“We are the two luckiest females in all the Underworld,” Shildreth whispered.
I couldn’t have agreed more. After seating Shildreth next to Faren, I took the seat at Paris’s left and patted the next chair for Arachne. The spiders lined up on either side of their mistress, like faithful dogs. But with too many creepy eyes. And those teeth.
Angling my head to Paris, I found him still watching my every move.
“I have half a mind to throw you over my shoulder, carry you back to our chamber, and make you scream my name,” Paris whispered.
I placed my hand on his knee, enjoying how he tensed at my boldness. “Would you like it if I screamed ‘my king’ instead?”
He growled and moved my hand under his robe to his hard shaft. “This is what you do to me, woman.”
The guards at the rear of the room swung the massive doors closed, and the room silenced.
“You’re on,” whispered Faren.
I removed my hand and pinched Paris’s knee for encouragement.
Paris rose from his seat, thankfully hidden by the table from the waist down.
Every male vampire in the room took a knee, and every female bowed low. “Askenith,” they said as one.
“Shakorah.” Paris’s voice boomed out over the crowd.
I couldn’t stop the pride that welled in my heart. I could only imagine how proud Priam would have been to see this moment.
After silence reigned again, I heard a small squeak. It was Desmerada, trying to scream around her gag.
“I want you all to know that we”—he motioned to the trusted Darkwood and keep vampires seated at the head table, along with Arachne and me—“intend to make the Bloodkeep the jewel of the Underworld once again.”
The crowd stood and sent up a cheer that would have deafened a mortal.
“This will not be an easy road. We have lost our relationships, our prestige. We are no longer trusted or looked upon as a source of good. These things must change. This change must start here.” He rapped his knuckles across his breast.
Another deafening cheer.
“Together, we can take back what was stolen from us by the one you see caged and chained before you.”
The crowd hissed at Desmerada. The open aggression was palpable.
“Many of you have suffered at her hands, and many have died because of her treachery. I would decree her death here and now—”
Another cheer.
“But I have given her end over to the hands of the faithful. Shildreth, the leader of the Darkwood vampires and your new prime minister, has lost more at the hands of this vile creature than most. Therefore, it is only fitting that she decrees her fate.”
Faren assisted Shildreth to her feet. She was formidable, her spine rigid as she faced her tormentor.
“Remove her gag.” Shildreth’s voice rang out steady and strong.
The guards obeyed, reaching through the grates and ripping the fabric from Desmerada’s mouth.
“Do you have any final words? Can you answer for your crimes?”
“I have no need to explain myself to some Darkwood peasant,” Desmerada spat. She rose to her full height, straining against the chains. Her hair was matted and her gaze darted about, an insane glint in her eyes. She cackled. “Your son’s lifeblood did wonders for my skin, by the way.”
The crowd gasped.
The self-appointed queen was still a vicious harpy to the last. But Shildreth did not move.
Desmerada stilled as her eyes bored into me. “You would dare pillory me when Menelaus’s queen is offered to you as vampire royalty?”
I sat still as stone as the vampires turned their enquiring gazes to me.
Shildreth banged her fist on the table. “You would dare question the future queen in such a manner? Helen has saved this kingdom from your destructive grasp. Your cruel reign is over because of her. Thank the gods. Each one of you”—her gaze swept over the crowd—“owes a blood debt to Helen. Never forget it.”
The vampires all bowed low to me. “Askenor,” they said in unison.
Paris smiled down at me. “It means ‘my queen.’”
I inclined my head, acknowledging the vampires. They accepted me, an outsider, even though Desmerada’s words were true. My emotions rose into my throat at their warm looks. I returned Paris’s smile before he straightened again.
“Shildreth, have you come to your final judgment?” Paris asked.
“Just a moment,” Desmerada interrupted. She still locked me in her gaze. “I have one last request for you to consider.”
“Speak, witch,” Shildreth said.
Desmerada paused in melodramatic fashion. “As Helen knows, she can’t harm Menelaus. All that power.” She tsked. “But she can’t use it to destroy the one being who is the ultimate enemy of this keep. I’m the one who hexed her. Only I can remove it. If you kill me, the curse becomes permanent.”
Shildreth glanced at me. I nodded in response, confirming the truth of Desmerada’s words.
“What is your bargain?” Shildreth asked.
Desmerada grinned. “If you will promise me that I will leave the keep alive, unharmed, through the portal, then I will remove the curse.”