Chapter 19

19

Cassius

I stalked through the castle, unable to shake the girl from my head. Ella Marquette.

Nothing about her was as it seemed. She acted like a simple serving girl, wide-eyed and new to castle life—but just as the dust and grime of the stables couldn't hide her beauty, Ella couldn't hide that she was something more.

What other serving girl would have stood up to Bianca for the sake of a lame mare? What other peasant, out wandering the woods, would have been bold enough to stab an immortal five times?

There was no denying she was far braver than one of her kind should be. The way she'd bewitched Tenbebris unnerved me the most. The beast had a heart as black as mine, and he'd maimed more than a handful of stableboys in his time. Yet the moment she approached him, he became as docile as a palfrey.

Who in all the hells was Ella Marquette?

I vowed to dig into her family history, but as soon as I returned to my study, I found the room was already occupied.

Aamon was lounging in a chair beside my desk, while Cassandra, the commander of my army, stood against the wall. With deep red hair that matched the crimson of her lips, she wore the simple tight black uniform of my officers, with three silver roses to show her rank.

"What's the meaning of this? An ambush?" I asked, in no mood to dicker with them this early in the night. It had better not be more problems on the western border.

Aamon pushed an envelope across the table. "The Triad sent me with a note."

I cursed and picked it up, then broke the seal and flipped the heavy paper open, revealing a short note: We want to know your choice. Soon.

I tossed it in the fire. The Triad—the high council that served as a check to my power and constant thorn in my side—delighted in meddling in affairs that were none of their business.

"They'll know my choice at the end of the ball, like everyone else," I grumbled.

Aamon's eyes darted to the burning message. "I have explicit instructions to light a fire under your feet."

"And you're going to follow them?" I asked incredulously. The man hated the Triad almost as much as I did.

He glanced at Cassandra. "We both think you need to get ahead of this. You don't want them forcing a woman on you. Besides, your enemies are growing active in the court, and the ball is the time to reforge alliances."

I crossed to the window and stared out at the night sky. I felt like a caged animal, and the glass was my only escape. I hated the politics of the castle.

"Lord Perrault has been busy," Cassandra said. "He's threatening families who could make you a better marriage alliance. He wants to ensure that you marry one of his daughters."

My stomach twisted in disgust. Lorayna or Bianca? "He can't be serious. Everyone knows how I feel about them."

"I'm certain he knows and doesn't care. He means to force you into an alliance."

I gritted my teeth against the thought. "There are some depths to which even I wouldn't sink to protect this kingdom. That's one of them."

If those two were my only option, I'd flee just as my brother had, kingdom and crown be damned.

Aamon leaned back, his eyes bright with laughter. "Can you imagine what kind of queen Bianca would make? Fates. She'd likely have the rest of the court put to the stake in her first week of rule and burn the castle down in the second."

That probably wasn't too far from the truth. Unfortunately, the problem went deeper than my dislike for the vicious sisters and their tantrums. Lord Perrault was cruel and a constant torment to the humans on his lands. Their lives meant little to me, but I was the Lord of the Bloodvale. It was my duty to protect them.

I shook my head. "Even with Lorayna, I couldn't risk giving their family any more power than they already have. They'd turn the Bloodvale into a living nightmare. Their family practically caused the Uprising in the first place, and now we're all paying the price, human and immortal alike."

"All right," Aamon said, rapping his knuckles on the table. "Then we've eliminated two of the dozens of eligible women in this kingdom. Immense progress. Let's keep going."

"It can't be a woman from any of the great houses. I don't want to upend the balance and start another house war."

Cassandra nodded. "Okay, then you should prioritize minor houses and outsiders, then—perhaps a foreigner, an unknown, who could bring with her new economic ties and hopefully less baggage."

Aamon nodded. "She has a good point. I like the idea of an outsider."

"They wouldn't understand the Bloodvale and its people or its history." I sighed. I wasn't sure why that was important to me, but it was. I glanced at Aamon, then looked back out the window. "It would have been easier if you'd a sister instead of brothers. Then I wouldn't have to worry about the damn politics of the thing."

"If I had a sister, I wouldn't let you anywhere near her. I'd want her to marry someone who was capable of love and affection, or at least someone who could let their guard down from time to time."

My shoulders tensed, but he wasn't wrong. I was loyal, but I hadn't been given a heart for love. I'd never had it in me. It made the seer's prophecy easier to bear, at least.

Aamon sighed and pulled a sheet of paper from the writing desk. "I assume that if I presented you with a list of all the eligible women in the kingdom, you'd find a reason to scratch off each of their names."

I ground my teeth. "Probably."

He dipped a quill in the ink and looked up at me expectantly. "Then we're going to make a list of all the impossible traits you want and see who matches the most ."

I scowled. "Someone who is above all loyal and can be trusted."

"There goes most of the court," Cassandra muttered.

She was loyal and would have made a good choice. Although I relied on her, I felt nothing for her. Unfortunately, her family had little to offer, and unlike many of our kind, she had already taken her permanent mate.

"I want someone capable, intelligent, and independent—I don't want her to rely on me," I said.

"All important qualities in a queen," she said, as Aamon scribbled.

But it wasn't enough. A queen had to be more than cunning and capable. She had to be a servant of the land. I looked out across the courtyard, into the darkness beyond the walls. The lights from the village below melted into a flickering mass, and if I were capable of feeling anything, it might have been pity.

"The next queen must understand the royal history and the importance of keeping the peace between immortals and humans."

Like Perrault, too many in the court saw them as livestock. They didn't see their capacity or the threat they posed. My line had nearly toppled once, and although few considered it likely, it could happen again. An immortal might be able to fight ten men at once, but they couldn't fight a hundred. And there were thousands of them for every one of us.

"Student of history, with radical ideas about the value of human life," Aamon said as he wrote. "I'll check to see if there are any eligible librarians."

I glared at him. "Are you here to help or to mock me?"

He looked to Cassandra with an expression of feigned hurt. "Can't I do both?"

"Not if you want to see me wed," I snapped.

He sighed and leaned back. "What about as a woman ? What are your tastes? You will be seeing quite a lot of each other."

That was another problem. I'd have to produce an heir. "I won't lie with her beyond what is necessary to perform our duty. She must know that before we marry."

Aamon squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them with a free hand. "I'm sure that will go over well—‘How do you feel about a life of chastity, your ladyship?'"

My lips curled in disdain. "She can fuck and feed from whomever she likes, but my duties will end at continuing my bloodline. I will not risk being seduced into love or desire."

Not that I was capable of love. I was a selfish bastard who valued solitude, freedom, and most of all, my independence—all things that the crown had taken from me.

Aamon shook his head. "The drunk woman's prophecy can't have shaken you this badly, can it?"

The seer's warning made no sense to me, but something about it refused to slip from my thoughts. I felt the foreboding in it, and the power. Magic was supposed to be repressed beyond our wall, but she had it.

"I do not take it lightly."

Aamon began ticking off his list with his quill. "Loyal. Capable. Intelligent. Won't upset the balance of power among the houses. Knows our history. Values human life. And of course, completely unlovable." He looked over at Cassandra, then back at me. "You realize that you've just given us an impossible list of requirements, don't you?"

I crossed my arms. "Are you saying that you are not up to the job?"

"Of course not." Aamon folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket. "I just have to look for your opposite. Someone likeable, funny, easy to work with, and who utterly detests you—though where I'll find her, only the Fates know."