Chapter 1
ONE
The corridor between my bed chamber and the family dining room has become familiar over the past two weeks, and it doesn't hold quite the same dread as it used to. Which isn't to say there isn't some. I'm still nervous about spending time around my so-called family.
Pip bounces along beside me, clearly not having the same kind of reservations as I do. I suppose to her, she's just arrived in a world where she always has a comfortable place to sleep and plenty to eat. It's probably paradise compared to the leaky house we left behind.
It would be for me too if it weren't for the strange change in circumstances that mean I now have to drink blood every day. Though if I'm honest with myself, that is far from the most difficult part of my new life.
For a brief second, I consider not going into the dining room, but I know that's not wise. I might still be new to living at Castle Sanulieon, but I know better than to cross the people I've come to find myself living with.
I make my way to the seat that somehow ended up assigned to me. One of the servants appears beside me and sets down a bowl for Pip.
"Sit down," I say to my dog.
She looks up with large begging eyes, but doesn't move towards the bowl of food. Despite only two weeks of training on her new rules, she's getting fairly good at doing what she's told.
"Okay."
She rushes to the bowl, eating as if she's never had a meal before. She's probably remembering all the days where we didn't have enough food. Or maybe it's just that she's hungry.
"I don't know why you bring her to the dining room," Bastian says from his spot at the head of the table.
"You wouldn't," I respond, turning my attention to my own food.
I pick up a golden goblet full of blood and take a sip, the sweet taste making me want more.
I never expected to find myself casually drinking blood at breakfast while wearing a dress that costs more than I used to earn in an entire year, but here I am.
"Beatrice..."
I look at my brother. "Bastian."
"Why are you being like this? It's been a fortnight..."
"And is that the required amount of time to forgive you for selling me to Lord Fallmartin with the promise that I'll marry whoever he chooses for me?"
His knife clatters against his plate as he sets it down. "I didn't sell you out."
"But you did lie to me," I say through gritted teeth. "You promised me that my betrothal wasn't part of the deal you made."
His silence tells me everything I need to know about his guilt in that matter.
He knew that was one of the stipulations of him saving me.
It's not even about the marriage, though I can't say that's great and I'm hoping Lord Fallmartin has forgotten about it, though I know that isn't likely.
But at least I can understand why our father is acting that way.
Bastian is another matter. He lied to me when I asked him, and I know it couldn't have been a fun thing to have to tell me, but that was no reason to lie.
The door opens and Eliza steps inside, sitting down in her seat beside me. "Morning," she says brightly, not in the slightest bit aware of the tension between me and my brother.
Pip trots over to her now she's finished with the food, sitting down beside me and looking up with wide eyes as if she's desperate for more food.
"You're not hungry," I tell her.
Eliza chuckles. "She's never going to listen to you." She slips a piece of bacon off her plate and holds it out to the dog.
"Especially not if you're going to keep feeding her at the table," I say to my cousin.
Bastian scowls. "She shouldn't be here during mealtimes anyway."
"She's not doing any harm, are you, Pip?" Eliza asks her.
My dog is too interested in her new snack to actually respond.
Eliza sighs. "I wish Mr Purrs would come with me to breakfast. He just sits on my dresser and ignores me. He's probably still looking for a patch of sun. It's been over a hundred years, you'd think he'd learn."
"I think Pip is still yearning for the sun." And me too. I keep that part to myself. I don't know if there's some kind of faux pas about admitting to wanting things from when I was human. Well, dhampir. I suppose I was never actually human to begin with.
"Then you shouldn't have brought her," Bastian mutters.
I ignore him. Not only is it too late for me to leave Pip behind in my abandoned human life, but I wouldn't have done that anyway.
"I'm not going to be able to show you the library today," Eliza says to me. "I know you want to go..."
"It's fine, I found my way there on my own.
" And it's a good thing I did, I wouldn't have met Linc if I'd been there with my cousin.
Or maybe I would have, but I wouldn't have been able to spend time with him the same way.
And our daily reading dates have been the highlight of the time I've spent at the vampire palace.
"Oh good." Eliza helps herself to a bread roll and cuts it open.
"What are you doing today?" I ask her.
"I've got a fitting for my wedding dress," she says. "I can't wait to try it on, the initial designs from the seamstress have been gorgeous." She lets out a wistful sigh.
I look down at my plate, trying to ignore the horrible twisting feeling in my stomach knowing that this will be me in about a month's time.
"I love weddings, I'm looking forward to it," Eliza says.
"I thought you hadn't met your betrothed yet?" I ask.
"Oh, I haven't. Not formally anyway. Our paths have crossed a few times over the years, but I don't know him."
"But you're excited about marrying him?"
She shrugs. "I haven't been married in a couple of decades. I'm ready to forge an alliance and reenter the game of politics. I can't do that without a husband."
I frown. "Why not?"
She raises an eyebrow. "You seriously have to ask?"
"I'm still new at this," I remind her, then take a bite of my food. The cooks really are excellent, and the food is a lot better than the vegetable stew I used to make every night.
"Ah, I forgot already," Eliza responds. "But it really is simple. Here I'm third in line to be Head of House Rothorne, and that's if Uncle Gerard would ever see either of us as his heirs."
Bastian grunts from his position at the end of the table.
"And it's not as if anything is going to happen to my dear cousin," Eliza says, lifting her glass in Bastian's direction and toasting him.
I'm not sure if there's a bit of sarcasm in her tone or not, it's hard to tell.
"But all of that means that if I want to have any power, then I need to have a husband with a little, and that's what Lord Tyberan is for me.
He's even already the head of his House, not an heir. It's an excellent match."
"But you don't love him," I point out.
"What's love got to do with it?" There's no malice in Eliza's voice, she's just stating facts.
"I suppose I always imagined that if I married, I would do it for love," I respond.
"A human notion," Eliza responds. "When it comes to vampires, marrying for love is more or less a death sentence. Avoid love if you can, and if you can't, hope you're not afflicted with it towards your husband."
"I see." I pick at my food, having a lot of conflicting feelings within.
It's impossible to work out what I want.
The idea of a loveless marriage sits badly within me, but at the same time, I know it's going to be impossible for me to have a marriage like that when Lord Fallmartin is trying to secure me a betrothal to a stranger as soon as he possibly can.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough," Eliza assures me.
"I'm sure I will."
Bastian snorts.
I glare at him, daring him to say whatever he's thinking. I'm no longer in shock about the whole becoming a vampire thing, which is making me a lot less patient with the cruel remarks he's been making. It's like he's become an entirely different person since he came here.
Gaining power has changed him almost beyond recognition, but despite that, there's a part of me that's longing to see the brother I used to know. I'm sure he's still in there, I just need to figure out how to bring him back to the surface.
I finish my meal and get to my feet.
"Where are you going?" Bastian asks.
"I'm taking Pip for her morning walk and then I'm heading to the library, if you must know."
He narrows his eyes at me. "You can barely read."
"Neither can you," I throw back at him. "But I'm choosing to do something about it."
"I don't know why you'd want to do that," Bastian responds.
"Because I want to learn more about the place we've ended up in, Bash. I want to survive, and that means learning about life at court and vampire politics."
"There are better ways to learn." He leans back in his chair and swills the blood around his cup.
"Perhaps, but I intend to use all ways that are available to me."
He only raises an eyebrow in response, which I take as an indication that the conversation is over.
"Come on, Pip, let's go for a walk."
My dog jumps to attention and trots along beside me as I sweep out of the room, already planning my day and my trip to the library.