Arabelle sat forward on the sofa, her expression grim but determined. “We don’t simply have the human soldiers, Helena. We also have the Bloodguard.” She waved a hand toward Mikhail and his men. “We have the Fire Witch.” She nodded to Sienna. Mina wondered what that meant but thought to save it for another time. “Do we have the hart wolves?” she asked Allora.
Allora eyed her brother Dane. “You will have some. But the clans are not united on whether to involve themselves in this war.”
Helena gave a frustrated huff, fear lining every groove of her pinched forehead and mouth. “You don’t understand.” She wrung her hands together. “When I was held captive in the king’s stronghold—in Dragon’s Eye—it wasn’t the ones with the blood madness I feared. Those infected by Queen Morgrid were out of control, wild with their need to feed. But it was the king’s men, the vampire soldiers he created, that I feared the most. They would do anything…anything the king ordered them to do. The king—” she gulped hard before continuing—“he would come to Dragon’s Eye. He would make people do unspeakable things…to demonstrate his power. And always within the center arena where so many of us captives could see from our cages.” She inhaled a deep breath, a tear slipping off her cheek onto her blue gown. “I watched a man impale his own son on a spike because the king ordered him to do so.” She turned her gaze to Arabelle. “I saw a woman give her body to two men while her husband watched.” She swallowed hard and moved her gaze to Brennalyn. “I saw a mother hand over her young child to three new vampires infected with the blood madness. All simply because King Dominik had bitten them, injected his persuasive elixir in their blood. And commanded it be done. They could not resist.”
Heavy silence pervaded the room. The unthinkable visions Helena had seen while she was in captivity lingered in the room like a dark premonition of what the world would be like should King Dominik and Queen Morgrid win this war.
No. It could not, would not happen. Mina seethed with anger at what sweet Helena had witnessed, that royals who should use their position to protect instead used it to brutally subjugate with violence and terror. She couldn’t allow that to happen any longer. Mikhail was right. They must be destroyed, whatever they had to do to make that happen.
“She’s right,” said Mina, all eyes swiveling to her. “It’s not enough. The Black Lily army, the Bloodguard, the hart wolves, all of us here, we are not enough to defeat the kind of evil Dominik is amassing in the north. We need an even more formidable army with the strength of the vampire.”
Arabelle shook her head and said softly. “Mina, though I’ve agreed to be remade vampire, this is a personal choice. It is not what my people would choose for themselves. They want only to be freed of the yoke of the vampire monarchy, to live their human lives in peace.”
Mina smiled. “Yes, and they shall when we win this war. But it isn’t them I speak of when I refer to gaining a vampire army of our own.”
“Please enlighten us,” said Nikolai gently.
Standing, she moved forward where all could see and hear her. “The Arkadian army has always been known for its strength and skill.”
Nikolai folded his arms over his chest. “Yes. This is true. But they would not ally with the Black Lily, a mostly human army, against their own brethren. The Arkadian army serves the southern kingdom, and only the southern kingdom. Steward Thorwald ensures it.”
“True,” added Friedrich. “My grandfather used to complain how they never joined the north in past wars unless it suited them and their interests alone.”
“I hear what you’re saying, gentlemen. But they will ally if their queen commands it.”
She felt Mikhail’s passionate response ripple at her side, but she didn’t meet his gaze. She continued while the room stared in stunned silence.
“I have been asleep longer than the few months I was in that tower. I’ve been asleep my whole life, truth be told.” She faced Marius. “I never thought beyond what Steward Thorwald told me. That I was destined to be queen but only next to the Varis king who would rule at my side. I never gave a thought that I could rule on my own.” She smiled, finally looking at Mikhail. “I never realized that I should’ve been queen all along.”
No one said a word. Mina held her breath, waiting for someone to laugh or gently protest her lofty idea. Still, her heart pricked at her conscience. This was what should be done. What must be done.
“Indeed,” said Friedrich, the vampire duke she’d met on occasion when he visited the southern kingdom. “No one here would question your right to the Arkadian crown. But I imagine there are a few lords in the House of Arkadia who would.”
Brenna nodded. “I believe Friedrich is right. It may not be as easy as you think.”
“It won’t be easy at all.” Mina thought a moment. “I imagine one of the lords you’re referring to is Lord Rathbone, Earl of Devonshire.”
A look of surprise lit both their expressions.
Brenna stepped from Friedrich’s arms, closer to Mina. “You know Lord Rathbone?”
Mina tilted her head, sensing a spike in Brenna’s heart rate. “Of course. He’s one of the three high counselors of the House of Arkadia. My question is, how do you know him?”
She glanced with a nervous smile at Friedrich who was not smiling at all. But he answered before her.
“Brennalyn met him at King Dominik’s ball a few weeks ago.”
“Oh. I imagine you met Lord Maksim and Steward Thorwald.”
“Yes,” answered Brennalyn. “They were all there together.”
Mina dipped her chin. “Though I was never allowed to participate in the political affairs of the House, I attended parties and balls hosting politicians and diplomats. The three high counselors—Rathbone, Maksim, and Thorwald—hold the power of the House. Thorwald thinks he holds the most, but he’s merely Rathbone and Maksim’s puppet.”
“You seem to have a plan already in mind,” cut in Marius.
Her stomach twisted in knots at the idea of confronting the three most powerful men of her kingdom. Her kingdom. She notched her head a little higher.
“I believe the best course of action would be to pay a visit to Lord Rathbone’s estate in Devonshire. Then—” she inhaled and blew out a deep breath—“if I’m lucky, I’ll inform him of my plan to call the House to order and demand my coronation. I’ll also inform him of the threat Dominik and Morgrid pose to Arkadia.”
“That may not take much convincing,” said Friedrich. “Maksim and Rathbone are well-aware of my uncle’s threat to them. They left the ball quickly after the queen announced his intentions to marry you.”
Mina swallowed the lump in her throat. Mikhail stiffened at her side.
Nikolai finally spoke up. “That’s because they know if Dominik married Mina, he’d rule the southern kingdom as well as his own.”
“Right,” agreed Friedrich. “Which means they may very well be amenable to a strong ruler who holds Arkadia’s interests at heart. But the southerners are a stubborn lot.”