Page 77 of Their Blood Queen
The purity of a blood diamond increases my effectiveness when scrying. And I intend to find a compatible breed of monster in this realm, or another world altogether if I must. I will find one, though, who can help me keep Scarlett alive when I take her as my mate.
That’s next week’s problem, though. I need to scry for such monsters when the portals open to hundreds of worlds in eight days’ time. That’ll only require one blood diamond. The other is for my current task.
Today, I need to work on cleaning up this mess and finding a way to show Scarlett what kind of man Earl Rinhold really is. Anything I do to impact her opinion of him could be considered a violation of the blood contract just as effectively as if I had killed him.
I have to tread carefully.
So I’ll use Earl Rinhold’s tactics of spreading rumors against him.
“Lady Eleanor is still recovering within the guest level of my tower,” I explain. “She’s welcome to stay as long as she requires.”
They stop bickering as they glance back at me. “She’s being kept here as a guest?” Duchess Amesbury asks hopefully. “Not a prisoner?”
I nod. “She was wounded, so I have a team of doctors tending to her injuries. She’ll need a few more days, but she’ll make a full recovery.” I tilt my head. “I apologize that I wasn’t aware of the rumors until now.”
Bernard was in Monster City, so I had been deaf without him as my ears. Prayers don’t often include rumors, only requests for help or blessings.
The monsters attending the fête only made matters worse. I am just as guilty as Earl Rinhold for abandoning her while she was naked and smelling like sex in an empty hall.
Conveying that information to Helia was one of Bernard’s tasks. I’ve spent the majority of my time monitoring prayers and communications to ensure Scarlett’s safety, as well as all the other tasks I must take care of during the busiest time of the year. While I’ve let the humans rule themselves even more than usual, I’ve almost forgotten that there are monsters to keep in line, too.
Monster justice is Helia’s territory. Maintaining the humans of the Elite City is mine.
“What kind of injuries?” the Duke asks while he fiddles with the frill of his shirt. He pretends not to care about his daughter, but I know he does. The Amesbury Elites stick together. They are more of a middle- to lower-class family who scrape by on enough points to survive in the Magic Sector, which is no small feat in and of itself. Their daughter had simply found a currency that served her well in such circumstances, until now.
“That is still under investigation, but I can confirm that she suffered extreme blood loss,” I say.
The Duchess’s face blanches. I can tell she wants to confront me on why this information hadn’t been disclosed sooner, but she doesn’t.
I’m still their God. Whatever reasons I have for the way I do things are mine alone. I sent word to her parents that she had been taken into the tower, and they were the ones who had chosen not to respond until I sent an invitation.
To be fair, my first correspondence had been informative, not requiring a response.
“Was she violated in… other ways? By the monsters, I mean?” she asks instead. The tremor in her voice betrays the nightmares I can taste dancing around inside her mind.
She’s always worried about her daughter attracting the wrong kind of attention. Luckily, most monsters aren’t rapists. But taking a human’s blood without permission is almost as unforgivable a crime. They will pay, once they are found. Hopefully, Bernard has good news for me. It was my assumption that the monsters we are looking for boarded the train for Monster City to prepare for Monsters Night.
It could be why they fed against the rules, too. Mortal blood is a coveted resource, but monsters must obtain it legally. That can take time, and with Monsters Night in just eight days, maybe they didn’t want to wait.
There are many different types of vampiric species within Helia’s city walls who seek her favor to earn time with a willing blood donor or be given a small supply to live off of for a while.
Feeding off of Elite citizens is frowned upon, to say the least.
If my followers don’t have my protection, what good am I to them?
“No,” I confirm. “At least, your daughter says they didn’t do anything else to her but feed.” I’ll still explore their minds when they are found and discover the truth.
I decided against scrutinizing Eleanor’s nightmares. What little I could see was darkness and screams. She wasn’t recovering with such heavy nightmares tearing open her mind.
So I ate them.
“Can we see her?” Duchess Amesbury asks.
“What of the rumors?” her husband interjects, cutting her off as he taps his fingers on the table. “No one will do trades with us, and merchants are refusing to sell us wares. They can’t have their reputation damaged and risk other families boycotting them, you see. This can prove difficult just days before Monsters Night.”
“Do you not have confidence in your selections?” I ask.
Amesbury Village isn’t much to look at, but it’s a pretty little place by the sea. I know of it because I’ve stopped there before to enjoy the scenery. With the infertile land, though, pretty is all it could really be.