Chapter 104 Bloodthirsty Crown
❀ Maeve ❀
This is really happening.
My heart fluttered as Vladis and I stood in a shadowed enclave by the throne room.
The room was large and oval, a double-storied hall.
Settees and long chairs lined the walls. Bloodwine, as the name suggested, flowed from mini fountains.
From our vantage point, I could see about thirty guests in attendance, excluding the monotonously dressed servers.
Vladis was still holding my arm. Somehow, it didn’t repel me. Not right now. Not when I was still reeling.
No one seemed to have noticed our arrival, so I looked to my fill.
The throne itself was a thing of wonder.
Unlike the rigid, bulky structure one would expect, it was designed to be comfortable and graceful.
The high back, seat, and armrests were cushioned with plush black fabric. The stylish gold frames were inlaid with—yes—Crimson gems.
Light from lamps of every size and placement bounced off the glossy stones. The gold gleamed with pride.
My claws curled. I wanted to touch it.
Only when I sat on it would I finally believe this was real.
“Shall we?”
I jumped at Vladis’s voice, having forgotten he was there.
With deliberate calm, I brushed my hand over my hair. Then I nodded.
To freedom.
Vladis began to walk. I matched his steps.
Just before we left the cloak of shadows, Vladis whispered, “Remember what we discussed. I know you don’t trust me, but we never harm our own. Ever.”
I was too stunned to respond. Too busy trying not to trip to care.
The hall quieted.
As we advanced toward the raised dais where Drusilla was seated, the small crowd parted for us. For me.
Eyes on me like a million strung arrows.
What were they thinking? About me?
Where was Nikolai?
Chills broke out on my arms. My dress rustled along the floor, whispering a thousand secrets. I only hoped no one could decipher them.
When, finally, we reached our destination, Drusilla stood.
I couldn’t read her face, so I read her body.
She didn’t care to be here. To some degree, I almost felt she was grudgingly going along with this just to get it over with.
The fashion of her dress concealed her stomach, but the evidence of pregnancy showed in the slight roundness of her cheeks.
Then she… bowed.
I barely held back my gasp.
This was real. This was happening.
Immediately she rose and spoke.
“Maeve de Carmine. First of her name,” her voice echoed. “Crimson-chosen successor of the dearly departed Lyssa, the Crimson Wraith.”
Drusilla held out her hand. I took it. It was cold.
She led me up the dais, then Vladis immediately traced away.
Again, where was Nikolai?
The regent guided me, not harshly, to a polished platform of smooth black stone.
Atop it sat a square shape draped in lush red silk.
The ends of the fabric swayed softly in ribbed strings.
We stood before it, the throne directly behind the platform.
The quiet was staggering. I wished they’d made more noise, something to anchor me here.
Drusilla, Regent of Veilmoor, released my hand and turned to face me. I adjusted to face her as well.
“With gratitude, we crown you. With gratitude, we name you.”
She repeated the chant, and lowly, the crowd echoed her.
My heart beat against my ribs as the voices grew louder and louder.
I glanced out at the attendees raising their glasses. Their eyes glowed with intensity, faces pale and smooth and impossibly supple.
The fangs broke the illusion.
This was a family of supernaturals.
And I was their queen.
The chanting stopped abruptly. The silence that followed was sharp as a blade.
Then Drusilla grasped the edge of the red silk and uncovered what lay beneath.
A glass box.
Within it sat the Crown of Veilmoor. The crown from the vision. My crown.
She gently removed the front panel of the glass box, then looked at me.
I assumed she wanted me to take it myself.
I swallowed, throat thick. My limbs froze. My veins pounded with fight or flight, and I was dangerously close to flight.
How comical it would be if I ran now, skirts swishing in retreat.
Drusilla’s blank expression softened. Impossibly, her lips curved into a kind smile.
“You are worthy, not just by virtue of your blood, but by your journey back home. This is you. Claim yourself.”
She set the glass panel aside and stepped back.
From the corner of my vision, a form materialized in the hall, the faintest whisper of arrival.
I dared to look.
Nikolai.
His eyes were wild with panic, but when our gazes locked, he visibly calmed. He must have been searching for me after I disappeared from the mansion.
I strangled the whimper in my throat and fixed my gaze on the crown.
A simple twisting band of gold. Delicate. Blinding. With a perfectly placed Crimson stone at its center.
I reached out before the universe could punish my restraint, and that’s when I saw them.
Barbed spikes lining the inside of the band.
My grip faltered, nearly dropping it.
Had they always been this wickedly sharp? Or had they altered it for me?
A ragged breath escaped my chest.
I turned to face the crowd with the crown in my hands.
Was I supposed to speak? I had nothing to say. No promises to make.
So I raised the crown above my head.
A stray wisp of wind swept through the hall. All eyes were rapt on me.
Chin lifted, I placed the crown on my head and pressed down until the spikes pierced my skin and blood welled.
I didn’t wince. Didn’t cry out.
This was all I had ever wanted.
Freedom. Security. Respect. Power.
I just hadn’t known it would come in this magnitude.
Blood streamed down the sides of my face as the crown locked into place.
Thundering applause erupted.
Scattered bows and cheers followed. They clapped. They smiled. They looked at me with pride and awe. With joy.
My chest felt light despite the stabbing pain in my head. Despite knowing that every time I removed the crown to bathe, to wash—I would tear my scalp and bleed anew.
A small price to pay.
My lips curved into a smile. The feeling was too big for my chest, so I twirled and faced the throne.
Twelve guards materialized, six on either side, to shield my path.
I walked to the throne, ran my fingers over the armrests, the gold.
Then I sat.
The cheering didn’t wane. My heart swelled.
Nikolai, Vladis, and Drusilla lined up before me.
They bowed.
I met each of their gazes, dizzy with excitement.
Nikolai looked at me like I hung the moon.
Drusilla regarded me as she might a daughter, the corner of her mouth lifted, amused by my obvious pleasure.
And Vladis, he stared as though we were in league.
As though we shared an inside secret.
I suppose we did.
But I hoped he knew better than to trust me, just as I would never trust him—