Call me Rhazien #3
Technically, Dommik had already sentenced one of the offenders to death. Rolf’s unseeing eyes flashed through my mind. I wondered if the Commander was in the hallway, standing guard, listening to us.
My stomach growled, offering a distraction from the tense silence from his promise of justice.
Rhazien was out of his seat and standing before me with my abandoned dinner in the blink of an eye. “Please, eat something.”
I plucked the bread roll from the plate.
A servant relieved Rhazien of the plate and the regent kneaded his hands together. “What else?”
The most obvious question bubbled in my throat. Information that had been danced around, alluded to, and outright avoided intrigued me above frivolous details. I chewed on my cheek and squinted as I considered diving head first into his offer.
He smirked and said, “Reyva, whatever it is. Please, ask.”
I pursed my lips and blew out a breath. “All right.” I drummed my fingers on my knee.
Speaking so openly felt foreign, but the wine and overwhelming curiosity collided, giving me a bout of bravery.
“Does being your prospect mean you intend to turn me?” After his long, calculated pause, I asked, “Or have I misunderstood?”
“No. No,” he started, tapping his pointed fingers to his lips. “You’re right.”
As I’d feared. My alarm lessened as he continued, “But I wouldn’t expect that to happen soon. It’s your choice—your timeline.”
It didn’t feel that way. Blood swished in my ears. It felt like an inevitable end, like I’d begun a journey toward the axe all over again.
Immortal life. Death everlasting. A vampire queen.
I swallowed the contents of my goblet whole.
“My choice,” I whispered. Rhazien nodded in silence across from me, letting the information settle into my bones.
A low hum of a buzz vibrated through my limbs. Drinking on an empty stomach had not been the wisest decision.
“I would feel it by now, right? If you’d put blood in my wine again.” I asked, tapping the empty glass with a painted nail.
He chuckled. “You would. But you don’t, do you?”
“I don’t.” I tilted my head and thought about the prior night in the carriage, how all my worries fell away and pleasure drove my decisions. The blood had complete control of me. “I guess I understand why someone would want to relive the experience over and over again.”
A grunt of understanding rumbled in Rhazien’s chest. “It’s essentially a glimpse of what it’s like to be a fledgling…a young vampire.”
Vampires were always spoken about as old—sometimes ancient—predatory, and cunning creatures, but his words reminded me that each vampire had to die and be reborn. They transitioned and had an adjustment period.
“Which I would be? At some point. If I chose it.” I threw my arm, the gesture exaggerated by the wine.
He smiled and nodded. “If that day ever came, I expect we would need at least a month in one of my private residences until your urges subsided.”
Thwap.
The roll had flown from my hand and hit him in the chest.
I clasped my hands over my mouth and swore to never drink wine ever again.
“I. Am. So. Sorry.” My body was ablaze with embarrassment and Rhazien looked equally stunned.
He’s going to kill me. I am going to die. That’s it. I’m dead. I’m done.
To my surprise, Rhazien’s smile stretched to new heights, creating wrinkles in his cheeks and forehead I hadn’t seen yet. Booming laughter filled the room and I was certain the entire Hive could hear him.
“You just threw bread at me!”
Through my own laughter, I said, “You accused me of lewd conduct unbefitting of a prospective queen!”
His laughing fit led into mine, unable to settle despite my aching cheeks.
We sat there, surrounded by his riches and royalty, but I found myself at ease with him.
Rhazien was so much more than his reputation.
He was a scholar who had built a library and a gentleman who abated my bloodlust rather than taking advantage of me in a delicate state.
Overall, he was a seemingly reasonable man, offering me a choice rather than an order.
As our laughter tapered, he wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m nearly two hundred and fifty years old and no one has ever thrown bread at me. You’ve been here two days, and you’ve turned a pastry into a weapon. I can't believe that just happened."
“I can’t either,” I said through a yawn.
How could I possibly be this tired again?
He stood and wiped a crumb of the weaponized baked good from his shirt. “I should let you get some rest.”
Sleep was calling me, but part of me didn’t want him to leave.
Before he left, he approached me, placed his hands on the arms of my chair, and leaned over me. “Reyva.” He purred my name like it was a prayer.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” My gaze fixated on his full bottom lip. I realized then, if he tried to kiss me, I would let him.
His stiff frame hovered above me. “I am going to walk away. I’m going to leave you here to get your rest, but not because I want to. It would be inappropriate to admit the thoughts swimming through my mind right now.”
Admit them, I thought. Or maybe not. The way he chuckled made me wonder if I’d said it out loud.
He lifted my chin, the greens of his eyes stealing my attention away from his mouth.
“I plan on courting you. Thoroughly. Because as my prospect, you will need to choose if you would like to commit yourself to me, and I hope when the time comes for that choice, I’ll have proven myself worthy of that commitment from you. ”
“A proper courtship then?” I whispered, appreciating his chivalry.
“If you’ll allow it.” He bowed at the hip and pressed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand.
His lips set my skin on fire. Did he feel it too? His head lingered over my skin and I held my breath.
“Mmm.” Deep, lust-filled green eyes lifted to mine.
I didn’t need supernatural vampire senses to know he wanted more. So much more.
“Until tomorrow, Lady Reyva.”
“Until tomorrow…Your Majesty.”
“Reyva.”
“Mm?”
“Call me Rhazien.”