Spurned Queen

Chapter 16: Plans in Motion

Lexi

I jumped up from my seat to Mirabel's side. The Queen gasped and rose to her feet to asses the situation. Rowan remained ramrod straight in his chair, but his cheeks were ashen.

I knelt by Mirabel's side and tapped her cheeks frantically. "Mirabel!" I hissed. "Mirabel, can you hear me?" She stayed unresponsive. Her breaths were short and shallow, and her heart beat faintly. A pit of dread dug itself into my stomach.

Vampire butlers stood warily around, unsure whether or not to approach. Queen Noria kept a safe distance away from her too, her lips pursed.

"What happened? Is she alright?" she asked, her tone carrying about as much emotion as a brick.

I levelled a glare at her. "I hope so," I snapped. "She should be alright; it would definitely be in all our best interests that she is alright. We will take her to our rooms immediately. We can only hope that whatever upset her is not something that was served to her- isn't that right, your Majesty," I growled. A gust of my wind whipped through the room.

"What are you suggesting, Ambassador? Are you saying I would poison a guest after having said she was welcome?" said Noria, her voice flat but bearing a warning edge.

"I'm suggesting that I take her back to the rooms for her to recover. Is there a problem?" I bit out.

Rowan appeared at my side and pulled Mirabel's body from the floor. I broke my stare off Noria's unwavering one to help him lift her up. We bore her between us and left the great dining room, snarling sharply at the vampires that moved as if to follow us.

We retraced our steps back to the guest chambers of this palace. After we turned another corner in the labyrinth, Rowan whispered, "Now."

Mirabel immediately stood up, taking her weight off our bodies. Her eyes glowed bright white as her form blurred; then, before our eyes, two faceless bodies stepped out from hers. Her eyes continued to burn as she worked out the details, producing carbon copies of Gianna and Rowan after a few seconds. Then, leaning her weight on them, she pretended to pass out again.

"Later losers," she whispered as her robots bore her away.

I swiftly slipped the small bottle of herbal elixir from my dress while he slipped out two pairs of cloth gloves from his pocket. We rubbed the liquid into our skin; it would completely obliterate our scent so that no vampire could track us; then we donned the gloves.

"Ready?" I checked.

He dipped his chin as a silent yes.

The warlock stepped into the next corridor ahead of me, his silver eyes zooming in on the bat hanging in the corner of the ceiling. The bat stared back for a few seconds, before flying off its perch and landing in front of us in the form of a full grown, male vampire. His eyes were the same liquid silver as Rowan's.

Rowan held his gaze and gave a simple order. "Get to the Royal Advisor's rooms. Pronto." The guard nodded calmly and started off. I nodded curtly at Rowan. My turn now.

I wrapped a dense cloaking spell around us, shifting the air and manipulating it in a complicated weave that actually made us invisible. Air was a wonderfully convenient element to wield, but it was light, fickle, and slippery- much harder to manipulate than earth or water. But I had mastered air best because it was the easiest to handle with no one the wiser.

We followed the vampire that was now walking briskly down a flight of stairs.

The other vampires only saw one of their own pass by. They did not smell us, and they could not hear us through my cloak.