“But I thought she was promised to marry Peter?”
“She was. He would have been her fifth.”
“Then why do we see him in the dome, and not the other husbands?”
“Because he was the catalyst that saw her demise.”
“What did he do?”
“He gave Drake information on how to kill her, since it was he who discovered that if a pure-blood is beheaded, they will remain in a state, like death, until reassembled. We didn’t know that. We figured she was indestructible like her father and brother—aside from the fact that her venom was deathly to vampires.” Arthur smiled, tapping his tooth. “And that fact was the only thing that rendered Drake compliant when Vampirie stripped him of his title as king.”
“Why did Vampirie do that?”
Arthur cleared his throat, sniffing once. “Drake’s love for his new wife Anandene turned to obsession; he became reckless, nonchalant in his duties as king. Vampires were out of control again and wreaking havoc on the world. It was more than the Set leaders and the World Council, combined, could control.”
“So, what, Vampirie just came in and kicked Drake out?”
“Yes. Then rounded up a number of vampires—any who had committed offences in the past—and handed them over to Lilith. She kept these vampires as food for the next few years—ridding the world, once again, of around three quarters of the population of vampires.”
“Wow, and…where did Drake go?”
“He and Anandene disappeared for a while.”
“And then what? How did he come to kill Lilith?”
“Some years later, Drake returned to Loslilian and reunited with his sister. The family feud had healed and all was well, for a while. But Anandene was a well-known, very powerful witch, and when she learned of the Stone’s powers, sought to use it to cast a great spell.”
“What kind of spell?”
“I don't know. I only know that Lilith warned her this spell would bring a curse down on the lands.”
“Why?”
“Because it was black magic—used for personal gain, not for good.”
“And the Stone doesn’t condone that?”
“No.” He laughed. “It doesn't.”
“So, what happened then?”
Arthur looked at his watch. “Anandene went behind Lilith’s back. She used the Stone and, sure enough, a plague hit. Many people died. In a desperate attempt to right the wrong, Lilith went to her father. He told her the life that cast the curse must be given back to the Stone.”
“Anandene?”
“Yes.”
“Lilith had to kill her?”
“On the Stone. Yes.”
“Did she?”
Arthur hesitated. “This story, my dear, is not the one you will read in books—nor is it the one you will be told, should you ask Morgaine. And I do hope this will stay between us.”
I nodded. “But, why doesn't anyone know this story?”
“They know what Drake wanted them to know. All this I have learned over the centuries by doing some digging—drawing conclusions. I may have some of the story wrong. But it has been kept a secret, for reasons unknown to me, and I intend to do the same—until I piece everything together.”
“Okay. I won't tell anyone.”
“Be sure you don't.”
“So…did she do it? Did Lilith kill Drake’s wife?”
“To begin with, Drake actually offered his life in place of Anandene.”
“And Lilith agreed?”
Arthur nodded. “But when he went to the forest to die, Lilith had him captured—locked away under hold of Created Lilithian venom. When he woke from a nightmare, hearing his beloved scream, he was released to a healed world—the curse lifted, Anandene cold in the ground.”
I covered my mouth. “So, he wanted Lilith dead because she killed Anandene?”
“Yes.”
I let out the breath I’d kept inside for too long. “Wow, well, that’s a different spin on the story to what Morg gave me.”
“I know. Try not to listen too closely to what she says. She…Drake gives titbits of information he wants you to have for some greater purpose of his own. She believes he let slip the story about the coming of a Pure Blood and a prophecy, but I don't believe he is that careless.”
“So, you think he wanted her to set up a knighthood—set up hope for the Lilithians?”
“I cannot even begin to understand his strategy, and I have exhausted myself trying. All I can do now, Princess, is try to stop him.”
I laughed inside that he called me Princess. “So, did the other Set leaders know about Anandene?”
“For some reason, no. When I approached even the World Council leaders, they knew nothing of her death.”
“How can that be? Weren’t you all some kind of brotherhood?”
“Yes.”
“So, how can you know, but they didn't?”
“These proceedings occurred here in the United States, and the world was a much bigger place then, Amara, gossip did not travel the way it does today. Our only method of communication was via letters.”
“So, they just never got on the grapevine?”
“Grapevine?”
I laughed. “It’s my dad’s term—for being in the loop.”
His eyes narrowed. “Hm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I sat back a bit then and rubbed open palms over my cold thighs. “I don't understand how Drake kept it a secret all this time—to the point were Miss Nosey herself doesn't even know.”
“Miss nosey?”
“Morgaine.”
Arthur laughed. “Well, there was no one left to tell the story. Morgaine lived in Paris at that time and, within a month of Anandene’s death, any who knew she passed were dead.”
“Vampires too?”
“Yes.”
“How? If Drake killed Lilith, how did he kill the vampires without her venom?”
“He used the only remaining stores we had.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my sandy feet. “So, he obviously went to great lengths to keep this a secret?”
“Yes.”
“So, Morgaine doesn't know any of this—at all—not even one bit?”
“No. Even Lilith kept what Anandene did and what she did to Anandene a secret from the greater population in the weeks before Drake came for her.”
“And, what about Walter? And Margret. They were on Lilith’s Council then? Do they know?”