Chapter 15 #2
“You know our hearing is quite keen. Do you think me a liar?”
“I think someone is lying… Perhaps the whole lot of you.”
Tempus moved closer to me, his posture unthreatening but his tone gaining an edge once more. “What inspires your disbelief?”
“They say her body wasn’t returned. All former queen’s bodies are supposed to be returned to their family for the pyre.”
Tempus smirked. “You weren’t even alive, yet you insist on exhuming long buried truths. But yes, her body wasn’t returned. It was feared her ailment was contagious. The bodies were burned at Eventide so they posed no risk.”
Lord Tempus cleared his throat to speak again, but not before I could interrupt.
“There was more than one body?” I asked in alarm.
By now, Tempus was so close I could study the whites of his eyes, and in that moment, his pupils constricted, a tell-tale sign of deceit. “My sincerest apologies for the confusion. I meant body.”
I glared at him in silent challenge. Tempus could tell I did not believe a word, and I would not let the subject wane, but he only ushered me back to the hidden door. “Come, I have much more to show you.”
I quieted my curiosity long enough for us to make our way back down the wretched stairwell and, as he led me in a new direction, I seized the moment to press him further. “If she was so beloved, why do her portraits no longer hang in the gallery?”
Tempus kept his back turned, striding forward to our next destination when he answered. His words pierced like a knife, his aim precise. “Perhaps he did not want to be reminded of his one true love.”
I was sent here to destroy Vastion and all his kind.
I did not love him, and I certainly did not care what his feelings were for me.
But I found myself strangely annoyed hearing Tempus describe Queen Kesna as my husband’s true love.
Maybe I’d convinced myself he had never loved any of his wives.
Perhaps this was why the sentiment felt so foreign.
Lord Tempus did his best to impress me with a tour of the Great Library.
It was ten times the size of Vastion’s private one, and Vampyr milled about in every direction.
Reading was much more comfortable amidst the solitude of a nook or a cozy bed.
I feigned a yawn in Tempus’s direction, making my disinterest clear.
“My Queen, is it me you tire of, or have you simply grown bored of this tour?”
“No, Lord Tempus, I do not tire of you. Yet,” I declared confidently. “However, I am quite interested in how the long-lived residents stay entertained beyond their baubles and books.”
“I see.” he nodded. “Let’s get you some lunch, and then I’ll see if we can find a way to satiate your appetite for entertainment.
” His gaze turned almost seductive, and he led us back toward the Great Hall where many others had already gathered for another ration.
Orin and Mina stood near the head table, her glare piercing through me when she witnessed Lord Tempus by my side.
We found our seats and, when she saw me point him toward her usual position, her jaw went slack.
She began to strut toward me angrily, Orin catching her arm, which she quickly yanked from his grasp.
“Cousin,” she greeted Tempus through gritted teeth.
“Princess Samina,” Tempus said, lowering his head in deference.
Her voice rose with indignation. Onlookers were beginning to take notice.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing sitting in my seat? You’re lucky you even have a position at this table after—”
“Mina!” Orin cut her off abruptly.
Sitting quite literally in the middle of their rising tension, I attempted to redirect her scorn. “I commanded him to sit next to me.”
“You what?” Mina’s nostril’s flared and Orin’s stance stiffened defensively.
“As his queen, I commanded his company. And since I’m the highest ranking official currently residing in the Heart, I decide where he sits.”
Suddenly, Mina’s fangs were unsheathed, and a furious hissing sound erupted from her lips.
The others sprang from their seats in surprise, each of their reflexes kicking in, waiting for what might transpire.
In truth, I feared for my life. Very much so.
There was no hiding the quickening of my pulse, the pounding of my heart, and the way my arm hair rose at Tempus’s gentle touch as he reached out in concern.
Though I’d never dealt with a woman of Mina’s rank before, I had dealt with her type, and the only way to meet them was to match them with your own dominance.
“Do it, Mina, I dare you!” I taunted. “I’d love to see you commit treason in front of all your brother’s subjects. Even more than that, as you sink your teeth into my flesh, know that I’ll be thinking of exactly what Vastion will do to you when he returns.”
Mina was not a Rabid, yet in that moment, there was an uncontrollable anger waiting just below the surface. I refused to meet her gaze and began leisurely picking at my meal, as if she didn’t warrant another ounce of my attention.
From beside her, I heard Orin sternly pleading for her to stop.
She lowered her face to mine and spoke slowly and quietly into my ear.
“You would use my outburst as a way to deflect my brother’s anger when he returns home.
But I will not let you lure me into such a trap.
And make no mistake, he will be furious when he hears with whom you’ve conspired. ”
Her words were seething and venomous as she shot an accusatory glare in Tempus’s direction.
Mina abruptly shoved past Orin and departed from the Great Hall, leaving me and Lord Tempus to our lunch—alongside a hundred or so concerned subjects who had witnessed it all.
Orin remained too, my loyal guard dog, but I paid him no attention.
Tempus finished his drink, and I shoved food around my plate having lost my appetite due to the encounter and a tinge of guilt. I pushed the platter aside. “Let’s get out of here. I’m tired of them staring at me.”
He followed me through the arched exit of the hall and the Vampyr didn’t attempt to hide their rude, disapproving chatter. I was sure to become the gossip of the Heart in less than an hour.
“Where to now?” I demanded. “You promised me entertainment, and after Vastion’s wildling of a sister, I need a distraction. So, whatever you have planned, it better be good.”
“Your wish is my command,” he said, dipping into a short bow.
He led the way, mostly in silence, but Mina’s accusations loomed at the forefront of my mind. “What grudge does your cousin hold against you, so grave she dares refer to you as a conspirator?”
Tempus let out a small, unbothered laugh. “You know what I like about you?”
“What?” I asked, looking up just in time to see him stopped directly in front of me. I almost ran face first into his chest.
“You are so adorably easy to read. Your curiosity couldn’t be silenced, not even under threat of your own beheading.”
“I’m the only human living in a city made up entirely of Vampyr. Beheading is the least of my worries.”
He turned on his heel and began to walk away when I grabbed his arm. He looked sharply over his shoulder.
“Don’t make me command an answer, Lord Tempus,” I said with a fake smile.
He glanced in each direction, making sure we were alone before he answered.
“I’m quite certain her long-held grudge has to do with a difference in ideals.
I once made the mistake of not being so shy about where I stood on certain…
subjects. I have since learned what side of that argument prevailed and to hold my tongue…
As I should like to keep it.” He winked at me flirtatiously.
Growing ever braver, he looped his arm through mine. “Enough talk of nobles and politics, come!”
When we arrived at the entrance, I thought, Ahh, finally.
Descending stairs rather than climbing them.
There were only a handful, and when he opened the door, a plume of smoke billowed out, obstructing my vision momentarily.
When it finally cleared, I stepped into the strange establishment.
The ceiling here was lower, only a few heads taller than Tempus, and made the space more intimate.
The floors were lined with pillows; cushions and blankets covered every inch.
The candles seemed to only whisper their wavering light into the room, careful not to disturb its inhabitants.
And the dim glow from numerous blown glass lanterns bent the light into various shapes and textures throughout the smoke-filled room.
The scents swirled and mingled with one another, making it difficult to pinpoint what exactly it was.
Notes of sweet citrus, then aromas of black pepper or some other warm spice, followed by herbal undertones.
As we walked farther inside, the smell became stronger and caused my eyes to water.
Tempus took notice and pointed to an open area in a nearby corner.
“Here, sit down, stay low, and it will lessen the afront to your senses. The smoke rises.”
I lowered myself onto the lush pile of pillows, shifting my skirts around me to get more comfortable. Lord Tempus stepped away but returned quickly with a silver platter and placed it on the ground between us before sitting next to me.
“What is this place?”
“This is where the sleepless come to dream.”
I glanced around, trying not to draw attention with my prying eyes.
The room was littered with the languid and dulled.
Some slouched in a relaxed state with their eyes closed.
Others stared vacantly, slack-jawed yet serene.
Many were curled up on one another, their bodies intertwined, cuddling like a den of newborn wolves.
For a moment, I was almost convinced they weren’t Vampyr at all.
Their positioning somewhat fetal, nonthreatening, and in no way indicative of their true strength.
“Do you come here often?” I inquired, wondering if this was how he preferred to spend his free time.