Captain Lewin helped her sit.
“Thank you, Faren.” She looked up at him with open adoration. The captain’s face softened for her, the scars that marred his cheeks fading in the flickering candlelight.
“Askenith,” she said to Paris and bowed her head.
“Shakorah,” he repeated.
I had no notion of what these words meant, but they were said with such reverence by the vampires that I knew they carried weight.
“Have you come to claim your throne, finally?” The woman beamed.
Paris shifted forward in his seat, the wood screaming its disapproval. “You are still loyal to the line of my father?”
“We are. My name is Shildreth. I have been the regent in your absence. But now that you have returned”—her eyes shone with tears—“we will take back our homeland from the vile Desmerada.”
Captain Lewin spat onto the dirt floor at the mention of the vampire queen’s name. I was satisfied there was no love lost between this group and Desmerada’s minions in the Bloodkeep. How much they were willing to help retake the keep remained to be seen.
“She hunts us, tortures us whenever she captures one of our number. None of us have escaped suffering at her hands,” Shildreth said, her eyes downcast.
Captain Lewin moved closer to Shildreth, though he did not touch her. A light was in his eyes, something that spoke of a deeper affection than simply a warrior to his regent.
Shildreth looked up at Paris. “But now you have returned. Now we have a chance to end her.”
The fire in the graceful vampire’s voice, the desperation to destroy the queen, was unexpected. I believed her words, knew that many had suffered and died because of the evil at the Bloodkeep. Shildreth seemed to wrangle her emotions into check by smoothing the coarse fabric of her dress.
“Why did you never send for me?” Paris asked, his tone hard and streaked with something verging on grief.
“We couldn’t risk it. Desmerada has spies everywhere, and you aren’t exactly easy to find. We have limited resources. We used them to survive as we continued to hope that one day, you would come.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, hope tingeing her voice. She drew back, breaking the moment, and turned her attention to me.
“And who is your lovely companion?”
“This is Elena de Artemis, warrior maiden of the goddess.” Paris spoke with such pride that I had to take a steadying breath.
Shildreth reached out and grasped my hands. Thank the gods my magics were calm; otherwise, there would have been a problem.
“Is she to be your queen, then?” Shildreth asked.
I coughed and sputtered. Queen?
Paris put a steady hand on my knee. “We haven’t gotten quite that far yet.”
“My apologies, my lady.” Shildreth retracted her hands and bowed her head in apology, the tiara glittering even in the low candlelight.
I tried to fight down the blush that crept into my cheeks. “Oh, don’t apologize. And don’t mind me. I’m just a warrior out for blood. It so happens we have yet another enemy in common—Menelaus.”
Another plop of Captain Lewin’s spit.
Shildreth searched my face. “Why do you have cause to seek our ancient enemy?”
I shrugged. “It’s personal.” I needed to learn more about these vampires before giving away my secrets.
Shildreth accepted the answer, though I could tell she wanted to know more.
“Menelaus has waged war against the vampires for millennia,” Shildreth said. “He is even more dangerous than the queen. However, we have long suspected Desmerada and Menelaus to be secret allies. It could be that taking down one may lead to the demise of the other. But we must work together if we have any hope of destroying either of them.”
The vampire regent rose, and Captain Lewin helped her up. I could see no infirmity, yet it was obvious Shildreth was in pain. She covered it well, but there was more to the regent than beauty and simple grace.
Paris rose along with her, as did I.
“You both must be weary from your travels. No doubt you had to fight your way to our enclave. The Darkwood is treacherous for those who do not know its ways, and even for those who do. We have a communal dining hall. Dinner will be served within the quarter hour. Your people will be anxious to see you, my lord.”
Paris nodded, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Once again, welcome, both of you.” Shildreth’s eyes glittered, tears brimming again, before Captain Lewin escorted her back to the antechamber.
That had gone as well as could be expected. Instead of just the two of us, we now had the backing of a strong, resilient vampire clan. I could work with this. I rose and paced, thinking of our next moves.
Paris’s gaze was distant, unfocused. He shook his head slightly, as if some thought came to the fore and he immediately pushed it away. Some war raged within him. And I could guess its cause. The vampires who lived here were barely surviving, fighting the very forest just to keep themselves and their families safe. Not to mention the threat from the Bloodkeep. Instead of fighting alongside them, he had been on earth or Olympus, cavorting with Underworlders and mortals alike. That had to twist inside him like a knife.