Chapter 24
You must acknowledge both the allure and deception of immortality: the balance between boredom and a lifetime of adventure.
Walking from our shared quarters, I welcome the warmth of the cess lights along the hall. The dress I’m wearing to dinner is elegant and simple, fitting in easily with the surroundings. We plan to dine privately in Baron’s quarters due to lasting discussions over Duresden’s movements.
“You can leave, anytime.”
“You said it yourself – this won’t last very long.”
Cedric’s hands have already found their way to my shoulders, sending shivers down my spine while whispering in my ear.
“I just wanted you to know that tonight might be a little… disorienting,” he whispers, while leading me down the bridge that connects the main palace to the king’s tower.
Dinner will be a relaxed fare compared to Lux and Duresden.
I feel my experience in royalty has grown tenfold.
Baron’s court is quite small and mostly composed of close friends who are also nobles and some servants he is fond of, such as Nita.
A blizzard rages outside and I’m thankful for windows once more.
We arrived later than we anticipated with the snow, so any discussions Cedric needs with Baron will happen in the morning.
The grip he has on my hand feels foreign and thrilling. The thought of physical contact with him months ago put bile in my throat but I have never felt safer. Something changed after our last argument. I’m not sure what, but he feels easier to be around. Easier to learn.
He turns back to me before the guards open the double doors.
Surely checking I haven’t changed my mind, he nods and lets a small smile warm his face.
I squeeze his hand, causing him to turn back in shock.
His eyes focus on our hands as his gaze draws back up to my face, drinking in each inch of my body on his way up.
Cedric’s mouth opens, then closes, as if he had something to say. Like the words lost their way in his throat.
The doors swing open, warm red and orange light illuminating the hall.
Cedric leads us inside and it takes a few blinks for my eyes to adjust. This level of the tower is one giant room bedecked in furs, silks, tapestries and macramé covering every inch of the space.
The light fixtures are even covered in them too, causing a dim glow on the room.
A large fire pit is in the center of the room with a thin chimney pipe rising out through the ceiling.
A loft above us wraps around the whole room with little sections giving a glimpse of the king’s life: a telescope and planetary orbs next to an easel and paint pots on one side; a large bed and silks hanging from the ceiling on the other.
In between are desks of trinkets, maps, riding boots and every other wild hobby he enjoys.
I forget that I’m not alone when I turn full circle again and meet eyes with Cedric, who hasn’t taken his off me. I blush and hide my face, giggling.
“What?” he asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he finally looks around the room.
“It’s just so…”
“Different than Lux?”
“No, just so mesmerizing,” I admit. This room feels raw and beautiful. Compared to the dark fanciness of Lux, this one room is adventure and warmth wrapped in one.
“I’m glad you think so,” a voice behind me says.
I jump, turning to see who I assume is the king, with two women on his arms. While he has youth about him, with warm chestnut hair and a tan, I wonder which species faces me now.
Baron looks up to Cedric, sizing him up.
His stature is much smaller than Cedric’s, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in energy.
The two stare each other down and I swear you could hear a pin drop in the silence. I thought they were friends?
Cedric suddenly appears behind Baron and in a blink, the two are wrestling in laughter on the floor by the fire pit.
One second Cedric is being pinned by Baron and the next, Cedric is diving from the loft onto the cushions scattered along the floor.
The latter apparates to the former’s landing spot and continues the fight.
Vampyr.
One of the women Baron entered with leans over to me. Her taffeta sleeves brush my own velvet dress. “These two are a handful together,” she whispers.
“They’re like this all of the time?” I ask back, shocked that she isn’t around just for certain needs.
“You should have seen them at our wedding,” she says through giggles, grabbing the other woman.
Two wives?
What Garreth was referring to, Cedric sends back down our bond.
“I’m Hera and this is Fr?n, consorts to the one choking his friend out with a scarf,” she says nodding to the rulers on the floor once again.
Cedric and Baron look up at us three and sure enough, Baron has Cedric’s neck wrapped around with a silk scarf.
The men are laughing crazily, out of breath from their tussles.
I’m having a moment trying to sort through the scene in front of me.
Cedric has more friends? The dark, brooding king who keeps things clean and to the point in his kingdom actually has fun? My mind can’t wrap around the notion.
And Baron, the king, has two wives. That man must be the happiest in all the continent. They’re stunning in the way an immortal is, but tenfold. I feel immediately small next to them.
“Liv, I am so glad you agreed to come,” Baron says as he paces back over to us, dodging a pillow being thrown at his head by Cedric.
I laugh at the quickness of his movement.
Baron takes my hand in his and pulls me into a deep hug.
Pulling back, he says, “I know you don’t remember us, but we were all great friends.
It is nice to meet you again.” He smiles greatly before turning to Cedric and saying, “Let’s get this party started then, shall we? ”
I let Cedric lead me into the conversation pit. He knows of my ailment?
Baron is a very close, very caring friend. We consulted some of his personal cess when you were first injured. A risk, yes, but it was hard to keep it a secret from him. I have no reason to believe he would use this against us.
Jarring to hear him refer to me as Liv.
He’s very respectful, Cedric finishes. We get comfortable on the pillows and cushions around the fire pit. Baron and his wives snuggle close drinking wine deeply while he and Cedric catch up. I can’t help but listen to the two revel in their memories together.
Baron’s wives, apparently, were some of my closest friends. I can’t help but to smile at them and wish I knew what that must have felt like, to have close female confidantes.
An hour and five bottles of wine pass when more guests arrive, all from Baron’s court. Everyone here has a healthy glow to them. Maybe immortality doesn’t have to look like walking death.
Our newest additions are generals in Gruyere’s army, the royal seamstresses, a messenger Baron took a liking to and some women Fr?n and Hera invited. Everyone is so welcoming and fun.
The best part about this gathering is I get to see Cedric live. He’s a young man here, excited and loud with the boyish characteristics he surely puts away when he has to be King Cedric.
During a deep conversation he’s having with Baron and the two generals, something about borders again, he looks at me.
Not just a glance, he loses focus on his friends to just look at me.
I look back. He raises his wine to his smiling lips, nodding as a sort of toast that I return from my cozy nest on the floor.
A small breeze pushes my hair back when I notice an arm around my shoulders. I look to the hand now twisting my icy blonde hair between his fingers.
“Well, hello,” I say, hiding my smile with my glass. It’s hard to get used to the constant apparating.
“Enjoying yourself?” he whispers in my ear. I nod, sipping again. His hand takes the glass from my hands, setting it on the ledge of the pit. He turns his body to face me, pushing his hand on my shoulder to do the same.
“Drunk, are you?” I say, looking at the king before me. His fingers are still in my hair and his eyes search my face.
I swallow.
“Just a little bit,” he whispers, removing his arm to make the gesture with his hand. His lip is pouty and the face he’s making causes me to erupt in laughter. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I’m snorting and reeling back from the stupid face he just made – a king made.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I wipe the happy tears welling in my eyes.
He’s just staring at me, searching my face again. For what, I do not know.
“Hey, Cedric!” Baron calls.
Cedric pauses before tearing his eyes from mine. “No,” he groans before tilting his head back and letting a deep chuckle rumble as he rubs his eyes.
“Come on, old sport,” Baron pushes, now crouching in front of us. In his hands is a golden box filled with a shimmering black powder.
“Not tonight,” Cedric says with a raised hand. Baron also makes a pouty face, but I hold back my wine-induced laughter.
“Oh, but you said that last time.”
I turn to Cedric now, shocked that these two might be more mischievous than I expected. Because that black powder is not charcoal.
Baron then looks to me. “Perhaps Liv would like to partake?” Over his shoulder Hera and Fr?n are doing a toast of their own, only now with this black powder they lick from the back of their hands.
Cedric closes the box, answering for me. “The answer’s no, Baron.”
I look to Cedric, taken aback. He can’t just be making decisions for me. As Baron is standing up to walk away, I grab his pant leg. “What is it? The powder?”
He smiles and sits on the other side of me.
“It’s Death Dust.”
That sounds like a superb, welcoming activity.
“Doesn’t that sound fun,” I deadpan.
Baron opens the box back up and leans closer. “That’s where you’re wrong. Pure ecstasy. Your deepest feelings amplified by one hundred. Imagine having pure and wild happiness course through your veins.” He points to the Death Dust. “That’s what this is.”