Queen of Nothing

Prologue

On my first date with Nathaniel Bryce, vampire king of the Northeastern Territories, he was almost assassinated. I thought that had been the be-all-end-all of bad dates, but tonight was proving me wrong

The boardwalk shifted uncomfortably under my feet as I walked in step with the king's long stride. He didn't look at me, choosing instead to rest his gaze on the water — dark and sparkling with the moon's soft white glow. I tried not to panic visibly as I analyzed everything that led up to this disaster.

First was my outfit. The king had chosen it for me, and it didn't speak highly of his taste. I was a girl of black velvet and red silk, not twee floral sundresses. Granted I still looked amazing, but that was in spite of the garment, not because of it. Unfortunately, my disillusionment with my dress may have clouded my mood for the rest of the evening.

Then it was the restaurant. I hated seafood, but the king seemed to have some odd fondness for it despite his inability to eat human food because it was all the menu consisted of. The only non-seafood item was steak, which is what I ended up ordering. The king tried his best not to hide his disappointment, but I could see it in the way his eyes glazed over when the waiter took our menus away. It made no sense to me. Then again, none of his decisions ever did. Months of trying to suss out how his mind worked had proven futile.

He barely spoke to me throughout the whole night. I attempted to fill the void with banal small talk, to no avail. Whenever I spoke, he just nodded along with a faraway look in his eye, daydreaming about God knows what.

Now the two of us were walking along the pier. Well, the king may have been physically present but his mind was elsewhere.

"What are you thinking about?" I decided it wouldn't hurt to ask at this point.

He turned back to me with a quizzical expression, as if he was too caught up in this thoughts and hadn't heard what I said. I put on my brightest smile, careful to hide my frustration.

"You've been preoccupied all evening," I said, keeping the bitterness out of my tone.

The king's face fell and he looked away. Sighing, he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry. This past week with the assassins... I've just been—"

He was lying. I could tell by the way he refused to look at me, the way he angled his body away from mine, like he wanted to run.

"I understand," I said, nodding a bit too vehemently. What else could I say? As much as I wanted to confront him, I was supposed to be trying my best to get into his good graces. And prying into his affairs wouldn't accomplish that.

"You do?" he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good."

But it wasn't good. As soon as he said those words, he went back to staring out at the sea.

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, my long nails leaving painful indentations in my palms. Was he like that with the other girls? Did they have to suffer through being ignored like this? Hell, even if they did I shouldn't have to. I was Sabine Ambrose. I was the most beautiful, the most refined, the heir to the wealthiest family in this nation. He should be groveling for the opportunity to court me, not the other way around.

"I often take walks to clear my head," he said suddenly. It was the first unprompted thing he had said to me in hours.

I stopped, and turned to see him standing at the edge of the boardwalk, hands in his pockets. Tentatively I stepped up to join him, looking out over the sparkling waves and trying to see what he was seeing.

"This is one of my favorite spots," he continued. "There's something about the crisp salty air that comforts me."

I tried not to snort. This crisp salty air chapped my lips and made my nostrils burn. Then there was the smell of kelp. Ugh.