CHAPTER 8 #3
“Of course. I’ll just go up to my room and change.”
The guard cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Apologies, Your Highness, but the king asked that I bring you there directly.”
Ah, so it was to be a bit of theatre, then.
Alexander smiled down at the guard. He was young, with a smattering of freckles across his nose. “What’s your name?”
“Um, Thierry, sire.”
“Well, Thierry. I guess we mustn’t keep my father waiting.”
The formal dining hall had been set with large floral displays of poinsettias, white roses and purple irises. The servants stood against the walls, ready to bring out the soup course.
The king glowered from the head of the table, being simpered upon by his two young assistants.
Alex could never keep them straight. Both had their heads so far up his father’s ass that they never managed to say anything that didn’t bore him to tears.
One had a rather horsey laugh that Serafina loved to imitate.
The other, Garrett, was obsessed with garlic as a curative for all manner of vampiric ailments, to the point they were forever trading spots at functions to avoid getting stuck seated beside him and his rancid breath.
Dante’s gaze raked over him as he took a seat at the opposite side of the table, no doubt assessing for unseen injuries.
Alex froze when he saw Sera seated beside him.
“Yes, your sister finally decided to end her little tantrum and grace us with her presence again,” his father said dryly. “Hopefully she won’t break anything this time.”
Garrlicka snorted.
Sera rolled her eyes. To his knowledge, it had been two years since she’d last spoken to their father. No doubt, her presence at this deranged Visconti family dinner was the only reason he was out of his cell.
“Are you okay?” Sera asked, ignoring their father and his preening aides.
“I’m fine.” Alex waved her off, reaching for his water glass.
“Sorry I’m late.” Isabella hurried into the room.
Unlike the rest of the table, short of Alex, who were in formal evening attire, Isabella had come straight from her lab.
Her dark hair was tied up in a messy knot and her delicate features were framed by tortoiseshell glasses.
Seeing him, she stopped short. “Alex, what happened to you?”
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” the king said. “Your brother decided to get out and have a bit of fun while the sector was being looted.”
Seated beside him, Garlicky Garrett tittered. The Horse brayed into his wine. Sera rolled her eyes.
“I read your latest research paper,” Judas continued. “Impressive, what your work could mean for the fraction of vampires who suffer abnormalities and remain sickly and weak after exposure to the virus. Am I to understand you believe it’s more than just genetic inferiority?”
“Genetics always plays a role, but I’m hopeful that no matter the cause, the research my team is conducting can help all vampires to lead long, healthy lives.
There’s so much we have yet to learn given how recently vampirism emerged.
I want to be a part of adding to the wealth of scientific research and advancement.
” Isabella went to kiss their father on the cheek, then smiled graciously at the servant who pulled out her chair at the place of honor to his right.
“It’s so important to me after what happened to Mother. ”
As usual, there was no suppressing the wave of sadness and revulsion Alex always felt at the sight of his youngest sister fawning over their father.
The loss of Charlotte Visconti had impacted them all deeply.
Alex had been only seventeen when their mother had fallen ill, and Isabella, at only eleven, had been a far more tender age.
She refused to see that the king’s missteps weren’t due to his grief.
Isabella had always been Judas’s favorite, and Alex had to fight to remember that her brainwashing was no more her fault than any other form of abuse their father meted out.
His mother’s dying plea had been that he keep their siblings together. Alex wouldn’t let his father get his claws into Isabella.
Servers came around to each of their places, setting out the soup course. The chef had prepared a savory spiced curry with turmeric, onions and vegetables. Having eaten nothing since the pancakes at Dani’s that morning, he tucked into his bowl ravenously.
“We have a problem,” Judas announced. “The riots that took place yesterday are spreading a false narrative, seeking to manipulate public sentiment into believing that any and all problems facing the sector are due to supposed excesses of the one percent. The rebels blame the oligarchs and the crown for the slow economic growth caused by multiple pandemics, ignoring the part played by constant conflicts with the wolf shifters and the fae.”
“They actually think they’d be happier under shifter rule?” Garrlicka scoffed and Alexander had to hold his breath to keep from wincing at the fumes. “You should allow part of the city to be taken, just for a few weeks. See how quickly they come running back, begging to be under sector control.”
“Oh, could we?” The Horse snorted approvingly. “It would be too much, am I right? But so much fun, too!”
Their salad plates arrived. Sera stuffed a large forkful of leaves into her mouth and shook out her hair like a mane. Alex barely kept from choking on his wine.
“Honestly, Serafina.” Judas frowned. “Sometimes one would think you were raised out in the stable with the pigs.”
“Sorry.” She dabbed her mouth delicately. “This salad is just so good.”
Isabella rolled her eyes.
“I’m afraid we may have a small complication on the Lara front,” Garrlick said, shooting an apologetic look his way.
“Rather than the press announcement setting up Lara as the princess the public wants Alex to pick at the ball, the obvious choice and the right one, sentiment has turned against her, especially after the riots.”
“And do you believe this to be due to their perception that Alexander is infatuated with this sanguine?” Judas asked in a bored voice.
Alex tensed.
Sera subtly shook her head, then turned to face their father.
“The people are rebelling against the rich and are demanding better treatment. They are disgusted by the displays of excess they see thrown in their faces while their families continue to starve. You can listen to your sycophants if you want, but my read of the room is that months of following their advice hasn’t gotten you anywhere. ”
Garrlick let out a particularly noxious huff. The Horse slit his eyes towards the king. Alexander knew neither would challenge Sera openly. They might have been his father’s favorite pets, but Serafina was still the former crown princess.
Judas smiled thinly. “Dinners have grown so dull without you being expelled from the room before the dessert course, daughter mine.”
“I can imagine.”
The king waved a hand. “Go on. I’m listening.”
“Dani has become a symbol of the underclass. They are very sympathetic to her plight, having no other option but to sell her blood to save her chronically ill sister who the healthcare system has failed, a sister who is so sick because of constant medication shortages.”
“Lara’s family has caused those medication shortages deliberately, and everyone realizes it,” Alex added.
“All the charitable foundations in the world won’t do any good, won’t build any goodwill because there are too many families out there exactly like Dani’s.
They don’t want scraps. They don’t want to see a single family graced with boxes of food at Christmas on their media feeds. They want real, meaningful change.”