Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
CYRENE
Afew hours later, I sat alone in a nightwing-drawn coach, pressing my face against the cool glass as the vehicle descended through the evening mist toward Shadowborne Castle.
The massive structure emerged from the fog like an ancient beast waking after a long sleep.
Spires of black stone pierced the clouds, their points sharp enough to slice open the sky.
Narrow windows glistened with light, too few to counter the fortress’s darkness.
This would be my home now, this forbidding place that looked like it would rather eat joy than welcome it.
Fantastic. Exactly the vibe a girl hopes for on her honeymoon.
Quandary shifted on my shoulder. He hadn’t spoken since the wedding, sensing my need for quiet.
The reception had been a blur of fake smiles and awkward small talk.
Kieran and I had circled each other like wary predators, never coming close enough to speak.
When it was time to leave, he’d chosen to ride with the driver on top of the coach rather than share the interior with me.
So much for wanting to talk.
That stung—annoyingly so. I’d spent the journey flipping between wanting to scream at him and feeling like I was going to cry, neither of which was like me at all. I wasn’t built for this heaviness. If joy was my specialty, I was seriously underperforming tonight.
We could still make a run for it, Quandary said in my mind. I could set the coach on fire as a distraction.
Despite everything, I smiled. “And go where, sweets? Back to Grandmother who arranged this mess? I need to figure out what game Kieran’s playing.”
I don’t think he’s playing a game.
“You like him.” My companion pretty much betrayed me by purring for him. “What’s up with that, anyway?”
He’s…alright. And yes, I met him earlier. He personally delivered his reply to your grandmother, and I happened to be there. He couldn’t stay long, or you might’ve met him too. Maybe give him a chance?
“I don’t know.” How could I when he hurt me?
The coach touched down on the wide stone courtyard and came to a stop.
Gardens stretched beyond the cobblestones in all directions, and everything looked too perfect, made up of neat hedgerows and symmetrical plantings that screamed control issues.
Everything here looked so precise it made my teeth itch.
The coach door swung open, and Kieran extended his hand to help me down. I ignored him and stepped out on my own, nearly catching the hem of my travel gown on the coach step.
Grace, thy name is not Cyrene.
His mouth tightened, but he didn’t say anything.
Quandary shifted on my shoulder, his tiny claws digging to help keep his balance. Smoke tendrils curled from his nostrils as we took in the massive castle looming over us.
“Welcome to Shadowborne.” Kieran’s voice came out stiff and distant. “The ancestral home of my family for forty-seven generations.”
“It’s certainly impressive.” It wasn’t a lie.
The castle was huge in a forbidding way, a sprawling structure of dark stone that looked carved from the mountains behind it.
At least four times the size of Grandmother’s manor house, dozens of towers and wings spread out around it like the wings of an enormous bat.
Bat. Vampire. I almost laughed at the thought.
“I’ve had my staff prepare the royal chambers for us.” Kieran gestured toward the massive doors where several servants waited.
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“You are my wife,” he growled.
“In name only. Never in any other way.”
His growl deepened, and his gaze sharpened on my face before he gave me a stiff nod. “Very well. We will share the suite, however. You have no choice in that, wife.”
“Very well,” I huffed in a tight voice.
“Your things were sent ahead and should be unpacked by now.”
“Thank you.”
We walked across the courtyard and up the broad stone steps. When the vampire staff swept open the enormous double doors with surfaces carved to look like serpents, we entered a foyer larger than my bedroom back home at the manor.
Two vampires, the woman dressed in a floor-length black gown and the man in an equally dark suit, entered the vaulted foyer from a parlor on the right.
They looked me up and down with raised eyebrows, exchanged a glance, then huffed and swept into another parlor on my left in a rustle of expensive clothing.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“Lady Francine Aragorn and Lord Lars Rathley,” Kieran said. “Distant relatives of mine and also two of my advisors.”
Stilted advisor in-laws. Excellent. What could possibly go wrong with that?
“I probably won’t see them much, then.”
Kieran’s mouth quirked up with the ghost of a smile. “They live here at the castle.”
“How many people live here with you?”
“Seventy-three, including staff. The castle has housed the extended family and retainers for centuries. It’s a bit of a tradition.”
Seventy-three. I’d gone from Grandmother’s cozy manor with a household of three to this sprawling fortress filled with strangers.
A tall, painfully thin vampire in a black suit and a starched white shirt entered the foyer, stopping and bowing deeply. “Your Majesty. Everything has been prepared as requested.”
“Thank you, Vassen.” Kieran’s pale blue gaze slid my way. “This is my wife Queen Cyrene. She’s to be given every courtesy.”
The butler bowed again, my way this time, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I found warmth in his dark eyes. “Of course. Welcome to Shadowborne Castle, my queen. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Kieran gestured to a sweeping staircase that spiraled upward. “I’ll show you to our suite. You must be tired.”
I nodded.
The castle was a maze of corridors and staircases, each looking the same as the last. Black marble floors, dark wood paneling, tapestries showing historic vampire battles or stiff vampire faces, all lit by flickering sconces that cast more shadows than light.
We passed dozens of doors, and I wondered how I’d ever find my way around this maze.
“The royal wing is private,” Kieran said as we climbed yet another staircase, this leading to the fifth floor. “Only Vassen and a few trusted staff have access. You’ll have complete privacy there.”
Privacy with him. Great. Exactly what I didn’t order off the marriage menu.
Finally, we reached ornate double doors carved with what might be a family crest, a bat with its wings outstretched around a goblet. How very vampiric of them.
Kieran pushed the doors open to reveal a sitting room larger than Grandmother’s entire workshop.
A fire crackled in a massive hearth, and several doors led off to what I assumed were more rooms. The dark wood furniture had an elegant but severe feel, and the rest of the room showed black wooden wainscotting and gloomy-colored wall hangings, with only a few silver flourishes breaking up the darkness.
“Our chambers,” Kieran said. “The bedroom is on your left. Your workroom has been set up in the tower adjacent to these rooms through the furthermost door on the right. I thought you might like the natural light there.”
I glanced at him, surprised he’d thought of something like that. “Thanks.”
“As I said, your trunks have been unpacked, and your supplies arranged in the workroom. I made sure they followed your notes about proper placement.”
Had he actually paid attention to those details? I’d thought the marriage arrangement was solely about politics, that my personal needs would be an afterthought, if a thought at all. I’d pictured unpacking myself, struggling to find joy in the task while surrounded by…well, this.
Quandary launched from my shoulder, his tiny wings beating fast as he explored the space. He circled the sitting room, pausing to sniff various objects, leaving tiny smoke trails behind him.
“Is he…safe?” Kieran asked, eyeing my companion with concern.
“Define safe.” Quandary perched on top of a bookshelf and sneezed, sending slender dual flames shooting into the air. “He’s mostly harmless. Just excitable.”
“I see.”
I ran my fingers over a black velvet settee, searching for something to say. The silence between us stretched to the point where I felt the need to fill it.
“I’ll let you settle in,” Kieran said, backing toward the door. “I have matters to attend to before bed.”
“Of course.” Relief and disappointment battled inside me. I didn’t want to spend time with him, did I? “Your kingly duties.”
His jaw tightened. “Yes. My duties. The ones I’ve been neglecting to attend our wedding.”
I bit back a sharp reply.
“I’ll return later.” He turned toward the door but hesitated, his hand on the frame. “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but I’ll try to make it bearable for you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Can I have the kitchen send something up for you?”
“No, thank you. I ate at the reception.” Only a few things, but my belly still churned.
With a nod, he strode out the door, leaving me alone in the echoing chambers with only Quandary for company.
He’s hiding something, my companion said, gliding across the room to land on my shoulder.
Obviously. The question is what.
I could swoop around, discreetly, of course, if you’d like. See what I can discover.
I was tempted to take him up on his offer, but Quandary and discretion rarely met in the middle. I wasn’t up to soothing burns and harsh feelings from those he encountered tonight.
Not for now, I said.
He huffed and flew off my shoulder, landing on the back of a particularly ugly black velvet sofa, flapping his wings and shooting flames close enough to make the fabric smolder.
“Try not to burn the castle down,” I said.
I’d never!
That was debatable.
I spent the next half hour exploring the rooms. The bedroom held multiple bureaus made of black wood and a four-poster bed big enough for six people, thankfully. I might not even know Kieran was there.
A sunken tub fed by hot springs took up a large area of the bathing chamber that otherwise held a normal toilet and large sink. A few cabinets lined one wall and had been filled with surprisingly fluffy towels and various soaps and tooth powders.
On the opposite side of the sitting room, I found a dining area for private meals. Other doors from this room led to Kieran’s study, all masculine with books and a huge desk made of black wood. At the end of the room, I took the narrow staircase winding up to my workshop in the tower.
The workshop showed promise. Circular, it had windows on all sides that would catch great light during the day.
My supplies had been carefully arranged on workbenches positioned to take advantage of whatever natural illumination day or night might offer.
Someone had even placed a comfortable chair by the largest window, perfect for sitting to dream up joy-infused charms.
When I returned to the bedroom, I found a nightgown of pale blue silk laid out on the bed. I changed, the cool silk a relief after the stiff traveling gown.
Quandary made himself comfortable on a cushioned perch near the window.
This place feels old, he said with a yawn. Like the stones remember things they’re not telling us.
Cheerful thought. I sat at the vanity and brushed out my hair, quickly securing it in a long braid.
Hours passed.
I tried reading one of the books from the sitting room, a dry history of vampire nobility, but I couldn’t get past the first ten pages. I rearranged my personal items on the vanity. I even attempted to craft a joy pendant, but my magic felt sluggish and uncooperative.
Finally, the door opened, and Kieran entered. He’d changed from his formal wedding outfit into a simple black shirt and pants that outlined all his muscles and somehow made him look even more regal. He paused when he saw me perched on the edge of the enormous bed.
“You’re still awake.” He sounded surprised.
“Did you expect me to be asleep?”
“I thought you might be tired.” He closed the door. “I’m sorry about the late hour. Some things couldn’t wait.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Now that he was here, the reality of our situation hit me hard. We were married. This was our bedroom. This was our bed.
Kieran seemed to follow my thoughts. “I’ll take one of the sofas in the sitting room. You can have the bed to yourself.”
“The sofas are half your size,” I pointed out before I could stop myself. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ve slept in worse places.”
“I’m not kicking you out of your own bed.” Though the thought of sharing it with him made my pulse quicken in a way I refused to think about. “It’s big enough for both of us. We’ll barely know the other is there.”
His eyes met mine, and for a moment, I saw the Kieran I’d known six years ago, the one with warmth in his gaze and a ready smile. Then it was gone, replaced by the cool, distant king I’d married.
“Your boundaries will be respected.” He sounded so formal, so detached. As if the man who’d kissed me with need at the altar had been someone else.
My cheeks burned. “Thank you.”
“I’ll get ready for bed, then.” He retreated to his dressing room.
When he returned, he wore loose sleeping trousers and nothing else.
My breath caught at the sight of his bare chest full of taut muscles beneath smooth skin.
He looked stronger and broader than he’d been six years ago.
I hadn’t seen this much of him back then, of course.
Our three days together had been filled with talking and laughing, holding hands and kisses, but nothing more.
He caught me staring and raised an eyebrow. Mortified, I quickly looked away.
Kieran moved to the far side of the massive bed and slid beneath the covers. “Good night, Cyrene.”
“Good night.” I turned off the lamp on my side and climbed under the covers.
Darkness wrapped around us, broken only by moonlight peeking around the heavy curtains. I lay rigid, aware of his presence only a few feet away. His breathing came soft and measured, while mine felt uneven and loud.
Eventually, his breathing deepened, smoothing out to sleep.
I wasn’t far behind.