Hupotasso (Vampire Bachelor Games #2)

33

33

“I thought I told you never to darken my doorstep again?”

I shrug as I cross the kitchen floor towards Asumpta and head to the sweets cabinet.

It was either here or Falcon’s mother, and although I was becoming more honest with Eleanor, I felt strangely much more liberated to say anything I liked to Asumpta. Also, I’d discovered the cat and kittens have been installed down here, and I wanted to pet them.

“I figure I have nothing to lose,” I murmur, as I reach for some cookies and turn back to her, holding the plate out for her to take one, “either you kill me, or Falcon does. Either way, win-win.”

“You seek death now? Last time we spoke you were hopeful of either escape or a reconciliation with your husband.”

“I don’t think there will be a reconciliation,” I sigh. “I just wanted to come down and talk.”

“Talk?”

I try to look nonchalant, leaning down to stroke one of the kittens as it winds itself around my legs. I’d take it to my rooms, but they’re so cold and forbidding. Down here in the kitchen is the nicest place to be for a cat; it’s warm and there’s endless food and a constant stream of servants for company. I’d move down here too if I could. Except Asumpta would probably drain me.

“I’m merely trying to understand the family, the castle, and its workings,” I murmur. “You’ve been here so long. You must know it better than anyone. You must know who comes and goes, all the wings and what they hold…”

I don’t say what I’m really thinking. I’ve been going over my last conversation with Falcon, and as far as I can see there’s only one woman he’d said he ever wanted to marry, and that was Sophie. I know she’s still hiding from Spider. I’d gleaned that much during family dinners from bits and pieces of conversation between Viper and Falcon. Thinking it through, I’m damn sure Falcon has her squirrelled away somewhere until she gives birth. The most logical place, the most secure place, would be here.

But drawing information out of the woman before me is like drawing blood from an anaemic.

“Perhaps you should concentrate more on your own predicament and less on what others are doing or where they are going. Perhaps you should also stay in your own wing,” she mutters.

“The kitchen is technically part of my wing,” I shrug.

“I’ve told you I don’t want you here.”

“Then how about answering my question.”

“Which question, you ask so many. You’re like a babbling five-year-old.”

“Thanks.”

“Here.”

She hands me a set of keys, chunky, heavy. Some are bigger than my hand.

“Take these. You didn’t get them from me. You may find answers to your questions. Although sometimes what you don’t know can’t hurt you. If I were you, I’d stay away from the North Wing.”

I smile widely.

The North Wing will be my first port of call.

“Thank you.”

“Now stay away from here!”

“I appreciate the keys,” I say slowly, “but there is one more thing that brings me back.”

“What is it?” She snaps. “My patience with you grows thin. I begin to understand why he wants to kill you.”

I ignore her spiteful words.

“I want to know what a template is.”

She narrows her eyes at me.

“Then you will stay away from my level?”

I nod, but underneath, I don’t really think I’m going to do that. In fact, I know I’ll continue to sneak down for the cats and the confectionary, if nothing else.

“And you’re sure you wouldn’t prefer ignorance? Most humans do, you know.”

“I’m not most humans.”

“Very well, although what I tell you must be kept in confidence. Very few vampires, let alone humans, know the truth of the first-born daughter.”

“I promise,” I nod enthusiastically, “I mean, I have nobody to speak to anyway.”

She studies me for a long minute before making up her mind.

“What do you know about The Families?”

“I know they’re a bunch of royals who rule every country, and their queen kills kids for kicks.”

She nods slowly.

“Yes. But did you know they’re the same royals that have ruled since the dawn of time?”

“The same family?”

“The same individuals.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“Because when they get old, really old, they transcend into a new body. And that new body has to be of royal descent to ensure the pure bloodlines are continued.”

“Transcend?” I shake my head. “Are you saying…”

“I’m saying that when a king of any given country hands over his throne to his son, he jumps into his son’s body, and the queen jumps into the daughter-in-law’s body. They are the same two people all the time. These wives, of course, have to come from royal bloodlines to keep the blood pure. The Families don’t marry humans. They don’t need to; they can procreate with one another. That’s why The Families’ royals marry vampires, and not humans. The lesser royals like the Dragonspurs, although interbred with people, have a high percentage of the ancient bloodline. The royal wives must all come from the lesser royals to be inhabited by the old queens. Until that day, they’re just templates.”

I stare at her, eyes wide, mouth dry.

“So, you’re saying any first-born daughter of a lesser royal is taken? Surely, they can’t need that many?”

“Need? No. Want? Yes. It’s tradition. And also, accidents happen. Just in case something untoward should occur they need a back-up line of bodies. The daughters are raised, groomed from the age of three to be what they must be, and kept their whole lives in seclusion, awaiting their selection.”

“Why three?”

“You have to breastfeed until then, of course — it’s tradition.”

“Of course, tradition,” I whisper, my heart racing and blood running cold at the very idea that she could be telling me the truth.

“Don’t look so shocked,” she laughs loudly and harshly. “You know my sister and I were meant to be killed at birth. At least your daughter will have her own life, a rich and full life, up until coronation.”

“What?” I stare up at her. “How can she have a ‘rich and full life’ if she knows all along that she’s going to be sacrificed? That she’s nothing more than a vessel for some creepy old vampire bitch? And how could I ever be OK with that? How could any mother be OK with that?”

“They are, though,” she shrugs. “Some don’t ever mention the girl again. It’s like an invisible child. Families still acknowledge their daughters if they’re selected, they must. But they can’t have anything to do with them. You could think of it as just being reborn someone else.”

“I could never accept this.”

“I’ve seen tradition destroy more than one royal wife, and many more mistresses,” she says quietly. “Why should you be any different?”

I take my hands away from my face and look at her. Really, look at her.

“You hate me. You hate me because I’m one of them.”

I can’t keep the surprise out of my voice, but she remains impassive.

“Yes.”

“Yet you work for them. You serve them day in and day out.”

“Do I?”

Her eyes glint in the firelight, and I shudder.