A Shade of Vampire 40: A Throne of Fire(2)

I waited for her revulsion, glad that I couldn’t see her expression.

“Tejus,” she whispered.

Instead of the condemnation I was expecting, Hazel lifted our linked hands to her lips, pressing a kiss against my fingers.

“It must have been horrible.”

I shrugged, hardly believing that she wasn’t going to judge me, that my actions weren’t repulsive to her.

“It was necessary. Take comfort that Queen Trina was truly evil—not just a man fighting for what he believed was right.”

“I guess so,” she replied with a sigh.

“Think of your brother, the pain that she caused him—and Ruby and Julian too. They were lucky to survive the ordeals she put them through.”

“And the pain she put you through. Commander Varga. The king of Hadalix. So many,” she replied, her voice sounding stronger. I started to feel a small flicker of energy radiating off her, and smiled to myself in the darkness. Hazel was so much more resilient than I gave her credit for—she would overcome this, and whatever else we would face in the coming days.

“Rest, Hazel,” I commanded her gently. “While we have the time.”

I felt her nod against me, and another yawn erupted. Soon her body lay back against mine limply, and I heard the faint, regular breathing of her sleep.

We were a few miles from Memenion’s castle. I looked toward Queen Memenion and Ragnhild, both riding up front. Ash and Ruby had ridden back through the ranks to check on Jenus and were yet to return.

I hadn’t decided what we were going to do with my brother yet. I wanted him locked away, but so far any attempt we’d made to keep hold of captives had failed dismally—with near-disastrous results. We still had Abelle locked up and chained in the summer palace. Would we leave her there to die? Or could she be of use to us? From what Hazel had told me of the conversation she had overheard in the forest between the woman and the Acolyte, it didn’t seem like Abelle knew much. Perhaps it would be better to leave her to her own fate. No doubt Ash would have an opinion on the matter.

I heard his bull-horse galloping up alongside the army.

“Your brother’s still confined,” Ash informed me, slowing down to a trot to keep pace alongside me. Ruby sat behind him, smiling softly at Hazel’s sleeping form.

“Is he saying anything?” I asked.

“The usual—how put upon he’s been, how Queen Trina was evil incarnate and he’s just an innocent.”

I snorted with derision.

“I don’t believe a word he says either.” Ash smiled wryly.

“Does he know she is dead?”

Ash nodded. “What do you think we should do with him?” he asked after a pause.

“That’s what I’m trying to work out.”

“If what the book said is true, that the Acolytes could communicate with the entity, we need to be careful that Jenus can’t do the same – who knows to what extent Queen Trina involved him in her plan. He denies it, which is to be expected. It just worries me that if we take him with us, he might be able to impart information to the entity—things that could be used against us.”

The words of the book had slipped my mind. If the book was correct, then perhaps we could use it to our advantage.

“Or, if he had fully pledged his allegiance to the Acolytes during his stay with Queen Trina, we could use Jenus’s visions to get information about the entity – what he’s planning,” I countered. “I don’t believe for a moment that we will be able to protect ourselves from an attack by the entity at its full strength, no matter how well protected we are. Our best chance of survival will be to understand what exactly it wants, and try to stay one step ahead.”

“Does it even want anything?” Ruby asked quietly. “Doesn’t it just want us all dead, and Nevertide destroyed?”

“Perhaps,” I agreed. “Though I still don’t believe that its rise is complete yet—I think we would know if it was.”

“We would all be dead already,” Ash muttered.

We fell silent. It was the truth. There must be something that the entity was missing, or some process that hadn’t been completed yet. Had the book been more forthcoming, we might have a better idea as to what that was—but we were clueless.

“The guards have blindfolded him. Hopefully that will keep our location and our numbers hidden for as long as possible,” I said. “There will be ways of making Jenus talk.”

Ash looked over at Hazel, still fast asleep.

“At least she’ll have a steady supply of energy.”

“Is she feeling any better?” Ruby asked, her voice barely above a whisper to avoid waking her friend.