“Unfortunately, there’s more to it than my preference in hair color. I might think your rust-colored locks unsightly,” he said snidely. “But it’s not about my personal preference.”

“Thank the stars for that,” I said under my breath. “I have no wish for you to find me desirable. My lord.” I let the last two words drip with sarcasm.

He ignored me.

After a moment or two, I had to ask. “Fine. What else then? Besides my hair? You said I was a blightborn. What does that mean?”

He glanced at me. “All mortals are blightborn. You clearly aren’t a vampire. But there are... differences. You aren’t an ordinary mortal. Your ears for one. They’re unusual.”

I touched a finger to the tip of one ear, feeling the point. I looked at his. “Yours are round.”

“All of ours our round,” he said, gesturing to the soldiers in front of us. “I’ve never seen pointed ears like yours. They stand out.”

“Is that all? So I was born with red hair and odd ears! And that’s a reason to kidnap me?” I said, my voice beginning to raise.

“There’s more,” he said slowly, his eyes holding mine. He looked up and down my body and despite myself, I felt my cheeks turning red. “Other aspects of your appearance.”

I bristled. “Like what?”

“Besides, I didn’t kidnap you,” he said, turning around to mount his horse once more. Apparently this conversation was at an end. “You were never yours in the first place.”

My jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon?”

“You belong to Sangratha. You belong to any highblood who sees fit to take you. As Lucius said, it’s an honor to be noticed by one of the Blessed Blood.” He smiled, his lips tight. “You should be honored.”

Sangratha. Apparently it was the name of this land.

Part of me longed to ask this so-called prince other questions. Such as his name. Or the meaning of the places that lay ahead of us on the three islands. What were they? Were we going there?

But I decided our hostile banter had gone on long enough. I licked my lips, already chapped from hours of walking without water or respite, and walked on in silence.

As we skirted around the edge of the city of Veilmar, soon enough it became clear where our real course lay.

The island in the center of the three. The castle of onyx stone.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 2 - MEDRA

The castle was called the Black Keep. A rather uninspired name.

I heard the men whispering around me, speaking the words almost as if they were holy. Soldiers marched past to line up in formation and made sure to give me a wide berth, casting only curious glances my way.

Behind me, the prince rode calmly. Clearly he was not intimidated by the sight of the massive fortress we were approaching. He’d been here before.

We passed over the black iron bridge. I could feel it swaying slightly beneath us. Under our feet lay the open sea, rolling and churning as if it were angry at our presence.

Ahead of us, a gate stood open and beyond that, the doors leading into the keep.

One by one, the soldiers took up places on either side of the doors, until finally, it was just myself and the prince in the center of a long aisle of his followers. A quiet descended over the troops as we entered the courtyard.

Lucius stepped forward, bowing low. “I shall announce you to the hall, Prince Drakharrow.”

The other man nodded. “Keep it brief. Skip the titles. Everyone in there knows me already, Lucius. The only time I’m called ‘prince’ is outside of Bloodwing, after all. It’s a stupid formality.”

Lucius blanched a little. “But... protocol dictates...”

The prince suddenly snarled, his teeth biting forward and clamping down. Beside him, I gasped and flinched.

Lucius stumbled backwards. “The most meager of titles, my prince. The barest,” he promised.

The secretary hurried ahead of us.

The prince’s hand gripped my arm. “I’ll take the chains off now. Don’t get any ideas. There’s nowhere to run.”

I didn’t reply, simply watched as he took a key from his pocket and unlocked my bindings.

As soon as I was free, he began to stalk towards the keep.

“Are you all vampires?” I hurried to keep up with him. I was tall for a woman, but he was much taller. He took long strides. “The soldiers, too?”

“Not all but some of them,” he answered. “Lucius is, if that’s what you’re wondering. You should be silent now. You won’t like what happens if you aren’t.”

“I’m surprised you don’t wish to keep me on your leash, my lord,” I muttered under my breath. “Like your other women.”

He didn’t take the bait.

As we passed through the huge ornate iron doors into the blackstone keep, our feet touched white marble floors. I glanced down at myself. My feet were bare and dirty. I wore trousers and a tunic a soldier close to my size had reluctantly donated. The cloak around my shoulders suddenly felt like a much-needed shield and I pulled it tight, resisting the urge to raise the hood over my tangled hair.

I sniffed myself gingerly, then wished I hadn’t.

I stank like a rotting corpse.

We stepped into the heart of the chamber.

Above us, thousands of candles glowed in iron candelabras hung high overhead.

A vast platform stretched out at the far side of the room. A line of people stood upon it, mostly dressed in red or black. Many of their garments were trimmed with silver or gold. They looked regal and powerful.

A man sat in their center on an elegant chair of carved stone, striking in clothes of crimson velvet. There was no crown upon his head. Still, I was reminded of the throne room of the Rose Court back home.

Below the platform, the vast room was packed to the brim with a massive crowd. As we entered, the throng parted, letting us pass through the center.

Hushed murmurs rose from around us. I listened to the subdued chatter, catching a few insults cast my way.

Let them look. Let them stare. I had no intention of remaining in this place long.

I kept my head up, striving to match the prince’s stride step for step, even though it meant taking two steps for each of his.

Abruptly, I was pulled to a halt.

I yelped before I could stop myself as a hand gripped my hair and yanked so hard I fell to my knees on the floor. A woman looked down at me, her face gloating as she wrapped her fingers around strands of the hair she had ripped from my head.

Instantly, the prince was by my side, snarling even more ferally than he had done at Lucius back in the courtyard. His cloak swept around me like a bat’s wings as he pulled me to my feet.

“Hands off,” he growled. “No one touches her.”

His voice echoed loudly off the stone walls.

A hush descended over the crowd. I glanced at the raised dais. The people standing on it were observing us intently. No one seemed interested in intervening.

The woman who had yanked my hair was well-dressed. Gold rings covered her hands and rubies hung from her ears. For a moment, she looked taken aback. Then her expression turned peevish.

“A few strands of hair. I didn’t harm her,” she protested. “We all know the stories. You can’t keep her all to yourself, my prince.”

I watched as she tried to summon an obsequious smile and failed spectacularly.

I glared at her, furious. “Bitch,” I whispered as I shook myself off.

“Give them to me. The hairs.” The prince held out his hand to the woman. His voice was cold. “Now.”

Muttering under her breath, the woman stretched her hand out and I saw some long strands of red disappear into his palm.

I watched as the prince pocketed my hair. I wondered what he’d do with them. Tie them to his bed as a keepsake perhaps? I would have snickered if the thought wasn’t so abhorrent.

I looked around at the people gaping at me as if I were a menagerie animal and bared my teeth. The chattering resumed, even more loudly than before, but I didn’t care.