Reign of Blood

Chapter Ten

Outside of the blood Queen's royal quarters, a number of vampires were gathered with the Squire and Seth, having been summoned up there by the Queen herself.

It was tense with them all gathered there. Though they all served Annaliese- some not by choice- they had nothing else to unite them.

Nothing but the bleak stories of wars gone by.

Once upon a time, the witches and vampires had been at war. Nearly every species in their world had warred with one another at some point.

This war was a little fresher. It had only ended fifty years ago when Nazreen's parents- a witch and a vampire- had united the two populations with a vampiric love bond. A love bond Annaliese had looked down upon in disdain. In the end, it had been Nazreen's Father that pushed her over the edge. Much to her disgust, she'd been able to see the love in his eyes each time he looked upon his wife.

No. That was a lie.

It had been the baby.

With a half witch, half vampire, there was only so much Annaliese could do to fight them on the matter.

With his thumb, Killian was still wiping blood from the corner of his mouth- evidence of his last meal- as though he hadn't just been conspiring behind the Queen's back two days before. Just an hour before now, he'd had his fangs in the neck of a siren, listening to her sweet song as he breathed her curse in.

Azrael stood with his arms folded, his back against the wall as he grimaced at the sounds coming from inside. The Squire was twiddling his thumbs nervously, the weakest member of their little group, with Seth looking completely in his element.

"What's wrong with her today?" Killian asked. From the Queen's quarters, a variety of screams and clattering sounds were echoing, with a delightful banging against the walls. She sounded like she was having the time of her life in there, throwing something- or someone- about to her heart's content.

"Who says anything's wrong with her?" Seth asked, tugging at his collar. "This is Annie. For all you know, screaming and wailing is how she likes to do the sexy. I remember this one time, about fifty-five years ago, we were in the Common World for business, and she took one look at this huge demon and—damn. You really don't want to know where she put his horn. It was haunting. You know, you watched and it kind of felt like it was your own horn."

Closest to the floor, the Squire piped up. "Do you think my Mistress—"

"Ach, no." Seth pushed the Squire away by his head. "Don't want to hear it. I really don't want to hear it. Your obsessiveness is killing me, little man."

From inside her quarters, another bang sounded.

Had she thrown something?

Soon to follow was an agonised scream—someone begging for mercy.

She was taking her anger out on someone.

Seth pulled at the collar of his shirt again. "So, she called you lot up here too?"

"I was on my way to a blood orgie," Killian said, frowning in irritation. "Pulled away for another one of Annaliese's bullshit quests. I had my teeth in the neck of a siren and she was begging for it."

"Actually," The Squire interrupted. "My Mistress is done giving out her quests. Though you must remember they are all deeply important. My Mistress might work in weird ways, but she does everything with a purpose. My Mistress' mind is truly brilliant! She had me retrieve her communication book this morning. I believe we'll be moving on with the next stage of her plan this evening. How exciting!"