason for the second time tonight.
A more judicious voice begged me to stop, but I’d already seen the course of action I would take.
To give her and the rebels exactly what they wanted from me.
Show them all in this room and across the world how my tolerance was beginning to waver.
I plunged my hand into Tilly’s chest, closing my hand around her heart. Fear chimed around me like deathly bells, the Heart of All recoiling in shock.
A wicked veil of darkness fell over my soul. Tilly’s mouth fell open, blood oozing from her lips, her frightened eyes locked onto mine. She couldn’t speak, only wait to meet her fate.
“You want me to kill you, don’t you?” I asked. “That’s what you told me once more.”
“Majesty,” Vaughn whispered, pleading in his tone.
How delicate a vampire’s heart felt in my hand. If I tore it free or closed my hand tightly enough to crush it, Tilly would be bone dust.
Tilly. Tilly. Tilly. A vampire of many critical opinions. Yes, I was responsible for this mess, but there was something in seeking redemption, in striving to make things better.
I deserved that chance, didn’t I?
Only, doubt lurked within me. A real sense of failure hanging around my neck.
Vampires like Tilly didn’t help.
Vampires like Tilly could not be trusted.
Vampires like Tilly were correct. I did need to grow more of a backbone.
“Thank you,” I told her. “I think I see the light.”
I tore out her heart, her body falling to the floor. A mewling sound escaped her lips before she collapsed into a pile of crimson bone dust.
Seconds tick by, the silence as thick as molasses. Her heart continued to beat languidly in my hand, blood streaming down my arm, seeping through my fingers.
“This is what she wanted,” I said, swaddled in darkness.
Her heart popped, now just bone dust joining the rest of the pile by my feet.
Her death drove a spike into the Heart of All, drilling another unfillable hole, an empty void whispering Tilly’s name.
I looked to my people, brimming with fury and enjoying their terror.
Reason had fled, stripping away my layers, revealing a raw, alien version of myself I didn’t like.
I’m going too far…
“The old ways are done,” I spoke, my tone pure ice.
“There will be no rebellion, only unity.” I paused to meet each of them in the eye, to let them see how serious I was.
“One by one, you will come before me on this stage and bend the knee. Thrall and vampire alike. If not, you will die by my hand, right here. No dungeons, no exceptions.”
Just how Lucius would handle it.
I snapped my fingers, ordering the front row to move first.
As they pledged their allegiance, my bloodthirst stirred, awoken by this violent act, craving the taste of mortal blood.
Maybe that would calm me down.
Yes. Rather than listen to the endless dying sounds those executioners would make over the next weeks, I would kill them quickly. Feed and offer them mercy.
That word.
That accursed word.
No mercy…
No mercy…
No mercy…
I growled in the face of a thrall, who swallowed a yelp, tumbling back. I grabbed him, quickly realizing it was Elio.
His presence didn’t help my fury.
He released a trembling breath, a mouse in the path of a cat.
Before I could say anything to him, a guard hurried on to the stage.
“Apologies for interrupting, Your Majesty,” she said, “but Paris Raine has run into the corridors.”
Without a word, I tore out of the ballroom.