I blink at those very submissive words but there again she is human, and I have clearly shown here tonight that I am not. “Très bien,” I say to her with a slight case of déjà vu as Sebastian said that to me earlier, but I don’t remember why. I cast a quick glance at him, but he has his impassive face in place and then I forget about it. It doesn’t really matter.
“Fine. You all may go,” I say in as superior a tone as I can muster but get nowhere near my sire’s effortless dismissal.
With varying degrees of annoyance, they all do leave and then it is just me and Cole.
“Hey,” he says to me with that half smile I love.
“Hey,” I say back, relaxing.
“You are pretty badass. You think we don’t respect you, but you are wrong.”
“I’m not so sure. But I don’t want to talk or think about that. I promised you a while ago that I would show you my safe room. I would like to do that now, if you want?” I hear the question in my voice, and I clear my throat. “I will show it to you now,” I say decisively, and he hides his smile behind his hand.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he bows at me and I roll my eyes. He is making fun of me, but I will allow it…just this once.
I step into my closet and turn right. I disable the security and step inside.
“Hey, I have a question,” Cole says. “You have a biometric scanner and wards on here. How was it that Constantine was able to come here to get my ring?”
“His print is also in the scanner.”
“Oh. And yet, you haven’t added mine?”
“Cole. He is my sire. I trust him. If it weren’t for him, we would have had to wait until we got home for me to give it to you.”
“Do you trust me? I mean really trust me?”
“Of course. You are my husband. I love you. Please, can we not argue about this and I can show you the things that mean the most to me, that I have saved through the centuries, hard times and good times?”
“Yes, of course. I didn’t really mean anything by it. I’m sorry. I have been dying to see what else you have in here,” he says with a small smile.
“Then let me show you.” I lead him into the room that is the same size as my bathroom. Drawers and cupboards fill every wall, along with a few artifacts adorning the walls in the few open spots.
“Where will you start?” he asks, gazing at the portrait of me.
“Here.” I pull open a cupboard and take out a beautiful sword. Crafted to perfection and as sharp today as it was back then. Handmade to fit his towering height. “This is Fraser’s sword,” I say as I hand it to him shyly. His eyes land on mine in surprise. He hesitantly takes it from me, “You don’t mind?”
I shake my head. “No. Not for you.”
He looks at me adoringly and then admires the hilt. “Shit. This is beautiful. And, Christ, it’s heavy.” He jiggles it in his hand. “How did he manage it, being human?” I think it is more of a rhetorical question, so I don’t answer, until he looks at me actually expecting an answer.
“Skill and strength. And as you know he was…” I put my hands up high in the air.
“Large,” Cole says with a small smile.
I nod.
He hands it back to me and I return it to its rightful place. “Have a look. Anything that takes your interest I will tell you about.”
He points straight away to the mace on the wall and I smile. “The fall of Constantinople in 1453.”
“I think there is more to that story,” he says in question.
“If you are asking if it was founded by my sire, then yes. It was his city for a time until he had to disappear and move on.”
“That’s why you went to defend it?”
“Yes. CK, Dmitri, and I were there. Unfortunately, despite our obvious advantages, we were but three out of many and the defenses didn’t hold.”