A Shade of Vampire 39 by Bella Forrest

Author:Bella Forrest [Forrest, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-01-29T05:00:00+00:00

Ruby

Hazel and I gave up our bull-horses to the Impartial Ministers. Even after everything they’d done, I kind of felt bad for them. It might have been because they looked like they were going to keel over and die at any moment, but I also felt that Tejus had been effective enough in making them come at least partway to their senses. They wouldn’t be crossing us again in a hurry—accidentally or otherwise.

“Where to now?” I asked as we made our way back down the narrow path. I was riding on the back of Ash’s bull-horse, and turned my head to see Tejus and Hazel behind me.

“We should get to Hellswan castle as swiftly as possible. Ash?” Tejus deferred again, and I gave Hazel a bemused look. It was the weirdest thing to see Tejus checking in with the man I’d previously heard him refer to as the ‘Kitchen King.’

“I agree, though we should get more of us to help. Let’s go via the palace and get help. I don’t suppose finding it is going to be an easy task,” Ash muttered.

“Absolutely,” Tejus replied.

Ash pulled the bull-horse to a stop, turned around and glared at Tejus. “Stop it,” he barked.

Stop what? Was Tejus’s deferral making Ash uncomfortable?

Tejus nodded sullenly. “Fine. As we were, then.”

What? I didn’t really understand why Ash would have a problem with Tejus acknowledging his new position—if anything I’d thought he would have wanted it, would have reveled in Tejus bowing down to him. I frowned as Ash spurred on the bull-horse. He had been acting strange ever since he was crowned, and through the ceremony, like he wasn’t listening to a word that the Impartial Ministers had been saying. This was what he’d always wanted, wasn’t it?

“Ash,” I said, leaning my head against his back, “are you okay? You seem to be…distracted.”

“I’m fine, Shortie, don’t worry. It’s just a bit strange, that’s all.”

“As long as that’s all it is?”

“Yeah.” He squeezed my hands that were clasped around his waist. “That’s all it is.”

I only felt half reassured. There was something in his tone that made me think his sentiments weren’t exactly true. Then again, it wasn’t like I’d ever been crowned emperor of a country—how the hell would I know how he felt? There must have been a million thoughts going through his head right now, and it wasn’t as if Nevertide was in good shape. Ash would have hardships ahead of him. We all would.

The journey passed without incident. The Impartial Ministers didn’t say a word. Ash asked them if they needed a break at one point, but they shook their heads, muttering something about not slowing us down. I realized that we didn’t even know their names. It was something we would have to remedy later…especially if they were going to be staying at the palace with us.

The return journey felt a lot shorter, and soon the towers of the palace broke through the treetops in the distance.

“What’s that noise?” Hazel asked as we approached the muddy path that would lead to the grounds.

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