use scare tactics right now. Once you’ve established your monarchy and shown your strength, you can ease up a bit, but right now, people are looking for signs of weakness.”
“ So these men have to suffer so I can make a point?”
“ There are many casualties on the road to freedom, Majesty.” Morgaine bowed her head. “Their sacrifice is given for the greater good.”
“ Fine then,” I challenged, looking at my king. “I’ll do it, but you’re going to walk those men down to the crypt and close their coffins yourself.”
“ A good councilman always does.”
“ Yes, but you're not a councilman anymore, David.” I stood up. “You're the king.”
“ Which means I’m extending a courtesy to you by arguing this, Ara. That courtesy ends now.”
“ This isn’t—”
“ Sit down,” he said firmly, and the room fell to flat silence.
“ No. I don’t agree with this. I don’t agree that burying men alive is going to solve anything.”
“ You don’t have to agree. I am the king, and I have final say.”
My mouth opened to protest, but I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and the whole room seemed to stand still, as if no one had the courage to speak up against their king, even though he was wrong.
“ In this monarchy,” I said firmly, my voice not even shaking, “the queen holds the power.”
“ Not the way I run things.” He stood up slowly, placing his hands on the table, and I finally saw what it was the people saw in this king—the reason they feared him. “Now. Sit. Down.”
“ No.”
“ Ara. I'm not kidding. There are ways things need to be done. You have a king because you don't have the gut to handle this stuff. Now sit and let us do our job.”
“ I won't allow torture.”
David’s stone face broke; he laughed, waving a hand in my direction. “Take your idealism somewhere else, Ara. I don't have time for it.”
I swallowed, digging deeper for a little inner strength, and looked at Mike, whose mouth hung open. This was clearly the councilman we hadn’t met yet—the David everyone warned me about. But I wasn’t surprised, not like Mike. I’d seen this David before.
“ Mate, why not let her try it her way? If you’re right, the best way to show Ara is to let her learn from her own experiences. She’ll never learn from being told.”
David stared Mike down for a second, then turned to me, his eyes softening when he looked into mine. “Okay. Go ahead, but you’ll be taking us back to the Stone Age, Ara, and when more vampires go ramped because there’s nothing to fear, we’ll be doing it my way, and I don't want any arguments from you.”
“ Okay,” I whispered, nodding.
“ Right. Now. Missing venom stores.” He looked around the room. “What do we know?”
“ Nothing yet, Your Majesty.” Blade sat back, linking both hands behind his head. “The dawn guard noticed the lock on the weapons vault was broken at about four in the morning, and seventy per cent of the venom was gone—no fingerprints, no fibres or hairs. Nothing.”
“ Do we think it was inside job?” He looked at Mike.
“ I’m looking in to that,” Mike said. “And we’ve got forensics on it, too. They’re combing that place as we speak. If anything’s to be found, they’ll find it.”
“ There’s one thing they can’t find,” Quaid said, and we all looked at him; he grinned. “A motive.”
“ Well, I have a pretty good idea what the motive is,” David said flatly. “And I’m damn sure we’ll be seeing those venom stores again—on the battlefield.”
“ For real?” I said, not really meaning to say it out loud.
David looked over at me, offering a small smile. “Drake has threatened us once before. I’m pretty sure he’s preparing for war, Ara. And I’m certain he will attack without warning.”
“ Should we evacuate the town? The Lilithians have human children there.”
David shook his head. “Not yet. I’m sending spies out to Elysium tomorrow to
“ So these men have to suffer so I can make a point?”
“ There are many casualties on the road to freedom, Majesty.” Morgaine bowed her head. “Their sacrifice is given for the greater good.”
“ Fine then,” I challenged, looking at my king. “I’ll do it, but you’re going to walk those men down to the crypt and close their coffins yourself.”
“ A good councilman always does.”
“ Yes, but you're not a councilman anymore, David.” I stood up. “You're the king.”
“ Which means I’m extending a courtesy to you by arguing this, Ara. That courtesy ends now.”
“ This isn’t—”
“ Sit down,” he said firmly, and the room fell to flat silence.
“ No. I don’t agree with this. I don’t agree that burying men alive is going to solve anything.”
“ You don’t have to agree. I am the king, and I have final say.”
My mouth opened to protest, but I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and the whole room seemed to stand still, as if no one had the courage to speak up against their king, even though he was wrong.
“ In this monarchy,” I said firmly, my voice not even shaking, “the queen holds the power.”
“ Not the way I run things.” He stood up slowly, placing his hands on the table, and I finally saw what it was the people saw in this king—the reason they feared him. “Now. Sit. Down.”
“ No.”
“ Ara. I'm not kidding. There are ways things need to be done. You have a king because you don't have the gut to handle this stuff. Now sit and let us do our job.”
“ I won't allow torture.”
David’s stone face broke; he laughed, waving a hand in my direction. “Take your idealism somewhere else, Ara. I don't have time for it.”
I swallowed, digging deeper for a little inner strength, and looked at Mike, whose mouth hung open. This was clearly the councilman we hadn’t met yet—the David everyone warned me about. But I wasn’t surprised, not like Mike. I’d seen this David before.
“ Mate, why not let her try it her way? If you’re right, the best way to show Ara is to let her learn from her own experiences. She’ll never learn from being told.”
David stared Mike down for a second, then turned to me, his eyes softening when he looked into mine. “Okay. Go ahead, but you’ll be taking us back to the Stone Age, Ara, and when more vampires go ramped because there’s nothing to fear, we’ll be doing it my way, and I don't want any arguments from you.”
“ Okay,” I whispered, nodding.
“ Right. Now. Missing venom stores.” He looked around the room. “What do we know?”
“ Nothing yet, Your Majesty.” Blade sat back, linking both hands behind his head. “The dawn guard noticed the lock on the weapons vault was broken at about four in the morning, and seventy per cent of the venom was gone—no fingerprints, no fibres or hairs. Nothing.”
“ Do we think it was inside job?” He looked at Mike.
“ I’m looking in to that,” Mike said. “And we’ve got forensics on it, too. They’re combing that place as we speak. If anything’s to be found, they’ll find it.”
“ There’s one thing they can’t find,” Quaid said, and we all looked at him; he grinned. “A motive.”
“ Well, I have a pretty good idea what the motive is,” David said flatly. “And I’m damn sure we’ll be seeing those venom stores again—on the battlefield.”
“ For real?” I said, not really meaning to say it out loud.
David looked over at me, offering a small smile. “Drake has threatened us once before. I’m pretty sure he’s preparing for war, Ara. And I’m certain he will attack without warning.”
“ Should we evacuate the town? The Lilithians have human children there.”
David shook his head. “Not yet. I’m sending spies out to Elysium tomorrow to
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