Chapter 25 #2
“Alivia Conrath,” she says, a coy smile forming on her face as she steps forward to shake my hand.
She grasps it tightly and suddenly raises it up to her nose.
Her eyes slide closed and she inhales deeply.
When she opens her eyes once again, they glow red just slightly.
“Oh, the King will be so happy to meet you.”
It throws me off, the animalistic greeting of smelling me. But these are vampires and they are not actually human any longer.
I see two escorts step inside behind her.
One with a shaved head and full beard that reaches his chest. He’s large and terrifying looking with a cruel face.
The other is a tiny Asian woman with short black hair and sharp eyes that seem like they can see through anything.
I notice her fingernails, which have been filed down to deadly points.
“My name is X and I am King Cyrus’ chancellor and right hand,” the blonde woman says, taking a step away from me.
Her eyes turn to my home to observe and take in every detail.
Just then my House members begin filing out of the library.
They form a semi-circle behind me. “I observe and report, and if I approve of what I see, and smell,” she says as her eyes once again flash red for the briefest moment, “then the King will continue his journey. He will arrive by morning.”
It’s seven-thirty. Morning is just eleven hours away.
“You’re welcome to investigate anything you like,” I say, holding my hands open. “We’ve prepared rooms for you and hope your stay with us will be comfortable.”
X smiles at me like I’m the most adorably ignorant thing there ever was.
And I’m feeling that way. It’s one thing when it is my vampires whose existences haven’t extended beyond a century or two and this continent.
It’s quite another when it’s a millennia old one with an entire monarchy and the world to run.
“Aren’t you sweet. I’m sure our stay in your… House, will be adequate.”
She makes my skin bristle, as if the Conrath Estate is some shack and not the most beautiful, elegant home in all of Mississippi.
Footsteps over the marble draw all our attention to the ballroom as Raheem crosses it to join us.
“X,” he greets her with his beautiful voice. “Good to see you again.”
Her eyes run up and down him, her expression both approving and disdainful. I then wonder if she is one of the many women Raheem has apparently been with. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your time in this forsaken corner of the world.”
“I do a job, I do not question the location,” he says coldly. And he doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t look at much of anyone.
She studies him for a moment, and I see it: she wants Raheem. But the look on her face tells me he’s rejected her in the past. Finally, she looks away and takes in my House members.
“I would have thought coming from such deep blood that you would have inherited a much larger household,” she says.
I’m proud of my House members, that they don’t wither under her harsh looks. They stand tall and proud. They hold her gaze with a coldness of their own.
“How familiar are you with the history of our region?” I ask. I seize the moment. I take a step forward, walking in a slow, wide circle around X.
“Enlighten and remind me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the States.” And I realize then: her accent is un-placable. Not British, not French or German or anything I’ve ever heard.
“Over a hundred and forty years ago, Elijah Conrath, my uncle, was killed,” I begin as I complete my first circle around X.
She slowly turns her head to follow me, studying me.
And the look in her eyes is slightly less sure, exactly what I wanted.
“The town blamed him for a crime he did not commit. Leadership of the House should have passed to my father.”
“Henry Conrath,” she fills in. The look on my face makes me think she met him at some point in the past.
I nod. “But my father wanted nothing to do with the House and the monarchy. So for the past century and a half, it has had no proper leader. Two different Born have in some form kept a shadow of it running.”
When I complete my second loop around X, I stop in front of her, holding her eyes surely.
“I was born twenty-three years ago to a single mother who had a one night stand. Just seven months ago, I received a will and a phone call that I was the daughter of one Henry Conrath. I arrived in Silent Bend with no knowledge of vampires or royals or any King.”
“When she arrived, we were all operating under the leadership of another.” It’s Markov who steps forward to stand at my left hand.
“One who tried to manipulate Alivia into claiming the House simply for money and connections. But within weeks, she swayed each and every one of us to follow her. Because Alivia Ryan Conrath is the Born Royal meant to lead us.”
X’s eyes switch from Markov, back to my other House members. I do not look back at them, but I know they will have conveyed the same message.
“Impressive,” X says with a small smile when she looks back at me. “No upbringing. No training. No connections. Yet here you are and here they are.”
I offer her a small smile. “So you see, you’ll have to excuse our small numbers. Rebuilding takes time.”
“Of course.” X suddenly turns away from me toward the ballroom. “I would very much like to see more of your home. I trust your man will be happy to give me a tour.”
Rath steps forward without prompt from me. His footsteps soundless, he crosses the space to her. He offers his arm, and she takes it with a charmed little smile. Together, they step into the ballroom and Rath begins giving her the history of the House.
I cast a look over my shoulder at X’s escorts. They watch with dark expressions from either side of the door.
I don’t know what to do. Impressing a helper of the King’s wasn’t what I expected.
I figured he would just come. He would kill me.
I’d get to sleep the sleep of death for four days, and then I’d rise to life as an immortal Born Royal.
Cue the King’s games. See if I start remembering anything from a past life.
I’ve got such a long life ahead of me. So much to come and I know to anticipate so much of it.
But what do I do ‘til morning?
My phone dings from a side table in the foyer. Grateful for the distraction, I grab it.
Status update? Luke.
First batch has arrived, King will be here before sunrise. How many people left?
It only takes him sixty seconds to respond.
Thanks for the warning. Wards and about twenty people left in town. Do your best to keep us all safe.
And another text follows it right after.
Nice knowing you as a human. Good luck.
I look up at those around me. My House. Raheem. X, who I can hear talking to Rath down the hall.
Someone is going to kill me. Soon.
Who is it going to be?
Can I take my life into my own hands?
Will Cyrus give me a chance?
“Remember, the dying part is easy.” Samuel.
I turn back to see him, staring at me with something like sympathy in his eyes.
“It’s okay to be scared,” Lillian says. And I see how worried she is. She cares about me. She knows because she can hear my racing heart. “No one can judge you for being scared about death.”
“It’s kind of nice knowing you’re a little worried about this,” Cameron jokes. “I was beginning to think you were some inhuman machine.”
I crack a small smile, for his benefit.
“Can you please give us a moment?” Markov asks of the guards.
They look at each other, an unspoken conversation happening between them. After a short pause, they step outside the doors. They close in a flurry of snow.
My House circles around me, and something bites at the back of my eyes.
Nial steps in front of me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Deep breath in and out. Try closing your eyes.”
So I do. My eyelids slide closed. I focus on my breathing. One deep breath in. One out. Repeat.
“We will make sure it is quick and painless,” Anna says. I feel her take my right hand. Someone else takes my left.
“No more anticipation,” Markov says. “And you will move onto the rest of your life.”
“The next great adventure,” Lillian says.
Slowly, very slowly, I feel my heartbeat slow. My anxiety ebbs. And that calm, unafraid demeanor I held such a good grasp on for so many weeks returns.
My eyes slide open.
“Thank you,” I breathe.
X TAKES HER TIME TOURING the House. She instructs Rath who will be put where.
The King will be traveling with eight others, in addition to the three that are here now.
She deems the room we set up for Cyrus adequate.
Though, she warns me he will likely wish to share my room soon after my resurrection.
That makes my heart rate spike.
She keeps herself busy with Rath for hours with plans for food and banquets and snow removal.
I have to do nothing at all.
But sit and wait.
One o’clock.
Three o’clock.
Five o’clock.
I sit very calmly in the library, facing the portrait of my father. My eyes study his face. Our same eyebrows. Our similar lips. The dark hair. His stern eyes.
I wish he had some advice for me.
Then again, I suppose I do have some. Given in the form of a letter when I very first arrived.
Stay away from the Royals. Stay away from the King.
But how did he ever think I could accomplish that? Knowing I was a daughter. A son would possibly have been a different story. But nothing will keep the King away from his Queen.
I could never have run from this.
The grandfather clock strikes six o’clock.
And four seconds later, there is a heavy knock on the door.
My pulse skyrockets. My hands sweat as I stand, my House members rising with me. My heels click across the marble floor in the entryway.
I take one breath, calming myself with my hand rested on the doorknob. And then I open it.
A dark, handsome face with dark eyes, dressed in leather and grandeur stands outside in the dark and snow.
Our eyes meet.
“Hello, Alivia,” King Cyrus says.