Chapter Six

A fter a quick wash and dress change, Liana hurried to the dining room where everyone already waited for her. Damien's family were there in addition to her own. They all stood at her entrance, which she found utterly ridiculous.

"So sorry, I lost track of time." Hurrying toward the head of the table, she gave Damien a quick kiss before sitting, everyone following. "Thank you all for coming," she said, already grabbing for her wine.

"Thank you for the invitation, sweetheart," her father replied, "and to you as well, Your Majesty," he added with a nod toward Damien.

"Most welcome." Damien tipped his glass in salute.

"Oh, Liana, please tell us the news," Lady Monroe gushed, the words bursting from her as if she were a bloated pig.

"What news, Mother?" Liana glanced at Damien, but he merely shrugged and gulped his wine.

"The reason for the dinner! I've been going out of my mind all day thinking about what you possibly had to tell us. Am I going to be a grandmother?" she questioned with such hope shining in her eyes.

Damien choked on his wine.

Ignoring his sputtering, Liana gaped at her mother. "Mother! You cannot just ask that."

Asher didn't hide his laughter at all which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Luciano.

"Why not? You may be Queen now, but you are still my daughter."

Cheeks aflame, Liana sat back in her chair wishing it would swallow her whole. "Why does there have to be an announcement? I invited you all to dinner so we could be together."

Lady Monroe gave her an indulgent smile. "Sweet, my dear, but I still want to know. And just remember, you can't lie to me."

Rolling her eyes, Liana gulped back the rest of her drink. She hadn't been able to lie to her mother. The woman had an uncanny ability of dragging the truth from her with only silence. Perhaps because the woman was never silent that it jarred her younger self too much that she'd spill her guts within a second.

"It is too soon to tell," Liana grumbled.

Her mother scoffed. "It's been long enough. So?"

Thoroughly embarrassed, Liana picked at the napkin in her lap. She didn't want to tell her entire family, males included that she was certain there would be no baby this time. Damien reached for hand and held it above the table.

Thankfully, he covered for her. "No baby yet. We brought you together to have an enjoyable meal and to spend time with our families." Damien signaled for the servants.

As the salad was served, Lady Monroe tutted. "No matter, dears. It will happen in no time. Your father and I were pregnant with Wesley two months after our wedding. No time at all."

Liana glared at Damien. "Why did we invite my family to dinner?"

"I believe you requested I do so."

"Yes, but you should know that when I said my family, that I meant everyone except my mother."

Instead of smirking like she expected, his lips turned down. Thumb brushing over her hand, he said, "Don't be too hard on her, or yourself. She is just an eager grandmother, and it will happen when the gods deem it so."

Liana hadn't been concerned about an heir. In fact, she'd like to hold off for a few years anyway. There were too many things she wanted to work on at the moment, too many things that were in flux. Not to mention the danger from the rebels.

"I'm fine, I'll just be embarrassed until the day I die."

His hand squeezed hers and kept their hands linked before digging into his salad. Enjoying her own salad, Liana asked her parents, "Where is Charlotte?" Wesley and Jasmine were still away on their honeymoon, so she knew not to expect them, but Charlotte was also not in attendance.

"She already committed to a dinner with Master Ranville," Lord Monroe answered.

Talk of Charlotte and Master Ranville still did not sit well with her, and she found herself asking, "Is Elias still in town?"

"He will be leaving in two days," her father answered.

Liana turned her head toward Damien and widened her eyes at him. Furrowed brows met her outlandish expression.

"What is wrong with you, love?" he asked in her head.

Rolling her eyes, she spoke back into his mind, "Invite them both for hunting or whatever it is you males do for fun."

That damn sardonic brow rose. "Whatever us males do for fun? What is it that you think we do?"

"That is not the point right now. Just ask him to join you tomorrow."

Amidst their silence and odd exchange of facial expressions, Eva interjected, "Hannah, do you have interest in furthering your magic education?"

The youngest Monroe sister held her head in a slight bow. "I would be thrilled to learn anything that is required of me, High Lady Evangeline, however, magic is more Liana's forte."

Liana ignored their conversation. "Please, Damien. I want to help Elias win over Charlotte and also spend some time with my father. I want him to experience joy and contentment in his final days."

Damien let out a gentle sigh. "Of course, my love."

Eva spoke again, Liana finally tuning in. "There is nothing else required of you, this would be for knowledge and pleasure. Is there nothing of magic that catches your fancy?"

A blush spattered over Hannah's cheeks. "Well, I do love to watch the dressmakers work their magic, High Lady. It fascinates me how they can change the color of the fabric and sew together such elaborate and beautiful dresses such as yours."

Eva gave her an indulgent smile. "Thank you. I quite agree with you as well. I'd be lost without my dressmakers and value their skills tremendously."

"I could teach you the spells and potions," Liana offered her sister.

Hannah's smile was so bright when she turned to Liana. "I would love that!"

Lady Monroe tutted, "That is inappropriate magic for a Lady to know, Hannah. You will not be learning."

It took a goddess's strength to keep Liana from arguing with her mother. Damien sensed that as well and placed his hand upon hers, this thumb brushing back and forth over her skin. Staying as calm as possible, Liana said, "If Hannah would like to learn, then I will teach her. In fact, I want to open mage schooling to females as well. And any that want to join the army will also be allowed to practice in the mage training rooms here in the castle. I could teach…"

Lady Monroe gasped, her skin going even paler. Any paler and she'd be certifiably six feet under. "Liana! You cannot speak such nonsense."

"Mother," Liana started with a long sigh.

"No, Liana. You have always been so strong-willed and progressive, but this is too far. You will push the mage community too far if you were to even suggest such a thing!"

"I am Queen now, Mother. What use am I if I don't utilize my position to start righting some of the wrongs that have been forced upon female mage?" Damien laced his fingers through hers, grounding her so that magic didn't burst out of her.

Lady Monroe's hands gesticulated wildly. "You are Queen! There is no other purpose for you."

She was lucky Damien was hard to break because she squeezed hard enough to turn bones into sand. "Mother," she growled through clenched teeth. "I do not bend to your will anymore and I will do what I know is right. Females deserve to know how to use the magic they are born with."

"But the councils, the males," Lady Monroe started.

"They will come to accept it in time," Liana interrupted. "It will be a difficult change and will probably take generations for everything to change but it will be worth it. Every single female is worth it." The prophecy popped into her mind in that moment. Luciano said something similar about the rebels and uniting Triaedian. It would take generations for everyone to finally integrate and accept one another. Still, they would be on the right path towards a better future.

"You would bring more trouble and danger to yourself."

"That is enough," Damien declared, his voice quiet but so full of force. "The Queen has declared her intentions. She will have my full support in anything that she does, and if anyone dares to even attempt to harm her, they will not survive a single heartbeat past their first thought of ill intent."

Liana squeezed his hand, her heart bursting with love for him.

Luciano raised his goblet in the air as if in toast. "It is about time someone capable of such a feat and with the gall to do it claimed the throne. Queen Liana will have my protection until my miserably long life comes to an end."

Ramone lifted his glass of wine. "I do not share my grandfather's sentiments about my long life, but I certainly agree with the rest."

"She is going to achieve what no vampire queen could in the past." Eva lifted her glass then drank, Asher and Owen following.

Lady Monroe stared wide-eyed at them all.

"Whatever you need, Liana, you have my support," her father offered. Her heart squeezed painfully knowing her father would likely not live long enough to see her achieve much at all. Magic burned steadily in her veins, determination growing with every beat of her heart while her father's seemed to tick away like a countdown. She'd start gathering students immediately. She'd show him something before he was gone.

"Thank you everyone. I did not gather you all here today to declare such action. I truly only wanted to enjoy a meal with our families."

Damien lifted her hand to place a kiss there, a wicked grin on his lips that had her worried. "It is okay, my love. One day you will come to accept that you inspire such devotion in others."

"Oh, hush, Husband. You're biased."

Chuckling, he spoke into her mind. "Perhaps a bit. That does not change the fact that my family and I would follow you to the end of our lives."

"I am serious, Damien, stop such talk." He spoke far too much of the future and death for her liking.

"No, you should stop such talk as if your only value in this life is how useful you are."

That caught her off guard. "I never said…"

He cut her off. "You did. And I will not stand for it. You are valuable simply by being alive, my love. Do not ever doubt that again."

The feelings in her chest were unfamiliar. She didn't want to look at them too hard or she knew she'd cry. Instead, she reverted to her usual teasing. "Or what? More of that pleasurable punishment you're so fond of?"

He may have growled out loud, to which Ramone raised his voice as he held the attention of her family with some story.

"Temptress, do not test me right now. Not while the taste of your blood has faded from my lips, and I crave you with each passing breath."

Heart picking up, magic stirring at the promise in his voice, Liana bit at the inside of her cheek. "You just drank from me this morning."

"I will never get enough of you, Wife. Your blood is my siren song, and I will happily drown for it."

She erected a tight shield around herself that blocked her scent and the sound of her heart from everyone. Luciano's eyes snapped to her, ever the vigilant protector while Damien settled a bit. "Calm for now. Let us get through dinner," she advised, sensing his vampire coming to the surface.

Keeping their hands linked, she ate her meal and let the conversation flow around them. She held onto Damien, kept him present and human.

"I also brought you all here tonight so I could make you protection charms," Liana informed once dinner was over. Phillipa appeared at the exact right moment with the box full of trinkets and jewelry she'd picked for everyone. "With the rebels increasing their criminal activity, I don't want anyone to go unprotected."

"We've got charms already," Owen said.

"I figured. Mine will be more powerful though. I want all of our family protected with the best."

Luciano surprised her by darting around the table and kneeling beside her. He held his finger out.

"I thought you'd be the first to protest," Liana commented. Before he could change his mind, she jabbed his finger with a needle and smeared his blood on the ring she chose for him. After the spells, she gave it to him.

"I cannot protect you if I am dead." He slid the ring over his thumb as he stood.

Liana raised a brow at Damien after his unpredictable grandfather returned to his seat. He just shrugged. These Ashwood men were the bane of her existence yet so vital to her happiness and safety.