Bone-chilling cold whipped through me. I stared west in the midday sun, watching it play off the water of the fjords miles and miles away. Another thing that made being a vampire amazing: cold didn’t harm us. My skin didn’t even pucker, but I still didn’t enjoy it. The heat didn’t touch us either. My eyes adjusted steadily to the bright, warm sun.
I was almost to my last trial now, and I had no idea which of these overlords could be an ally. I thought Lord Belshazzar at first, but he had to abstain from nearly everything. Cato was a no. Cato had always been a no. Lord Otto appeared to be so neutral he made beige look like it was a radical faction. Lord Xenon was…well, Lord Xenon. My hope lay in Lord Pippin, which sucked in and of itself. The youngest and least influential of the five, he was still finding his place among the overlords.
I’d had high hopes for him as an ally.
And now I had no idea.
I would still need an ally on the Council—that hadn’t changed. With the strength of the power hungry there—physical, mental, financial, and emotional—as queen, I would need someone on my side. I needed them before I even reached the throne, and no one was stepping forward at all. Even Nial was being a perfect ass about all of this.
My temper started to cool to manageable, gone was the ‘grab him and drain him’ feeling I’d had before. I did actually want to cultivate the alliance with Lord Pippin.
Leaning against the rock, I folded my arms and stared out at the glinting Pacific. Being this high up had its advantages… from eighteen thousand feet, you could see very, very far, even without the advantage of vampire-enhanced vision. I needed this fresh air, this view, this time to myself. I needed to find my center. I had been used. I was discarded at birth and used.
And I hadn’t lied to Lord Pippin. Since I was a little girl, since my grandfather started teaching me the laws and the ways of the vampires, I had wanted nothing more, nothing else, than to sit on the throne and wear the queen’s ring, the Black Star, a star sapphire of a blue like the dark of night. I dreamed of that dark black-blue. I dreamed of that crown. Of the thrones. Of people respecting me, finally.
“I wish you were here, Grandfather. Not just your memories. But you.”
The wind howled, but there was no answer.
Niallan smirked as he sat at the table the next morning.
I groaned and blatantly walked away from him.
I’d managed nearly twelve hours of sleep, and it felt damned good. I had needed it after all the time I’d spent running around and trying to complete the trials, making new ‘friends.’. The blood-drunk way I’d started to feel at the end of the day was not what I’d wanted to deal with, and sleep was the perfect cure-all for that.
But seeing Nial’s face bright and early in the morning didn’t do a thing for me. The smug fucker. I went to sit down with Adelie at the other table in the dining room.
“Good morning.” She grinned.
Always an ally in this woman. “Good morning, Adelie. You’re looking exceptionally healthy.”
“Oh, a good drink and fuck will do that.”
Locking my gaze on her, I waited. She was no damn good at keeping secrets from me. She could keep a thousand other secrets from a thousand other people, but never from me.
Sighing and slumping in the chair, she rolled her eyes. “Fine. His name is Rodolphe.”
“Is it serious?”
“Seriously good, yes. It’s mutually agreeable. I’m not sure it’s a mate thing—definitely not a soul mate—but man, I didn’t know that screaming ‘Rodolphe’ at the top of my lungs could be so much fun.” She leaned over. “And he tastes good. Like expensive champagne. And pineapple.”
Tossing my head back, I let out a raucous laugh. “Because, of course, you did!”
She chuckled, whispering, “The French say that fellatio is far more intimate than just smashing genitals.”
In the corner of my vision, I could see Nial twist his lips and shake his head. He stood and sauntered out of the room with far too much swagger. But he had left, so I enjoyed that little victory.
Pulling over the orange juice, I gave her serious side eye. “The French?”
“Well, okay. Rodolphe says it is. And holy snacks, Gwen, that man has a tongue.”
Waving my hands, I shook my head in the negative. “Nope. Stop right there. I don’t need to hear this from you. All I’ll get is jealous.”
“He’s more than willing to entertain another lady…”
I snickered. “At the same time?”
Adelie shrugged. “Same time, different time, in a bed, in a closet. Rodolphe is very liberal in his loving.”
“Manwhore?”
“Yup.”
We burst out laughing and settled into breakfast, her mouth going a hundred miles an hour while I quietly enjoyed my eggs and bacon. Bacon had to be one of the things in the human world that came near the exquisite taste of blood on a thirsty tongue. I could eat that damn pork all day long.
While I was enjoying the bacon in its natural and native form of just a slice of bacon and my mouth, Nial was suddenly back in the room and next to the table. He was in full Monitor of Challenge mode, and he was pissy too. “You’re requested in the chamber. Immediately.”
“Just enough time to sleep and eat? I don’t get a break?”
He adjusted his look to one of anger. “Queens don’t get a day off.”
I growled but put down the rest of my bacon rasher and stood. “You finished breakfast already, Master Nial, so perhaps you realized someone had pissed in your Cheerios?”
Adelie giggled, but the glare Nial threw at her cut her off. When he looked back at me, I saw Adelie give him the middle finger. Standing up, Adelie had every intention of following me. Nial put a hand out to stop her. “The last Challenge is not publically given. This one is behind closed doors. Only the Queen Novitiate and the overlords are allowed.”
A queasiness rose in my stomach. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like hiding what the request was from the general public. Still, this whole trial and ceremony thing was older than my own grandfather. I had to play along with the rules. Instead of fighting with the druid, I put a hand on Adelie’s shoulder. “Let me go. It’ll be fine. I can’t expect them to wait more than a day for me to recover.”
She straightened her back, nodded and gave Nial the nastiest look. I wanted to high-five her, but Mister Monitor was halfway across the room at that point, and I had to follow him. I refused to run, but I did power walk to end up just behind him. We strode through the halls to the small chamber where the overlords could hold private audiences if they needed to.
He pulled the door open, and there was no mistaking the anger he was radiating. “They’re waiting for you.”
“Aren’t you coming in?”
“I am Monitor of Challenge and a possible candidate for king. I cannot be present for this issuance. My only instruction as of now is that I will know when you have completed it.”
Well. This was a twist. I knew it was given in confidence, but I didn’t realize even the Monitor didn’t get to know what I had to do. Interesting.