Ruler [Blood Magic, Book 3]

Chapter 39: Dinner for Three

It was the evening after our forty-eight hours out of time and I was lying in Keel's bed with Keel. Even though I lived here now, I still didn't think of it as our bed. I'd awoken expecting to find his arm draped over me as it had been the last two evenings, but this time he kept to his side of the mattress, as if his subconscious experienced the same subtle shift back to our rote roles as his personality had. The odd intimacy that had developed over our two days alone had become more staid and cautionary as soon as the cameras were back on and Keel returned to his throne, and I found myself left with a strange sort of longing. It had been less than a day and I already missed that Keel, the one who knew how to smash down my walls and talk away my guilt. He'd made me feel things I hadn't thought myself capable of feeling, and do things that seemed unimaginable now that Boras, Arthos, and the other Nosferatu were back to flitting in and out of our daily lives.

"I can feel the anxiety rolling off you," Keel said, "It's uncomfortable."

I stiffened. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. This still feels weird."

"You coalesced here for three weeks and I didn't lay a hand on you. You let me mark you and still I swear not to take anything further, and yet you-"

"I know-" I wanted to tell him that wasn't the source of my current unease, but he didn't give me the chance.

"Do you think I'd just roll over and do that - with your father downstairs?"

"You are king of the Nosferatu world now," I said. Of all the things we'd talked about, we still hadn't discussed that, and it was partly my fault. I had trouble picturing the half-vamp I once loved commanding all those vampires, having that much sway over the supernatural world, and it reminded me of how far into the future we were now. And how there were places we could never go back to. Anonymity. Innocence. Freedom. Just like those forty-eight hours they were gone and left only the repercussions behind.

"And you think I don't know who made me that?" Keel said.

I rolled over and looked at him. He was staring up at the ceiling, hair fallen back in waves on his pillow.

"Mildred, I'm Nosferatu and I'm a king, that means certain things, but the last thing it makes me is stupid. I know I have what my father didn't because you chose to give it to me, and to keep giving it to me."

"How is it that you can sound so reasonable one moment and so-" I struggled to find the words I wanted. "You're exhausting, Your Majesty, anyone ever tell you that?"

"And you're-" Keel said.

"What?" 

"Never mind, nothing." He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "By the way, now that Ephraim has returned, he will be joining us for dinner. There is much we must talk about. In the meantime, you've been neglecting your studies, and you really should get back to them. I've put some books out on the table for you." A quick glance confirmed that the dining area had been overrun by a small army of texts. If Keel thought I could read all of those in one night he was delusional. 

"What are you going to do?"

"The work of kings," he said as he used his vampire speed to whip on his clothes and royal robes. "Not all of us can lounge around all day." He picked up his crown from where he left it on his desk and started towards the door.

"Hey, wait a second," I said.

He stopped.

Regardless of all my conflicted feelings there was something I needed to say before any more time passed. "Thanks for the help with the transition, and for saving my life."