“They can be quite an unruly bunch, the middle lot. I suggest you keep clear,” he adds.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they won’t see you as a sister, but they will see you as someone to take advantage of. Unfortunately, you being a Vampire will only encourage them,” he sighs.
“I can take care of myself, no need to worry,” I say in reassurance and he looks at me as if I have grown another head.
“Touch them and, daughter or not, I will kill you myself,” he growls at me.
I roll my eyes at him. “All right, papa bear. Calm down. I won’t go near your precious boys.”
“Make sure you don’t. I don’t want them sullied by your less-than-pristine state,” he says as he starts walking at his speed again.
Excuse me? My less-than-pristine state? “What the Hell is that supposed to mean?” I bark at him as I run to catch up.
“You know what it means,” he says with disdain. “Princesses of this Court are supposed to be innocent until marriage. I am sure it is far too much to hope that you still have your innocence?”
I balk at him and say, “I am one thousand and seventeen years old, what do you think?”
“Precisely,” he says. “Sullied. It, quite frankly, is a disgrace.”
I stare at him open-mouthed. I’ll show him a disgrace, I think, clenching my fists at my side.
“I blame your mother,” he adds. “She should have told me about you from birth. I could have gone for you and protected you. Raised you the way you should have been. She may not have been able to interfere, but I could have. Fortunately, there is a silver lining. Kalen is also as tarnished as you are, so I don’t have to worry about your future husband finding out. It’s a good match.”
“Humph,” I say rudely and go quiet.
“I believe you already know Kalen. You share the same Vampire sire,” he says conversationally, and I look up at him.
“Yes, we know each other. We also know each other in the biblical sense,” I say smartly, out of spite for his comments about my lack of innocence.
He glances down at me sharply. “Oh really?” he asks. “Even better. Maybe you are already with child.”
“I had better bloody not be. I have too much to explain to my husband as it is,” I say wearily.
“Husband, ha. Your husband will be Kalen,” he says and stops outside a set of closed double doors.
“Hm,” I say noncommittally. I am all on board for being acknowledged as his daughter, but this whole prophecy business is a worry that I have no idea how I will get out of. Hopefully Sebastian will have some ideas. I will have to ask him, once I am through beating him within an inch of his life for betraying me. My shoulders sag as I realize I would kill to see him right now. Whether it is being here, the place of our shared heritage, or just to see a friendly face who knows what the Hell is going on down here, I don’t know. Drake pushes the doors open with a grand gesture and steps into a hall the size of the entire Ponte Sull’acqua. Man, how big is this palace? So far all I have seen is the prison, the kitchen, the hallway, and my bedroom. Not exactly tour of the century. Hundreds of faces turn towards us and I gulp. Oh, yikes. There is more than enough contempt to go around, but Drake takes my arm and glares at his people. He leads me silently down the aisle and I can feel everyone’s eyes follow me closely. We eventually reach the front few rows and all of my brothers are glaring at me in hatred. Well, most of them, the one at the far end, who appears to be the youngest, gives me an encouraging smile. I return it, but then I actually feel the ice-like stare coming from the tall, thin woman sitting at the front of the room on a throne. Her dark hair is swept up into a tight knot on top of her head and her pinched features are drawn into a look of intense loathing. Ah, I guess this is Drake’s wife, Maurelle. Man, she really does not look pleased to see me. Not that I can blame her, but still. Drake ushers me to the seat next to the friendly one and then goes to sit on his own throne next to his wife.
“I’m Trystan,” the Faerie next to me whispers.
“I’m Liv,” I whisper back with a smile. “Well, not for much longer…” I indicate to our father who has started speaking in a language that I have never heard before but gather is Faerie. It is all guttural sounds and I have no clue what he is saying as I have no foundation in this language. It kind of annoys me and I vow to ask to learn it at the earliest convenience. He goes on and on about who knows what and I struggle to stay awake. Talk about boring. He seems to be pleased, though, with the audience’s response as he smiles at me and gestures me forward. I stand and inch closer to him, vastly uncomfortable under the sinister glare of Maurelle. I look up at him as he takes my hand and I see a genuine look of pride in his eyes and I beam at him, everyone else forgotten. He turns me towards the crowd and says more words I don’t understand, but then, lucky for me, he switches to English and announces my new name. I hadn’t even thought to ask him what it was. I don’t really care, but when he says, “My daughter, Aeval,” I look up at him in surprise. Aeval? As in the Lady of Sexuality? What kind of name is that? He smirks down at me slightly, and I roll my eyes at him.
“It’s not what you think,” he says to me quietly. “It was my mother’s name.”
Oh…wow! He gave me his mother’s name. I flush with pride and he is pleased that I like it.
After much applause, I sense the crowds warming to me slightly now that their King is clearly accepting, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Maurelle stands and with that he dismisses the hall and people start to leave. Drake takes my arm and moves me out of the line of his wife and Trystan comes over to offer his acceptance of me. He is a cute little thing. From what Drake said, he would be eighteen and looks just like his father. Mind you, having said that, they all do. I get completely snubbed by the elder set, who leave without a word, leaving the so-called “unruly” middle boys and the shier younger ones. Maurelle glares down her nose at me with a look that would kill me if I were anything other than what I am. “You may go back to your room now,” she says with so much frost, I shiver. “I don’t want your Halfling presence tainting my sons.”
I hear the sharp intake of breath from Trystan, but I am just thinking, Halfling? What is a Halfling?
“Maurelle,” Drake warns her with a pointed look, and she shrugs her narrow shoulders.
Oh, clearly it is an insult, and a pretty bad one round here it seems, for a crossbreed such as myself. Well, I think, pulling myself up, no way am I letting this bitch insult me. I adopt the exact same sneer that she has on her face and say, “It is interesting that you think you are better than me. I am a Queen by birth and will be an Empress one day, whereas you are just an adornment picked out to breed a girl. Too bad you couldn’t even do that right and my father had to go elsewhere to get the job done.” I know I have been unusually harsh, but I don’t give a damn. I am hungry, lonely, tired and fed up, and this woman has just gotten on the wrong side of me.
“Aeval,” Drake snaps at me, as Maurelle steps closer to me, ready to strike me. He pulls his wife back and all the boys, who had been hovering, decide now is a good time to leave. All except my little shadow, Trystan, who inches closer to me. Maurelle’s gaze zeroes in on him and I pity the tirade that is coming his way.
“You step to defend her against me?” she asks, deathly quiet.