The detachment of Florentines ascended a staircase that seemed to spiral in a never-ending circle. The music dulled to a low thud, as if it were far below them.
Eventually, they halted.
Raven moved her head and was able to discern that they were gathered in a narrow passage, lit by torches.
Captain Gaius announced that they were to wait inside the rooms provided until Lieutenant Cato sent for the Prince. The captain gave no indication of how long that might be.
The Prince had a short exchange with the captain, which was studiously formal. Raven knew from William’s tone that he was angry at being delayed. But he eventually acquiesced to the captain’s instructions.
The Florentines were ushered through a door, and the Roman escort withdrew. She heard the sound of a door closing.
William undid Raven’s blindfold, pointing her and her sister toward a lavishly decorated sitting room. He remained with the soldiers, who cloistered themselves in the adjoining space.
“You are confined to these quarters until I order otherwise. Commander Borek, I leave you in charge. I will see to it that bottles of blood are delivered to you for feeding.”#p#分页标题#e#
The Prince crossed over to the sitting room and closed the door between the two spaces, closeting himself with the women.
“Release her.” Raven’s arm was around her sister’s shoulder, while Cara stared unseeingly into space.
“No.”
“William.” Raven’s voice edged past reproachful into angry.
“Remember how you felt walking through the palace halls?” William’s gray eyes were knowing. “You were right to be afraid. Even though the Roman is my ally, like all vampyres, he is capricious and not to be trusted. We are surrounded by potential enemies. The smallest unguarded word from your sister’s lips could mean the death of all of us.”
Raven’s green eyes grew round. “But—but the Roman would never kill you.”
“Even I have executed allies.”
Before Raven could respond, he gestured to the twin couches that stood in the center of the room.
“Rest. I shall arrange for food and drink to be sent down. But don’t leave this room.” He paused, his eyes moving over her face. “We may be here for some time.”
Chapter Twenty-One
THE PRINCE WAS ON A MISSION.
Even now, the Curia could be storming his city. Ibarra and Aoibhe were likely colluding against him. Indeed, they could have usurped his throne in the hours he’d been absent.
He did not have time to wait until the lieutenant tired of his current pursuits and decided to grant him an audience.
The Prince arranged for his soldiers to be fed and for human food to be delivered to Raven and her sister. He insisted he be allowed to wait outside Lieutenant Cato’s audience room until the lieutenant agreed to see him.
Captain Gaius had ordered the Prince to return to his quarters, but William simply used a mild form of mind control on the captain, and he’d relented.
The Prince was surprised that a captain in the Roman guard would be so susceptible to an old one’s influence. He made sure to keep his mind control subtle, so as not to attract attention.
Now he waited on Cato, his body and mind restless.
He’d forgotten what life was like in the Roman’s palace, but was reminded by the citizens who used the antechamber as their pleasure den. Vampyres drifted in and out of the room, fornicating and feeding on human beings and each other.
William’s sensitive ears pounded with music that emanated from the large central hall on the ground floor of the palace.
From time to time, a citizen’s eyes would stray to William’s, and he or she would beckon him. William merely shook his head, too disgusted to exchange words.
Eventually, Gaius drove the revelers away, ordering them to pursue their orgy elsewhere.
The Prince closed his eyes in relief.
Much ink had been spilled on the decadence of ancient Rome. But the decadence of vampyric Rome was surely a rival. How he longed for the order and dignity of Florence. How he longed to retreat to his villa and hold Raven in his arms, blotting out the stark depravity of his brethren.
These thoughts plagued him as the lieutenant kept him waiting, minute after minute and hour after hour.
The slight was intentional. However, the Prince was shrewd enough to hide his ire. When he was finally escorted into the audience room, just before sunset, he forced himself to greet the lieutenant with deferential respect.
Cato was an Italian and at least two centuries away from becoming an old one. Nevertheless, he dressed as the Roman himself, in the purple imperial toga of ancient Rome.
The Prince was surprised. Only the Roman himself wore purple, while his lieutenant was usually restricted to wearing white.#p#分页标题#e#