I looked at Walter; he was trying not to laugh. “Pardon?”
He cleared his throat again and mumbled, “He did it to receive, er . . . fellatio.”
“Right. Um. . .” I looked at the court again. “Fellatio.”
David coughed into his hand, folding over and turning away quickly to hide his laughter.
“And that girl is now dead because of your ego,” I continued, feeling my cheeks go hot like a stone in the sun. “In this Order, we value all life: human, vampire, and Lilithian alike. There are no exceptions.”
“It was a mistake, Majesty, I—”
“A mistake you won’t make again.” I stood up, straightening my crown. “I make my official ruling, and while it pains me to do this—leaving Eric without a drummer, leaving the world without your musical talents—it is also not my doing. You broke our law, knowing the consequences. I hereby sentence you to a week in the crypt—”
The crowd gasped. Adrian’s hands fell to the floor to hold him up.
“You may have a dose of blood before you’re entombed, given that this is your first offence, but you will have no other comforts.”
“Please?” he cried again as my knights lifted him to his feet.
I held my hand up, a warning to talk no more.
“Please?” he cried again, his hollow voice echoing as the Guard dragged him away, one of the men drawing a syringe of Created venom from his sword belt in case Adrian decided to make a scene. He shut up quickly when he saw it, and walked away with his dignity intact.
In the front row a pair of black eyes met mine. Eric gave a small nod and moved his mouth to say, “It’s okay.”
I didn’t smile back. It was so very good to see him, but when my feet were planted to this stage, in front of hundreds of people from my community, I had to be their queen—I, essentially, had no friends.
I moved my stern gaze away from Eric, all the way across the crowd to Walt’s very surprised face. “Next case, Walter.”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, yes, Your Majesty. Case number fifty-five. Harrison versus Yeardley.”
Above the court, David looked down on all the people, nodding toward me once before slinking back into the shadows. But I heard his voice enter my thoughts, distracting me a little from court as he disappeared, Good job, he said. I’m proud of you.
I smiled at my feet then turned my focus back to the case report.
“Ara.” Eric threw his arms around me.
I hugged him back fiercely. “It’s so good to see you again. How have you been?”
“I’m good, yeah.” He leaned out from the hug. “Band’s doing well. Just released our first album and, well, I’ll have to tell the public that Lice is in rehab or something for the next seven days but, yeah, we’re all good.”
“I feel bad for you, Eric. I know Adri—I mean, Lice, is a friend—”
“No.” He stepped back to stuff his hands in his pockets. “Say no more. He knew the rules.”
I nodded. “And I’m sorry you had to kill that girl.”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? Ara, I’m a vamp—”
“Yeah.” I palmed my head. “Right. I forget you don’t mind a bit of homicide.”
His easy smile brought me back to my hometown for a moment, flooding me with memories. “S’good to see ya again, kiddo.”
“You too, Eric. I missed you.”
He went to speak, but stopped, looking up as David approached. “Hey, man.”
“Hey.” David hugged him, and they both broke into a series of manly back pats. “Long time, man.”
“Yeah.” Eric stood back, allowing room for David to stand beside me. “It’s been a good run. How you been?”
David shrugged. “Been better.”
“Yeah. Tough break, man. I heard about the Dagger.”
David nodded, but quickly pasted a smile in place. “You stayin’ for dinner?”
Eric grinned, looking at me. “Depends what’s on the menu.”
David laughed, wrapping his elbow over Eric’s neck as we walked out of the Throne Room. “We both know what will happen if you ever taste my wife’s blood.”
“Worth the risk,” Eric said.
“On the bright side,” I cut in. “It might just be a way to resurrect you from the dead, David.”
***
“Hey, kiddo.” Eric landed in a lazy heap on the leather sofa next to me, making it squeak with protest, the sound echoing through the library.
“Hey, Eric.”
His cheeky grin spread across his face like a wild party, promising exciting things if only I let myself go with him. “What y’up to?”
“Reading.” I tucked my legs up to one side, leaning more on the arm of the sofa to angle away from him. “And you’re too close for my husband’s liking.”
His smile grew. I didn’t see it, but I felt it. “He’s not here to protest.”
I shut my book. Clearly, Eric was out for some fun tonight or, at the very least, some fun company. “Can’t sleep?”
He shrugged, his shoulders looking kind of bony in that plain back tee. “Haven’t seen ya in ages. Just wanted to catch up without the ‘fold’ around.”
“By fold, you mean. . .?”
“The followers.” He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. “The many who love and protect their queen. Most of all, that power-hungry vampire you call a king.”
“Hey.” I backhanded his arm. “That’s my husband you’re talking about.”
“Really?” He sat back, resting his hands in his lap. “Coulda fooled me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean. . .” He leaned on my thigh to push himself up, then wandered across the room to pore aimlessly over book spines. “He’s changed, Ara.”
“So everyone keeps saying,” I said flatly, dumping my book on the end table. “He’s just under a lot of pressure.”
“So you keep saying.” He waited a few seconds, then turned at the shoulder to flash me a grin. “So . . . what you readin’?”
“Oh, um.” I reached across and laid my notepad over the title of the book. “Just researching.”
“Researching,” he said slowly, as if drawing out the word would prompt an explanation from me.
“Stuff.”
“Stuff, huh?” His whole body bounced with his casual nod. “Aide-Memoire de l’Auress.”