Vampire Kingdom 1: The Trade by Leigh Walker

Author:Leigh Walker [Walker, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CMG Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-03-27T05:00:00+00:00

17

Ripple

The prince had to leave for a meeting. There hadn’t been time for him to tell me more about his mother and how I’d nearly died.

I sat, dazed, as Mistress Olivia did my hair and makeup.

“Did you have a good night’s sleep?” she asked kindly.

“Yes, thank you.” But my head throbbed from everything else he’d said. I coughed, and she peered down at me. “Mistress Olivia… Can I ask you a few things?”

“Maybe, my lady. I’ll have to see if it’s on my ‘approved’ list.” She sniffed. “The prince and his rules, you know. Gets a bit confusing if you ask me.”

“Tell me about it.” I frowned. “He did explain more this morning—more about how I’ve come through these past years.”

“Good.” She nodded, applying blush to my cheeks as she waited for me to continue.

“But he had to rush off, and now my brain won’t stop trying to make sense of what he said.”

“Of course, my lady. It’s a lot to think about.”

“Can you tell me anything about my family?” I held my breath, praying she had information.

Mistress Olivia frowned at me. “I know for a fact, as do you, that His Highness has put that topic of conversation on the ‘unapproved’ list. Don’t try to get me into trouble!”

“I’m so sorry.” My heart sank. “It’s just that I was hoping…”

She chucked me under the chin. “I know, child. But all in good time. Ask me something else to pass the time.”

I nodded, head still swimming. “So…how many times have I been chosen as a sacrifice?

She frowned, thinking about it. “I would say about four?”

My heart sank. Five young maidens had been kidnapped and brought into the compound to make up for the years I’d been chosen. “Why does he choose me? Isn’t it safer to have me fly under the radar?”

“No, it’s not—and trust me, we’ve tried everything.” Mistress Olivia shook her head. “We used to hide you in the village, but there’s just something about your blood. It calls to our kind, a siren’s song. The guards would go and search you out then bring you back here before the king and queen. Then His Highness would be forced to return you to the lake, and we would have to start all over again.”

I blinked up at her.

“Then for years the prince had you smuggled into the castle, but the only humans we have here are the blood slaves. Again, the guards could always smell you, no matter where he hid you. So he finally decided bringing you in legitimately was safer.”

“But can’t the guards smell me now?”

She chuckled. “Of course they can, but His Highness has dosed them with enough of your blood that you somehow repel them now. He has it very tightly controlled. I don’t understand how it works, child. Just that there’s been years of trial and error and years of your blood being administered around here in order to protect you. Now the prince believes that the safest thing is to hide you right in plain sight.

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