Stable Confessions
Lord Gustafson placed a hand against his chest and grimaced. His neck was on the line. He had let his guard down and started warming up to the huntress—big mistake. If she wasn’t found soon, he’d join David in the dungeon with Dr. Blackwood. He shivered at the thought.
He raised a fist to knock on the door when Luka bellowed for him to join. He entered cautiously and found Luka seething with rage at his desk.
“Have you found her?” Luka demanded.
“Well… you see…,”
“Last I checked, well, you see is not yes or no. Have you found her?”
“No, my grace,” he whispered, flinching when Luka’s chair scraped loudly across the floor.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Ezra pleaded, holding his hands out to put as much space between himself and the tortured king as possible.
“I don’t know Queen Matilda as intimately as you do; however, I do not believe she ran away.
She’s most likely scared, anxious, and confused and needs a little time to herself.
Two nights ago, she was a fugitive with a bounty worth a sizeable fortune on her head, and now she’ll be Queen of Night Falls once she’s officially coronated and she is carrying your heir.
That is a lot for one to wrap their head around.
Not to mention, she’s injured, feverish, and, dare I say it, but it seems she enjoys your company.
Luka’s shoulders slackened. “You think she enjoys my company?”
“Personally, I find it abhorrent, but she does.”
“Is it abhorrent because she is human?”
Ezra shook his head. “No, it’s not because she’s human. It’s because I know your love for her will surpass Queen Anastasia one day.”
Luka felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped on his head. “That’s not true. I could never—”
“You have a choice. You can continue to lie to yourself and me or accept it as I have.” Luka exhaled sharply through his nose.
His huntress was troublesome in more ways than one.
He had been beside himself once he returned to his bedroom and was met by an empty bed, and he felt like the walls were caving in when their search proved fruitless.
“It’s comical. A few weeks ago, you were ready to dismember your advisors for suggesting you take a new queen, and now you can’t get enough of this woman. ”
Luka snorted derisively. “She’s infuriating.”
“All women are. That’s why I stick to men.”
Luka gave his trusted advisor a pointed glare. “You’re the most infuriating man I know. That’s why you’ve been unattached for so long.”
“Hm. If it’s not the pot calling the kettle black.”
“Find her. And I don’t want to see your face until she’s returned to me. This wouldn’t have happened if you had stayed with her as I instructed.”
“As you wish,” he replied before sweeping out of the room.
Luka closed his eyes and steepled his fingers.
“Where did you go? Where did you go?” His eyes fluttered open when it finally came to him. “The stables.”
***
Matilda hummed to herself as she brushed Obsidian’s coat.
“You are the most beautiful stallion in Night Falls.” She chuckled when he snorted his disapproval, blowing hot air into her face.
“My apologies. You’re the most beautiful stallion in all the lands,” she proclaimed before handing him a sugar cube.
She poked his snout when he nudged her for another.
“I’m all out. You are lucky to be in the land of the living.
I thought for sure the heinous vampires would’ve drained you after my capture. But they took care of you.”
“Despite what you believe, we are not monsters,” she heard from behind her.
“I beg to differ,” she replied, attention still focused on her beloved horse.
“You should be resting.”
“I am resting,” she retorted, leaning against the pitch-black horse. “See? Resting.”
“You’re difficult,” Luka said accusingly.
“And you’re easy.”
“Why are you hiding? I had everyone scouring the castle looking for you. The nurse was put to death.”
“What?” she gasped, whipping around to face him.
“I was convinced she had something to do with your disappearance.” Her mouth gaped in disbelief. She couldn’t help but wonder how one could be so cruel. “I’m jesting.”
“Y-you are? She’s still alive?”
“She’s still alive.” Matilda’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Tell me why you’re hiding.”
“I’m not hiding. I needed time to process. You are aware I’m with child, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Logically, I understand sex and how conception works, but the thrill of having sex with you a few times—”
“Six times,” he reminded her. She laughed as she braided Obsidian’s mane.
“Those six times must’ve been the highlight of your life.” His cheeks turned a marvelous shade of pink. “You’re blushing.”
“Do not be silly. It’s cold. Stop delaying.”
She clucked her tongue.
“I guess since I will be your wife and Queen of Night Falls, there shouldn’t be secrets between us. But you must share something with me first.”
“Name it.”
“Tell me how Queen Anastasia was killed.”
“What does her death have to do with anything?” Luka growled in frustration, believing it pointless to speak about Anastasia.
“A death for a death.”
He shook his head in annoyance, but was desperate to learn her secret.
“As you wish. It was known that Anastasia struggled with infertility. A rumor was floating around that one of your kin could cure her. She left the castle undetected and met with Huntress Abigail Helsing. Instead of curing my wife’s infertility, she sent her to her grave. ”
“She poisoned her?”
“That she did, and I attempted to erase every last one of you, but you’re living proof that I failed.”
“You should be appreciative,” she commented with a goofy smile.
“That’s still up for debate. It’s your turn.”
“This is not my first pregnancy,” Matilda confessed suddenly.
Luka’s breath caught from the unexpected confession. “Where is the child?”
Matilda focused on Obsidian’s gleaming coat, recalling parts of her life she wished to forget.
“I was eighteen and ready to prove to my family that I was worthy of the title of huntress. We heard about vampires lurking in the woods near our little village. I was warned to never go into the woods alone—for safety reasons. But… I didn’t heed my parents’ warning.
I knew I’d emerge from the woods victorious with a severed head.
I donned my favorite cloak and armed myself with my hand-carved daggers, bow, and quiver, and braved the forest. It didn’t seem so bad at first, but then I felt I wasn’t alone.
The rumors were true; there were vampires in the woods.
I was outnumbered, and despite my extensive training, I wasn’t prepared.
One vampire, yes. Two vampires, not so much. ”
Matilda paused and blinked back her tears.
She failed and attempted to hide them in Obsidian’s coat.
Luka stood by, shaking with rage, knowing exactly where her story was going.
“I will spare you the gory details, but I was attacked. At some point, I blacked out. I don’t know if it was from the blood loss or physical pain, but I remember waking up, face down and bare on the forest floor. ”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear anymore,” Luka said, waving her off. He was sick to his stomach.
“I don’t know how long I lay there. I had hoped they’d return and finish the job, but they never returned.
So, again, I donned my favorite cloak, gathered my hand-fashioned weapons, and made the painful and laborious trek back home.
It wasn’t long before I found out I was with child.
I didn’t know what to do. I was in a state of fear for weeks.
I couldn’t confess to my parents because I was fearful they’d exile me.
Yet, my biggest fear was my child coming into the world because there was a cruel king who determined that hybrid vampire children were illegal and would be swiftly dealt with. ”
Luka looked away with shame. It was his father who banned hybrid children, but he was the cruel king who upheld the law.
“What did you do to the child?”
“What did I do to the child? I did nothing but love it and fear for its life like any mother would. I had planned to run away, to another town where my child would be accepted, but fate had other plans. I miscarried. Looking back, it was probably for the best. I was a young, naive woman who knew nothing of the world. I can’t imagine what kind of mother I would’ve been. ”
Luka reached for her, gathering her hands in his. “I promise to my last dying breath that I will find them and make them pay for what they did to you.”
Matilda laughed through her tears. “I’m sorry, but you’re a few years too late. I found them. They weren’t too bright and stuck around town. They were my first kills, and gods did it feel glorious. I couldn’t call myself a mother, but finally, I could call myself a huntress.”
“Matilda,” he whispered sorrowfully.
“I need something from you, Luka.”
“What do you require of me?”
“A promise that nothing will happen to this child. Tell me, even if it’s a lie.”
Luka drew her against his chest, gently caressing her back as her tears soaked his tunic.
“I promise. Nothing will happen to this child.”