“Because he is my uncle and I sought his counsel.”
“No, foolish child. Why does he approve?”
“You would have to ask him.”
Ilemina shook her head. “Both of you have lost your minds. You brought this woman here. She didn’t introduce herself. You didn’t even talk to me about her. You didn’t seek my counsel.”
“And for that you decided to kill the woman I love?”
Maud shivered in the water. He said he loves me. For a second, she simply glowed in it and then reality intruded, and she put her hand over her face. What am I, twelve?
“I wasn’t trying to kill her. I was…frustrated. And there she was, wearing armor as if she knew what to do with it.”
“She does,” Arland said.
“Well, I know that now.” Ilemina waved her hand. “It went too far. I admit it.”
“If that had been a real fight, you would be dead.”
Ilemina laughed, a low wolfish sound that raised the hair on the back of Maud’s neck. “You presume too much.”
Arland smiled. “You assume she would meet you in a duel. She wouldn’t. One day you would travel somewhere, step out of the vehicle, suspecting nothing, and there she would be with her blade. If she didn’t cut your head off with the first strike, she’d let you win until you got close enough to her, spit poison gas into your face, then run you through and be gone before anyone was the wiser.”
“So, she’s an assassin,” Ilemina said.
“No. She’s a woman who was dumped on Karhari with a three-year-old child and a husband who was a snake. She is a survivor. She doesn’t fight for fun or glory. She fights to eliminate the threat. Every time she draws her sword, it’s life or death. She gives it everything, because her child’s life hangs in the balance. Of all people, I thought you would relate.”
Ilemina fell silent. “I’ll say this, sparring with her was an illuminating experience.”
“It is.”
“And the child is adorable.” Ilemina smiled. “The daggers were so cute.”
“I’ve seen her kill with those daggers,” Arland said.
“The baby, Helen?”
He nodded. “She cut a Draziri assassin’s throat in the middle of a battle. She did it the right way, mother.”
Ilemina recoiled, shocked.
Maud ducked her head under the water and wished she were a better mother. Helen shouldn’t know how to kill. Sitting under water wouldn’t change that fact, but she would have given everything to take that back from her daughter.
She surfaced.
“But why?” Ilemina asked.
“Karhari,” he said. He was right. That was the only explanation needed.
“What sort of House exiles a child?” Ilemina growled.
“The kind of House that’s beneath our contempt.”
Ilemina sighed. “You really love her?”
“Yes.”
“But are you sure, Arland? Are you sure she would make you happy?”
“Yes, Mother. Give her a chance. At least find out who you’re dealing with before you reject her.”
“And if I do reject her? If I reject this union?”
“I’ll go with her,” he said.
Maud fell off the shelf and splashed, scrambling back onto it.
“Arland, you wouldn’t dare!”
“You walked away with Father. I don’t see any reason why I can’t do the same.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “You’re the Marshal.”
“So were you. You’ll just have to replace me with another.”
“What if she rejects you?”
“I’ll respect her wishes.”
Ilemina threw her hands in the air. “This is blackmail, Arland.”
“No, it’s a boundary. Your blessing isn’t necessary, Mother. But I would like to have it. I know she would, too. She respects you a great deal. She’s a daughter of innkeepers. She has vast knowledge and understanding. She will be a great asset to the House.”
Ilemina held up her hand. “I’ll give her a chance. But only a chance, Arland. I will make up my own mind. If she stumbles, if she endangers you in any way…”
Arland bowed his head. “Thank you, Mother.”
The recording faded out.
Maud leaned back against the tub. He would leave with her.
She wouldn’t ask for that sacrifice. She had no right. If she wanted him—truly wanted him—she had to make sure not to stumble.
9
The door chimed. Arland. Finally. They had things to discuss. She planned to open with “The Lees are spying on your mother and here is the recording of that conversation you had with her.” If her prior experiences with vampires in general and Arland in particular were anything to go by, it would take her at least twenty minutes to talk sense into him and convince him not to do something drastic like kicking Nuan Cee and his furry clan out of the castle.
Maud checked the time. After her bath, she’d tracked Helen down through their linked harbingers. Helen and Ymanie had charmed some dessert out of the kitchen staff and were eating it on the balcony of one of the towers. Helen begged for more time and Maud had given her another hour. That was twenty minutes ago. Plenty of time left for a private conversation with Arland.
Maud paused before the door, trying to compose her thoughts. Things refused to line up in her head. Words like “love” and “leave” buzzed around in there, muddying things up. Get a grip.
The door chimed again, then again. Not Arland.
“Show the guest,” she said.
A screen opened above the door, showing Karat. The vampire knight tapped her foot on the floor, her arms crossed.
What now?
“Accept.”
The door slid open and Karat stormed inside.
“What is it?” Maud asked.
“I have urgent news.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if you bring any other kind.”
A careful knock echoed through the chamber. It came from the side door, from the passage connecting her rooms to Arland’s. Maud crossed the chamber and opened it. Arland stepped inside. He must’ve stopped by the medic as well, because the bruises on his face had faded to almost nothing.
“Lady Maud.”
“Lord Marshal.”
He saw Karat. Something snapped in Arland’s eyes. It might have been his patience.
“Why are you here?” he growled. “Why are you always here? Do you not have any other duties, cousin?”
Yes, definitely his patience.
Karat’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, did I frustrate your intentions? Were you about to make an awkward love pronouncement? Perhaps follow it with a sonnet you’d composed?”
Arland’s expression turned ice cold. “The nature of my conversations with my fiancée are none of your business.”
“One would think that a man in your position would be grateful that a female relative is trying to safeguard his not-fiancée.”
“A man in my position would be grateful for a bit of privacy!”
“You can have privacy when you’re dead!”
They glared at each other.
Right. She’d been in enough sibling battles to know exactly where this would end.
“My lady!” Maud said.
“What?” Karat snarled.
“Urgent news?” Maud prompted.
“Go ahead,” Arland said. “The sooner we hear this, the faster you can leave.”
“I came here to tell your not-fiancée,” Karat said, looking at Arland, “that the bride just invited her to the Lantern Vigil.”
Arland swore.
“When?” Maud asked.
“We leave in thirty minutes.”
Arland swore again. Clearly, this whole situation was getting to him, Maud decided.
“What in the icy plains do they want with her?” Arland asked.
“I don’t know,” Karat said. “You have to go, Maud. If you refuse…”
“It will be an insult. I know. I had the Lantern Vigil for my wedding.”
It was an ancient wedding ritual, born from myth and love. A thousand years ago, a vampire knight had gone to war against interstellar invaders. His fiancée, who had been crippled in battle, had to stay behind. Every week, despite her injury, she made a long journey to the sacred vala tree high on the mountain and hung a new lantern on its branches, praying that her fiancé would come home. When he returned, years later, triumphant, he saw the vala tree out of the window of his shuttle. It glowed with lanterns, a symbol of his beloved’s devotion.
Nobody remembered the couple’s names, but countless vampire brides made the journey to a vala tree carefully planted somewhere in the wilderness, preferably on a mountain trail. They were accompanied by the young women from the bridal party. The journey had to be made on foot. No armor. No weapons. No men.
“Can you get her out of it?” Arland asked.
“They specifically asked for her by name. It came directly from the bride.” Karat grimaced. “The bridal tree is five miles up the trail. The terrain is steep and the path is narrow, bordering a cliff. We’ll end up walking single file half of the way. The order in which we walk is predetermined by the bride. Maud will be walking between Onda and Seveline. I’ll be three women ahead. If something happens, I won’t even know.”
“You think they could push her off the path?” Arland’s eyes blazed.
“I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“To what end?”
Karat waved her arms. “To piss you off. To upset the wedding. For their amusement because they are evil bitches.”
Maud cleared her throat. The two vampires looked at her.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m hard to kill. Better people have tried and failed. Besides, it’s unlikely they would bump me off. I’m an honored guest. If I die, Arland would withdraw from the wedding to mourn me and they have a particular interest in him.”