The Emerald Lily Read online

  Marius scoffed. “See? What did I tell you?”

  She ignored him and answered Mina directly. “That is the reason I’ve agreed to the idea. Among others.”

  Marius whispered low, though every vampire in the room could obviously hear. “It has nothing to do with my threat to withhold particular—”

  Arabelle whipped up a hand for him to stop and shot him a daggered look. “Hold your tongue, husband,” she threatened, though there was a smile in her voice.

  The door opened. Allora and Dane stepped in.

  “Oh, my,” said Sienna. “Aren’t we a large party?”

  “Not large enough,” said Marius.

  They joined the circle, Nikolai moving to Marius’s side. “Tell everyone how your mission went.”

  The lighthearted mood darkened at once. Marius shoved off the wall and stepped slightly forward so all could see and hear him.

  “I bring good and bad tidings from my brother, Agnar, in the west. He has sent resources in the form of coin for food as well as blades forged by the most revered craftsman of the four kingdoms.”

  “But?” asked Nikolai.

  “But he will not fight with us.”

  A heavy sigh and murmuring of dissent circled the room. Mina felt the sting keenly, glancing up at Mikhail. His steady and composed expression never wavered as he addressed Marius.

  “How long will the coin last for food provisions?”

  “That depends,” said Marius, glancing at Nikolai. “How many soldiers do we have returning from Cutters Cove? And when do they arrive?”

  Nikolai stared at the floor, mentally calculating before raising his head. “They’ll be here within two weeks’ time. Then we will have approximately two thousand. Those who have families who joined the cause will add another seven hundred mouths to feed.”

  Marius gave a sharp dip of his chin. “Then we have coin to last two months even with the additional families. We will need to set our course for Izeling not long after the last ship arrives from Cutters Cove.”

  “It’s not enough.” The soft but steady voice of Helena quieted everyone in the room. No one said a word, but everyone swiveled in her direction.

  “What do you mean?” asked Dmitri gently, standing next to her.

  “The number of soldiers,” she clarified. She glanced up at Dmitri then back to Marius. “You don’t know what just one of the vampires in King Dominik’s army can do.” She gulped hard. “Much less the hundreds, perhaps thousands he has by now.”

  Dmitri moved protectively closer to her.

  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 Stew
ard 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.”

  “Not to counter that lovely sentiment,” interjected Grant, “but how will Arkadia allying with the Black Lily be in Arkadia’s best interest? Especially if as you’ve said before—” he looked to his brother, Friedrich “—they’ve always bowed out of conflicts where there was no advantage for them.”

  For the first time since they’d entered the room, Mikhail spoke up. “Because without Arkadia, we will lose this war. And if we lose this war, then Queen Morgrid and King Dominik will dominate the people and the land with brutal violence, spreading the blood madness and building their vampire army until Arkadia has no chance of defending themselves against such a force. Arkadia will fall if they wait and stand alone.”

  Tension sparked the air as the truth of Mikhail’s words settled in the room. Marius was the one to finally break the silence.

  “You’re right, Mikhail. But I know these men. Even worse, I know the pompous politicians of the House of Arkadia. They will not be persuaded easily.”

  “To hell with them then.” Arabelle scoffed and slapped a hand at her side. “We’ll go straight to the people of Arkadia.”

  “Arkadia is a prosperous, healthy land,” said Mina. “The people trust the noble lords of the House.”

  “And so how do we persuade them?” asked Arabelle. “Obviously my normal strategy of brute force won’t work. What do we have so that we can show this is the only course of action? That they must ally with us?”

  Dmitri stepped from the outer circle and bowed before Mina, punching a fist against his heart. “You have me, Your Highness.”

  Nikolai took a step forward as well with a slight bow. “You have a former lieutenant to the Legionnaires of the Glass Tower.”

  “And a Fire Witch.” Sienna smiled beside him, gold sparking in her eyes.

  Mina still wondered what that meant exactly but felt the magic swirling in the air around her red-haired friend.

  Friedrich followed suit. “You have the Duke of Winter Hill, royal nephew to the Varis crown.”

  Brennalyn made a bow of assent beside him, then Helena as well as Grant.

  “And you have a prince of Varis,” said Marius, falling in line.

  “The leader of the Black Lily.” Arabelle winked.

  “You have our clan of the hart wolves,” Allora promised.

  Mikhail turned to her with fierce adoration in his gaze.

  “You have the Captain of the Bloodguard,” he whispered. “But you already knew that.”

  With tears welling in her eyes, she scanned the room, unable to process her own emotions brimming to the surface. But it was the emotion rippling from the black-haired man closest to her that swallowed her heart whole. He had enough hope and belief and determination to build a new world. With him at her side, she could easily build that world. One where humans weren’t trampled on as inferiors, but given the rights and respect and opportunity they deserved. One where the monarchs ruled not simply with a just hand but with generous hearts. One where she would be happy and loved and whole.

  Inhaling a ragged breath, she said with regal confidence, “Then we set out for Arkadia at once.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mina had little to pack other than the extra gown, chemise, corset, stockings, and slippers given to her by Aleksei’s sister at Wentworth. She’d stuffed all into a small bag and set them by the door for the morning. For the journey, she’d wear the practical gown for riding that Sienna had designed for her and the sturdy boots Arabelle had acquired from Hiddleston. She stood in front of the small looking glass hanging on the wall, admiring her new attire.

  The skirt of the emerald-green gown hit her mid-calf, but her leather boots laced high to her knees so no skin was bare. The black outer bodice laced at the front, giving her support and also comfort, unlike the suffocating corsets she normally wore.

  Helena had asked to style her hair. Mina couldn’t deny the sweet girl anything. Though she’d survived a harrowing experience in the hands of King Dominik’s men, she still bore a sweet innocence about her. She’d woven several tiny braids together, tapering from her crown to fall loosely with the rest of her long, unbound hair. She looked more like one of Allora’s clan than the Princess of Arkadia. Not to mention the conventional dress and coiffure. Somehow, it suited her better. She looked like the warrior she’d teased Mikhail about at the archery field.

  A soft knock came at the door.

  Smelling his mulled-spice-and-leather scent, her heart raced ahead despite her efforts to remain calm. She opened the door to the devastatingly handsome sight of Mikhail in a loose-fitting black shirt with a lace tie at the V-neck and his black leather pants, the moonlight giving his hair a blue-black hue.

  He roved her body from top to toe, then finally said, “I brought you a gift of my own.”

  He held up a black belt with a dagger in its sheath.

  “Thank you.”

  “May I?” He gestured toward her waist.

  “Of course.”

  Standing in her doorway, he looped it around her hips and cinched the buckle tight. Mina refrained from leaning into him and pressing her lips to his neck. The temptation was palpable. Once buckled, he leaned away.

  “Now, remove your dagger. I want to show you a few things.”

  She did, then stared at the finely crafted eight-inch blade. It was narrow, thin, and fang-tip sharp. The metal itself was black with a sliver of gold embedded on the sharpened tip. The hilt bore a single emerald stone at the base near the handguard. “Remarkable. This is almost too beautiful to wield.”

  He wrapped his hand around hers on the hilt. “Beautiful things can often be the most deadly.” He arched a brow to which she smiled. “Now. If you’re in close combat with a vampire, there are several quick ways to bring him down with a dagger like this.”

  “All right.”

  He moved her hand with the tip of the blade under the edge of his jaw. “Plunge straight up at an angle into the skull here.” He moved her hand and dagger tip toward his ear. “Right here. Less resistance on the entry. And if you’re unable to get a clean entry into the brain, then just slash through the jugular here.” He moved the flat of the blade to the exact spot for her to slice.

  She nodded with grim determination, her primal instincts kicking in, her vampire liking this lesson very much.

  “Got it?”

  “Yes.”

  He guided her hand to slide the dagger back into its sheath then let go.
“Of course, I won’t leave your side if I can help it.”

  “Do you think I’ll be required to use such deadly force on our journey?”

  “There’s no telling who we may encounter already allied with King Dominik. There are already whisperings in Hiddleston that King Dominik will give ten thousand sovereigns to whomever turns you over to him unharmed.”

  She noted his sudden shift from serene temper to volatile. Though his expression hadn’t changed at all, his fury rode him hard, sharpening his features into frightening angles.

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  With her new zeal to return to Arkadia and unite her people behind the Black Lily, she now understood something she didn’t before. Mikhail’s sense of duty wasn’t just an important part of him, it was an essential part. A tree was merely branches and fluttering leaves without the sturdy trunk holding it up. His honor was the trunk that held him up.

  She knew that she was in the wrong now, that by tempting him to betray his vow to the Bloodguard—no matter that she yearned for him body and soul—she was asking him to break himself in half. To set aside what was the essence of who he was as a man. Noble and fine and steadfast till the end. A pang of remorse stung her, knowing what kind of lover, what kind of husband he would make. She was going to say good night, then he took a step closer and gestured behind him.

  “I have another gift for you.” He frowned, his demeanor becoming rigid. “Not a gift actually. But a pledge.”

  “A pledge?”

  “Come with me.”

  He offered his hand. She took it and let him guide her away from the cottage and the natural trails, into the thick of the woods. Darkness wrapped around them, as did the pervading pulse of magic that Mina always sensed here. The electric tingle vibrated along her skin, then through her flesh, to her bones. It wrapped inside her chest as if holding a secret for her, waiting to be discovered. She gasped at the rightness of being here at this moment, holding Mikhail’s hand as he led her deeper into the dark.

  They stepped through the brush toward an open grove of black oaks. Before they stepped into the clearing, she saw the circle of men, the familiar faces of the Bloodguard, each of them shirtless beneath the light of the full moon. The sight took her breath away.