Captured (Vampire King Book 2) (15 page)

“And
what did she think of this?” I reached under my dress and slid my torn panties
down my legs, trying my best to not show my thighs or provoke Samuel.

“Phinova
didn’t have much of a choice. We were spoiled princes. No one told us no, not
even our father the King. We worked together and wooed her,” Ian explained. “We
lavished her with gifts and attention. We took her anywhere she wanted,
sneaking her away from the watchers to go dancing at forbidden places. And when
the time came, together we guided her into a candlelit room full of soft silks
and flowers. We fed her chocolates covered in her favorite nuts. We serenaded
her with songs and draped the space in our mists. And we made love to her, when
she whispered in that delicate voice, ‘Please.’”

Samuel’s
attention shifted to Ian. “Both of you fed on her at the same time?”

Ian
nodded. “Every night after that it was Nai, Phinova, and me. We journeyed
around Capitol City as one unit. It was almost unheard of to see us separated.
And any moment that we could, we drank from and filled her at the same time.
She loved us both, as we both loved her.”

“How
did you do all of this with her tribe’s watchers not knowing?” I asked.

“Phinova
was a mage at heart. She knew many spells and enchantments. There was great
power in her blood. Most of the time she hypnotized her watchers for a few
hours, keeping them in a weird haze as we snuck off. When it was time for her
tribe to leave, she created a complex potion that we poured into a stew that
our families feasted on for a farewell celebration. The tribe left without her,
thinking it was the best option for everyone. Soon after, my father became sick
and died.”

“Due
to the spell?” Samuel raised his eyebrows.

Ian
sighed and looked away. “That isn’t important to you.”

“Why
don’t you let us decide that,” Samuel retorted.

Ian
ignored him and continued, “Nai and I became kings of Capitol City, even though
we were only ripening princes. We shared the throne and, to the shock of the
land, we made Phinova the city’s only ruling queen. From the moment we placed
the crown on her beautiful red hair, the entire kingdom knew we shared her and
everyone was disgusted. No one understood our love for each other. They called
us abominations.”

“I
bet.” Samuel frowned.

“So,
she is the one who cast the punishment spell on you?” I asked.

“Yes.”
Ian nodded. “My brother ordered my execution over a simple misunderstanding—”

“What
was it?” Samuel tilted his head to the side.

“Again,
it’s not related to you or your queen,” Ian spoke through clenched teeth.

“Go
ahead and finish,” I instructed.

“Phinova,
as the rightful queen of Capitol City, interrupted my brother’s order of
execution, calmed him down, and convinced him to let her spell me instead.” Ian
closed his eyes. “Right before they dragged me down to the sewers in wooden
chains, she hypnotized me into a deep sleep. I was supposed to remain asleep until
she either woke me up or died. I woke up a month after I was put down in the
sewer and when I didn’t see her, I knew she was dead.”

Silence
filled the wagon as it traveled over a rocky path. I bounced a little in my
seat. My heart broke just like his must have when he realized that. “But that’s
not what’s important to you.” Ian cleared his throat and opened his eyes. “What
you need to know is how Nai became the Quiet King and why he was so desperate
to have your blood.”

“He
took her blood to make a bigger army, of course.” Samuel moved back over to me.

“I’m
not convinced. He’s been winning wars for years with no problem.” Ian focused
on me. “He’s had Brie for two years. Have you heard of his army growing or
getting bigger, or even missing humans? If he’s changing humans, where are
they?”

“Okay
then, how did your brother become the Quiet King?” I asked. “And when and how
did Phinova die?”

“I
don’t know. No one knows, but there are probably a few people who’ve lived in
that castle who are old enough to have witnessed what happened,” Ian said.
“When I woke up, I spent years traveling through the sewers, listening to
conversations through vents, and questioning the others that were trapped in
the tunnels with me. The only thing that I learned is that one day Nai and
Phinova walked into the castle after a mundane moonlit evening and the next
night, a servant wheeled the Quiet King out and he spoke in everyone’s heads
that he would be the sole ruler of the vampire nation.”

“We
have to find out what happened.” I bit my lip.

An
exasperated breath escaped Samuel’s lips as he rubbed his eyes. “Sadly, I have
a good idea who would know. If she doesn’t, then she’ll scheme and blackmail to
get from another what it is we need to know.”

Chapter
Eleven

The
next night we stood at the castle’s entrance in disguise.

“And
you all are?” the vampire royal guard asked. Brown straps wrapped around his
whole body. A crimson cape hung from his shoulders to his feet, and a huge
red-and-brown feathered hat sat on his head.

“We’re
the entertainment, of course. I’m Tyson the Incredible, the leader of this
group, and best juggler in all the land.” Ty clapped his hand twice and did a
twirl. Ty wore a silver leather mask with a brass nose that jutted a foot out
and held tiny bells on the tip. His costume was silver with white stars.

“And
the rest of these people behind you?” the guard asked, taking no pleasure in
Ty’s two-second performance. “Who are they to you?”

“My
musicians and assistants, of course. They’re employed to help me keep the
queens and dominas laughing.” Ty gestured to us.

We
all wore black masks with silver triangles decorating our foreheads and cheeks.
Form-fitting full body leotards draped Victoria, Leeta, and I. Samuel and Ian’s
masks were silver and brown. They wore baggy costumes similar to Ty’s.

Victoria
had come up with the plan to imitate entertainers. Since she’d been on the
castle management staff, she knew the queens constantly ordered performers to
come to the castle and almost always forgot to notify the guards.

“Have
one of the others perform something.” The guard smirked as though he didn’t
believe us.

We’d
been prepared for the guard to test us and had practiced several acts just in
case. Victoria believed mine was the best one, but Ty was ready to juggle next
if I couldn’t convince the guard.

Stepping
up in front, I hummed and sang out a slow tune my mother used to sing to me as
a child on cold winters’ nights, “Two moons decorate the sky, shining on those
that are low and high. Seek truth in the golden sun, but the moons don’t just
pass by—”

“That’s
enough.” The guard held up his hand and sniffed in my direction. “You have a
lovely voice.”

Yes you do.
Samuel’s voice sounded in my
head.
Will you sing for me tonight when
I’m inside of you?

I
turned my head to him,
if you can get sex
off of your mind for a few seconds, then yes.

Samuel
grunted in response.

“Are
you taken, sweet bird?” The guard tapped me on my shoulder. “You smell divine.”

“Yes,
she’s taken.” Samuel’s wooden dagger appeared at the guard’s chin within
seconds.

Ty
jumped next to Samuel before the vampire could do anything further.

“She’s
my youngest daughter and this is her very protective big brother.” Ty patted
Samuel’s shoulder. “As you can see, he’s young and very foolish.”

“This
is your youngest daughter?” The guard’s attention remained on me as if he could
care less that a knife was at his throat. He probably figured Samuel was no
challenge for him.

“Yes.”
Ty bobbed his head and tugged Samuel back. “I have two daughters. She’s the
baby.”

In
Capitol City, the youngest daughter and son were expected to remain at home to
take care of their parents until their death. Therefore, most young children
never truly courted or married until they were pretty old and their parents
were gone. It was even frowned upon to show a romantic interest in them. People
saw it as tempting the young ones away from their familial duties.

“Carry
on then,” the guard reluctantly said. Samuel placed his dagger back into its
sheath. The guard unlocked the steel-barred gate and opened it. With no further
problems, we marched into Quiet King’s castle.

“Samuel,
you can’t kill every man who shows an interest in Brie,” Ty whispered. “She’s a
beautiful woman with many talents. You’ll have a long trail of dead bodies if
you kill them all.”

“Then
so be it,” Samuel hissed behind me.
Did I
scare you?
Samuel silently asked me in my mind.

Yes. You could’ve given away our
disguise or even worse, been killed.
I
followed Ty and Victoria as we journeyed through a large red hallway. Ian
walked along on my side while he moved his face from side-to-side, drinking in
the whole area. I wondered how he felt returning to the castle, a place he’d
once considered home.

I can’t believe I’m back here,
walking willingly into a place where I was enslaved.

I’d
been down this path many times before and exited the castle for personal
supplies or just to take a break for a few minutes from the rigid domina life.
The Quiet King provided dominas with a small budget of fifty pocs a month. Most
spent their money on exotic candy, expensive chocolates, and wine. I’d bought
trinkets for my girls and mailed them home. Stunned, I realized that I didn’t
remember seeing any of the dolls or pictures I’d sent displayed in their
bedroom the time I’d snuck in there with Samuel.
What did Ethan do with them?
Samuel stirred on my other side as we
continued toward the passageway that led to the Royal Court. His movement made
me think he’d read my thoughts.

Giggling
and chatter soared from that direction. Music already played as we opened the
door. Everywhere the perfume of blooming flowers drenched the air. Two Royal
Guards flanked the entrance. They glanced at our group for a few seconds then
returned to their earlier conversation.

The
Royal Court appeared as we marched in. A turquoise-stoned fountain decorated
the corner of the courtyard. White doves sipped water at the top. I knew that
the mechanical birds would be released closer to midnight, to play the same
songs they always did.

The color of the day must be
purple.

Everywhere
dominas lounged on satin-cushioned sofas and chairs draped in plum chiffon
robes. Purple leather sandals covered their feet. Violets adorned their hair.
Maids hurried around them with trays, dashing back and forth from the kitchen
to their assigned domina, bringing her whatever she desired. A savory aroma of
roasted meats merged with the flowery perfume. Other maids brushed and combed
their dominas’ hair. Young vampire children, the ones the Quiet King deemed as
unpleasing to look at, fanned the dominas with huge peacock-feathered fans.

The
Quiet King owned over a hundred wives and five queens. The queens began as
dominas like me, but once they delivered at least sixty vampire children, they
were given the title of queen, allowed more freewill, and could assert
authority over a line of dominas below them.

I
directed my attention to the center of the Royal Courtyard. Five queens rested
on blood-red thrones. Each woman’s outfit was themed in a precious metal. The
Quiet King’s first queen—not Phinova, but the first domina to be honored with
the title of queen—wore a platinum-gold crown and was draped in a shiny
platinum-golden robe. It hurt to look at her as she shined within the two
moonlights. Regular gold decorated the queen on her right.

Silver
draped the third queen, who was Queen Regina and Samuel’s mother. Sandy blond
hair, as thick as a lion’s mane, flowed down to her knees. Once, I’d watched
her maids brush the tangles out of her long tresses for an entire night. Queen
Regina’s eyes gleamed icy blue. Although the other queens and dominas had pale
skin, due to maintaining a vampire schedule of sleeping during the day and
walking around at night, the Queen Regina boasted a golden, tanned complexion.
Many dominas whispered that she never slept and wandered Capitol City during
the daylight with secret lovers.

“And
there’s my mother.” Samuel crossed his arms across his chest.

Queen
Regina spotted Ty’s mask, scanned our group, and stood with a sleek grace that
reminded me of Samuel’s fluid movements. Samuel had told me earlier that
whenever he wanted to communicate with his mother, Ty or him entered the castle
as entertainers, wearing special masks all a part of Victoria’s idea.

Here we go.
Everything was working out as
planned, but still my nerves buzzed with unease underneath my skin. My blood
raced in my veins. I knew Queen Regina wouldn’t notify the guards that we were
trespassing. It was her who told Octavia to help me escape. But I was still
unsure of whether I should consider her my friend. Her goal for my escape was
so I could trigger Samuel’s ripening and birth vampires for him.
Never.
I had no intention of making
vampire children to fight in a war against the Quiet King.