Bitter Bloodlines

Chapter Eleven

The banquet hall, packed full of noble families and their guests, erupted into a strange and quiet mixture of whispers and applause as the Perian ambassador made his announcement. I heard my aunt Anastasia mutter "illegal" under her breath, and noticed Lord Emery, the Viscount who had carefully insulted my mother yesterday, leaving the table.

I recognized the genius of what my mother had done: signing an official treaty with Peria declared peace between two countries that had been on the verge of war for years, and requiring them to recognize her as the true regent meant that anyone who opposed her rule was also opposing that treaty. Peria, I assumed, had in turn gotten the permission they needed to purchase weapons from us and deal with their strigan problem, as well as getting legitimacy as a nation without a monarchy.

People began rushing in our direction as soon as the toast was made. As my mother gracefully took her seat again, I stepped away from mine to stand protectively behind her.

My cousin Phillip reached us first, leaning forward to get close to her ear. I put my arm out to stop him from coming any closer.

"You are not authorized to sign treaties without the approval of the council," he hissed.

"The council was not able to convene on such short notice," the Queen replied, her voice full of calm. "Peria wanted the treaty signed today, early this morning."

"It is invalid without the council's approval."

"It is invalid if I am not the true regent of Aveline, with all the powers thereof. Would the council like the be the cause of us going to war with a country that has just purchased thousands of new weapons from our southern mines? I am sure the southern Lords are pleased to have the business."

Prince Phillip stepped forward again, red-faced with anger, and I placed a firm hand on his chest, pushing him back.

"That is enough," I told him.

Behind him, a small group of other council members had formed, eager to voice their opinions on the legality of the treaty. The Queen looked at me approvingly, cleared her throat, and stood again.

"My dear guests!" she said, hushing the crowd again. "Let us not forget that this is a celebration of Princess Audrianna's return to court. I know that many in Aveline are unfamiliar with the ancient and beautiful custom of noble nasferata. So, I have arranged with our friends in Peria for a demonstration of the Princess's abilities and skills, as a protector of the crown and of our country."

She clapped her hands, and servants began to clear the large table in the center of the room - laden with barrels of beer and wine, serving trays and desserts. No one was seated at this table, allowing servers to come and go quickly as they refilled the plates and cups of the nobles at all the other tables circled around it. The room watched with tension as it was emptied, prepared for something else.

I rested a hand on my mother's shoulder, leaning close. "What is this?"

"Your demonstration, darling," she replied. "I consulted with your old trainer about the things you can do. You will see."

I thought back to the hours, days, months I had spent with Phoenix, learning the quickest ways to disarm a person who threatened my charge, the easiest bones to break with a single strike, the precise veins to open if I wanted to kill.

Four armored guardsmen, dressed in Perian colors, carried in a large, square object covered by a dark sheet, set it down on the far edge of the table, and turned to close the heavy double doors behind them. One of them returned, arm outstretched, and removed the sheet.

From behind the iron bars of a human-sized cage, a creature hissed. For the briefest moment, seeing tattered, dirty clothes and tangled dark hair, I thought of Lady Carmen.

In a motion almost too fast to see, the creature turned and grabbed hold of the bars, staring at me with eyes that were not just red in the irises, but red all the way to the eyelids, wide and crazed. Her skin, pale and bloodless as mine, was streaked with grime. Fangs, visible despite the fact that she was not feeding, bit into the dry, chapped skin of her bottom lip. Everything about her screamed of hunger.

A strigan.

The crowd attempted to scatter. Plates and chairs fell to the ground, guests whispering and screaming as they pressed against the outer walls of the banquet hall. Guards stepped in front of the doors.

"There is no need to fear," my mother's voice rang out, and as she spoke, the guard beside the cage let the creature free.

I vaulted over the table in front of me, leaping into the cleared center space as the strigan darted out of its prison. I could feel her, even from a distance - the heat of her skin, the fever of bloodlust as she raced for the nearest prey. I jumped.

The sudden, loud sound of my boots hitting the table startled her. She turned to see me running across it toward her and launched herself sideways, aiming to pounce into the crowd.

I caught her by the neck, pulling her back. She screamed as her back hit the table, and grabbed for my leg. Her unkept nails scratched deep into my skin.

I dropped a knee onto her chest and grabbed for her wrists. The moment I touched her, I felt both her strength and her weakness - a speed and power that rivaled mine, and a hunger that left her weak and manic, desperate to feed.

She lashed out, fangs bared in a feral growl. Fighting against my hold on her wrists, she reached up with one hand and grabbed a handful of my hair as it hung over my shoulder. She pulled hard, twisting her body beneath mine, and flung me sideways.

I landed hard on the mosaic stone ground. The strigan jumped down over me, heading for the crowd.

I met her as I leapt to my feet, yanking her away from a screaming noble and throwing her back into the center of the room. She landed on her knees, screeching. Her eyes met mine again - a crimson red even darker than mine, darker than blood - and she launched herself up at me like a giant jungle cat. Her full weight hit my shoulders, toppling us both onto the ground.

For a split second, as she stared down at me, weight settled on my chest, claws digging into my skin, I saw something. A twitch of her lip as her unblinking eyes filled with water - perhaps just a shine, a reflection of the light.

I reached up to grab her head, and saw on her throat a thin white scar, perfectly matching mine.

With a single motion, a twitch of my arms, I snapped her neck.