Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (58 page)

Syney nodded. "Will you be stepping down as my Protector?"

He stared at her, confused. She really didn't understand what he was getting at. "No."

"But those were my terms. You know that."

"Syney..." He pulled her forward so that they met in the middle of the tub, their faces inches apart. "I don't want to stop seeing you. I don't think I can."

"Then what are we going to do?" she asked, exasperated.

He swallowed. "We can leave."

"And go where? They'll look for us."

"The Human Realm. It's large enough, and you know it. They'll never find us."

She slowly smiled. "You would leave everything for me?"

"For us I would do anything," he said before kissing her.

After a few minutes, she pulled back. "We need a plan."

He nodded. "The coronation. We can leave in the morning. No one would be paying any attention, and we can get out."

"OK." She licked her lips. "But that'll mean we'll leave before your Joining. Are you OK with that?"

He looked at her, his face turning sad. He had thought of that, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to take. He nodded. "Are you?"

She bit her lip but after a moment nodded.

"Then it's settled. But we can't tell anyone—not Noelle or Helen or Leaf and definitely not Gabe."

"Got it. Although I'm not happy about it."

He leaned his head against hers and took some deep breaths. "I love you."

"I love you more."

He smiled as they kissed. He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this. It was crazy, but it was the only way they could be together. It had to be done, and the timing was perfect.

Cass

Syney wasn't in her room. Cass sighed and looked around. She had always loved this room, ever since it had been her grandmother's. She barely could remember her grandmother, but the room she always could remember. She stepped out onto the balcony and sat down on the swinging chair. She looked down at the small blue stone in her hands. It was a hope stone. Helen had presented it to her at her coronation, and she wanted to give it to Syney for hers. Each witness presented a stone that was then put into the crown of whoever was getting crowned. She had no hesitation about taking it out of her own crown to give it to Syney. It was really nice of Syney to ask her to be a witness for the crowning. Cass knew Syney didn't really know many people, but it was still an honor for her to ask.

She sighed and gazed out over the Village. It looked grayer than ever. Everything seemed to have lost its color lately. Since Raine had died, her second Protector, Tinder, had stepped up to be her first. He was a nice guy, but he wasn't Raine, and he never would be. Cass didn't know how much this was going to hurt, and it wasn't stopping. The temptation to do magic was pretty high, even with her being in the palace. She thought about getting out of the place, but she wasn't sure where she should go. She did hear about some missions the Royal Guards were taking out to the borders, but her mother never would let her go there. Then again her mother never would have let her go to the Human Realm to find Syney if she hadn't used her gift to get there. But
she would be crazy to go on that mission. It was way too dangerous—although months away from magic and one person in particular seemed like a perfect vacation, danger and all.

She wrung her hands as the familiar tingling ran through them. This had been happening ever since she had started doing magic. It had been happening even more since she had stopped doing magic. It was even getting worse. The other day, when she had walked into her room, she flicked her hand absentmindedly, and the candles on her table lit themselves. Raine had told her that being able to do magic without any help or word might happen, but she wasn't prepared for it to just happen. It had felt amazing, though. And now her hands begged to do it again. But she couldn't, not after what doing the magic in the first place had done.

After everything that had happened, however, it wasn't the magic or Raine that she was the angriest at. No, most of her anger was directed at the one person she was supposed to be able to trust—her mother. She fully accepted the fact that Raine had broken laws by having those books, but her mother had known that he was covering for someone. Everyone knew that! But Mellisandrianna didn't care. She wanted to make an example out of Raine. To show that she had the most power out of anyone in the Village. To show that she was still queen and that Syney wasn't her and never could be. The problem was all that her mother did, at least in Cass's case, was make an even better case for Syney to take the throne. Cass couldn't wait anymore. During the time she had spent with Syney, she had learned all about the girl's compassion and all-around caring for all the people around her. The way she had stood up for Hunter when her mother had tried to reassign him solidified her opinion of Syney, and it hadn't changed in the months since. If anyone could change things in the Village, it would be Syney. And there was no way Syney would have stood for what had happened to Raine. No way. That was the only thought running through her mind as she slumped down in the seat and continued to stare out at the Village. Syney was going to be a great queen, and Cass couldn't wait to see it happen.

Journal of Princess Faye of House Blocadrian

Fifteenth Day of Anthesterion during the 1998th Year

My life never will be the same again.

A few months have passed since I went to the Great Races Council meeting; most of that time was uneventful. Nothing interesting ever happens in the Village—until today, that is. I was out in the gardens, sitting on my favorite stone bench by the larger pond, thinking about the council meeting, running every detail through my mind again and again, trying to see if I missed anything. I started to go over all of the races' votes on the motions, especially the one on dividing up the neutral territory. I took out my notebook of observations and wrote some things down. My father had taught me to do this. He said it was good practice for when I had to keep my journal. I'm still going to keep both, I think. The things I write in my observation journal aren't really things I want kept preserved. They're mostly just my ramblings.

Anyway, I was noting an observation about the Daemon king—mainly that he always had sided against Queen Aaliyah, even when he had seemed to agree with her during deliberations—when I heard a laugh next to me. I had heard that Vampires were quiet and fast, but I honestly can say I had no idea how long he had been sitting next to me before his laugh alerted me to his presence. When I looked over at him, he just smiled at me. He looked exactly as he had
during the council meeting, short brown hair and piercing golden eyes, and his stare was even more enthralling up close.

"I've noticed that as well. I think it's a bit of revenge. Queen Aaliyah voted against something he was very passionate about only last year," the Vampire king said, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Last year? I guess he can hold a grudge," I said with an uncomfortable smile.

"Most Daemons can." He extended his thin, pale hand to me. "I'm Gabriel."

I took it a little hesitantly. My mother didn't like me talking to boys, and I was pretty sure she would flip out if I was befriending not only a man but a Vampire man. "I'm Faye."

"Princess Faye, right?" He hadn't let go of my hand.

I nodded. "Why are you here?"

"I'm taking the queen up on a standing offer to stay in the Village. It's been a very long time since I've been here."

"When was the last?"

"They were just building the palace."

My mouth fell open. "That was more than five hundred years ago."

He nodded. "Sounds about right." He placed one finger under my chin and closed my mouth.

"That's amazing. Can I ask you something?" My curiosity was getting the best of me. It wasn't every day I had the chance to pick the brain of a Vampire who was hundreds of years old.

He nodded.

"Is the Shifter town really underground as well as above? And is there really a bar on every corner in the Vampire city? Oh, and are the buildings in the Daemon city really taller than the palace?"

"Yes, mostly, and yes. But the buildings in the Human Realm are even taller. Some go up to ninety stories. Those are impressive."

"You've been to the Human Realm? What's it like?"

"It's interesting. Our Realm never really changes. Everything has stayed the same for so many years. But there twenty years go by, and the whole place changes drastically. It's amazing to watch."

My mouth watered from the information. I wanted to go, to be there and see that change. I wanted to travel to the top of a Daemon building and have a drink at a Vampire club. I wanted to get out of the Village.

"But the Village does have some beautiful sights."

I smiled at him. "The gardens are pretty."

"I hadn't noticed."

This made me blush. His stare intensified as I squirmed a little. I'd never had anyone of the opposite sex look at me the way he was right then. It felt incredible yet terrifying. After that he asked me to dinner. I told him my mother might kill me if I agreed but that I would love to give him a tour of the grounds after dinner. He said yes very quickly.

I really meant it when I said my life never would be the same. My stomach has been doing flips for the past hour, and my hands keep getting sweaty. I tried doing a calming spell, but even that isn't helping. I can't believe I have a date with a Vampire. It is a date, right? I mean, it has to be. But I can't help wonder if this is really a good thing.

Eleventh Day of Hekatombion during the 1999th Year

My mother is finally getting suspicious. She even had a meeting with High Priestess Gial, probably to ask why I had no pairing set up yet. That was the first thing Gabriel had taken care of. He said it had been simple to find the old woman's weak spot. Those were his words, not mine. It turns out she loved a certain Daemon composer when she was a child. She had listened to his music with her parents, and it was the only thing that calmed her down. I wasn't sure how stressful a high priestess's life really was, but after one conversation with her, Gabriel found out that it was very stressful, and she couldn't find any of the music anymore, which made her very sad. It had only taken him a month to find all of the Daemon's albums, and Venus has yet to make me a pairing. It does feel a little like cheating my religious obligation, but Gabriel told me I shouldn't think of it that way. We love each other and should be together without anyone's personal agenda getting in the way. He doesn't care much for Magic User religious obligations, or any religious obligations for that matter. But that's just one of the things I find so fascinating about him. The other is the fact that he's nearly eight hundred years old and has never married. He said he never had found anyone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, until me. That last part made me blush uncontrollably.

The other day I asked Gabriel what it is about me that he finds so appealing. He said it's my curiosity and attention to detail but also my compassion and thoughtfulness. I told him he just wanted to get lucky with all of those compliments, which he did of course. I'm pretty sure I've never felt this much alive before. It's as if I wasn't whole before but didn't realize what I was missing.

This morning he asked me to Join with him. There have been many joinings between races but never among royal families, and very rarely have those joinings involved Magic Users. Both of these things caused me to hesitate with my answer. I wanted to jump up and yell at the top of my lungs that I'm in love with the Vampire king and that we'll be happily Joined forever, but something
made me pause. The Blocadrian line is no longer the ruling line, but we still have a head of house and a seat on the council. There are obligations for me to uphold. But then again, Faith is the firstborn and therefore has more of an obligation than I do. I know my mother never will agree to this, but I said yes anyway.

So we have a plan. The high priestess has agreed to join us in a few days. This will make it legal in the Village. After we break the news here, which our Joining markings will do very loudly, we'll go to the Vampire village and be announced as king and queen. It all sounds so incredible to me. I don't think I can wait the three days, but I will. I would wait forever for Gabriel. He's everything I was missing in my life, my own personal great adventure.