"What interest do you have in the Queen?" Gavin's eyes darkened.
"You'll have to forgive him, he's one of the Queen's mates," Lynx laid a calming hand on Gavin's shoulder. "As is the other one," Lynx jerked his head in Tony's direction.
"We wish to help guard her," Rigo said. "We have heard rumors and there is no denying the price that has been placed upon her head. Although we all wish to come, Rondival and Alrenardo have agreed to stay behind and keep up our long work."
"Why did you not apply for citizenship?" Gavin growled.
"Because none know we exist," Rigo sighed. "We are hidden. We control the crown, if it becomes necessary. We have done this for thousands of years. Hraede is stable, because of this. If there are those who seek to overthrow the current regime for their own gain, we mobilize and take down their armies. Other vampires are here who are registered and live beside Hraede's humanoid citizens. These vampires serve as our army, at times. For obvious reasons, we must remain as we are, hidden from all."
"These six helped me when I came here two thousand years ago to deal with the Ra'Ak," Lynx said. "Without their help, Hraede would have been overrun with spawn."
"So, no royal turns since then?" Tony was curious.
"None worthy," Rigo snorted. "Yan was turned three thousand years ago. We've had self-serving monarchs since then, except for three very good queens. We did not attempt the turn with them, for obvious reasons."
"And if we allow you to come to Le-Ath Veronis?" Gavin still wasn't sure.
"Bring us before your Queen and allow her to decide. We have watched her in her Council meetings—she seems adept at weeding out undesirables. We will submit to her scrutiny."
"I'll vouch for Rigo," Lynx said. "And I'll fold all of us to Le-Ath Veronis, if you want further proof."
* * *
Lissa, where are you? Mindspeech from Gavin was as scarce as grasshoppers with guitars, as my mother used to say.
Honey, are you all right? I miss you. I'm in bed, right now.
I miss you, too. Will you meet us in your study in a few moments? We will be folding in with guests.
Okay. I slid off the bed and went to get dressed again. At least Shadow had made sure I got plenty of sleep earlier.
* * *
"Lissa will be here in a moment." Gavin said, after Lynx folded all seven of them to Lissa's study at Gavin's direction. Four trunks were lined up against the wall, too—the four members of Rith Naeri had been prepared to travel at a moment's notice.
Rigo, as any proper vampire who was nearly eleven thousand years of age would, calmed his excitement. From the moment he'd seen the vids of the Vampire Queen, he’d wanted to meet her. And if he were honest with himself, he wanted more than that. He knew that would likely never be, and steeled himself when he heard the quiet footsteps outside the door.
* * *
Of the seven people inside my study, only one of them wasn't vampire. That one was Lynx, one of Conner’s mates. He grinned at me as I turned a puzzled gaze to him. Surely, he'd been the one to fold everyone here from wherever they'd been. Saa Thalarr didn't fold anybody anywhere—unless they were completely trustworthy.
"Lissa, allow me to introduce four of the six members of Rith Naeri, the Order of the Night Flower from Hraede," Lynx's grin widened.
"Little Queen," the oldest of the four bowed slightly to me. The other three bowed a little deeper.
"Please don't bow, I don't expect it," I said.
"This is Rigo," Lynx introduced me to the oldest. "And Hal," Lynx said. Hal was the second oldest. I took their hands and they bent over mine and kissed it lightly, as if they'd been trained at court. Brin came next, followed by the youngest—Yan—who was three thousand. These were some old vampires.
"What can I do for you?" I asked.
"We wish to protect you," Rigo said. "We have become worried over the lack of protection and the price on our Queen's head."
"You are Queen to all vampires, whether they reside here or not," Hal said. His statement made my eyebrows lift in surprise.
"That's nice of you to say, but I think that would be a bit egotistical on my part," I said.
"We have a network of information; you would not believe the vampires who have chosen to stay upon their home worlds and still regard you as their Queen," Yan replied. "Some are very old and do not wish to start over elsewhere, especially as they are accepted on the Alliance worlds where they reside. Were it not so, they would have come long ago."
"Ah," I said. I could understand that.
"Why are we only now hearing that you're back?" Drake and Drew walked in, pounding Tony on the back. He grinned at the twins. They knew not to manhandle Gavin, though.
We introduced the four vampires to them. "They'll be on the payroll, looks like," I said. "Why don't you two show them to the guest quarters for tonight, and we'll see about something else tomorrow. Are you hungry?" I asked them. "We have blood substitute in the kitchen."
We ended up in the kitchen; the four new ones were quite pleased with the blood substitute. I watched them—Rigo especially. He had hair as black as Merrill's and his eyes were as black as Wlodek's. He looked weathered by time, though. Hal was the handsomest of the lot, with dark-blond hair down to his shoulders and green eyes. Brin and Yan could have been brothers—both had brown hair and brown eyes, with square jaws and strong chins. Brin had a bit of a dimple in his chin, but some people might find that attractive. Rigo was the tallest, at six-two. Yan was the shortest at five-eleven, so not much difference in height.
Drake and Drew took them to the guest wing after they finished their bottle of blood substitute. Gavin came and nuzzled my neck. Tony sighed. He figured he'd get tomorrow night, I'm sure.
"Lissa, cara, are you all right?" Gavin pulled me against him as we made our way to my suite.
"Honey, things are kind of awful," I sighed. "There's just nothing we can do about it now."
* * *
Thurlow watched as Gavin lifted Lissa, got her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. He was kissing her, even as he opened the door to her suite and went inside. Thurlow sighed softly before heading toward the front doors of the palace. A walk in the moonlight seemed appropriate.
* * *
"I intend to see Lissa tomorrow," Erland yawned as he sat in a chair before Wylend's desk in his private study.
"How do you think that's going to turn out?" Wylend asked, watching Erland's face carefully.