The Kingmakers(61)
Adele whispered, “So you're going to win the war all by yourself? Where am I?”
“Shh,” he replied. “It is called The Greyfriar.”
She was prepared to say something disgruntled when a burst of sound from the orchestra heralded the appearance of Flay onstage, who attacked the hero. Cesare appeared up from out of a trapdoor in the black floor, delivering a nightmarish aria above the struggle.
“Typical,” Greyfriar muttered. “Singing while others fight.”
When the stage swordsman was pushed close to Cesare by Flay, the vampire prince struck and drove Greyfriar to the floor, and his sword went flying. Flay rose up in clawed triumph, preparing for the death blow, singing that if she could never have him, no one would. Cesare bellowed a deep resounding note that rang for a long moment, then ceased abruptly in a gunshot.
Flay clutched her heart and fell.
The young empress appeared from the wings with a smoking revolver.
Cesare exclaimed in surprise, and Greyfriar leapt to his feet, drew a dagger, and raised it over his head. He plunged it into Cesare's chest while singing, “I strike for humanity. And thus humanity triumphs!”
The real Greyfriar suddenly twisted away from the stage. Adele reached out her hand, and he gratefully grasped it.
As the stage swordsman and empress joined hands and sang their final love duet, the army of Equatoria entered and surrounded them. The cast finale was rousing and patriotic, for country, for flag, for empress.
For humanity.
The curtain dropped. Adele was watching the troubled Greyfriar when she realized the theater was in silence. She looked down confused to see all faces glowing toward her. Waiting.
She rose and began to clap. The audience responded in kind, standing as a body, with thunderous applause. Cheers rang out. Greyfriar joined her, mimicking the act of clapping his hands.
“What happened to you at the end?” she asked him. “Why did you turn away?”
“I killed my brother.”
Adele turned to him. “I thought you want to kill Cesare?”
He continued to clap with his hidden eyes focused on the cast on stage. The masked swordsman below whipped off his disguise. “I don't want to. I will have to. And I won't do it as Greyfriar.”
“We are scheduled to meet the cast, but we can simply go, if you'd prefer.”
“No. They worked hard. They deserve to see their empress.” Greyfriar's chin bobbed with a sarcastic huff. “And the great hero of their people.”
AS THE AUDIENCE cheered at the couple in the high box seat, Empress Adele waved politely, her bright smile visible for all to see, the infamous Greyfriar stoically beside her. The ever-present mask and glasses prevented the crowd from seeing what emotion the show might have generated in the dark swordsman.
Sanah adjusted her dark plum silk burqa, the same one she had worn to the play where she'd first met Adele, and idly wondered how long the empress intended to play such a dangerous game with the vampire prince. Eventually the truth would come out. Already more people knew than should.
Sanah couldn't contemplate the idea of touching a living vampire with the intention of anything other than violence. Inwardly, she shuddered. Mamoru was convinced the Greyfriar was using Adele for some nefarious and deeper purpose. Of course that was the case. What else could it be? No vampire in the thousands of years they existed had ever looked at a human without bloodlust in its eyes. Why would this one be any different?
However, none of this was Sanah's primary concern tonight. She was here for only one purpose. When Mamoru told about Adele's doubt, it reminded Sanah of another woman who had stood in her place once. Although Mamoru guided Adele spiritually, someone was needed to assist the empress in other things, things that only another woman or even a relative could understand. Perhaps if Adele had that additional guiding hand, matters wouldn't seem so confusing to the young woman.
The packed theater emptied out into the lobby, where a receiving line formed awaiting the return of the empress and her consort. Much to her consternation, Sanah was shuffled to the end of it. But she knew the empress would make time for all. A side door opened, and the White Guard emerged and moved with precision through the crowd, forming a path along the red carpet. Finally, in the close air of the crowded lobby, Empress Adele and Greyfriar emerged from the heavy doors to the polite adulation of gathered high society. People packed in tighter, but Sanah would not be moved or shoved past. Her dark contoured eyes locked onto Adele and pierced her sharply.
Adele paused from her cursory scan of the long line with her brilliant smile and tracked back to settle on Sanah. Her brow creased as she attempted to place the familiar woman. Sanah lifted a henna-covered hand in greeting, hoping to convey a memory, and closed her eyes to show the tattooed eyelids that stared at Adele from across the room. When Sanah opened them, Adele's eyes were wide in sudden recognition.