Chapter 37

Gideon

“Father, you must reconsider,” Marcus said. “This isn’t right. Clara did not know. No one did!”

I was shocked that Marcus was still trying to argue with our father for Clara’s sake. Well, I wasn’t shocked that he argued. Marcus loved to argue. But I was surprised that he was willing to stick his neck out for Clara.

Our father sighed. “You will find another pretty maid to amuse yourself with, Marcus.”

“Father, it does seem unjust,” I said. “Clara is guilty of no crime. She didn’t even knowingly hide her nature.”

“Even so, we cannot allow such a creature to live among us,” our father insisted.

My wolf thrashed within me. It had taken all of my willpower to keep him under control during that farce of a trial. Now I struggled to keep him from attacking my father.

“She isn’t merely my lover,” Marcus declared, “She is my fated mate!”

I wondered why he hadn’t brought that up during the trial. Before I could ask, our father spoke.

“That is all the more reason she must die,” he said. “Do you think I will allow you to pollute the royal lineage with the blood of a half breed? It is one thing for the two of you to toy with your low born ‘mistresses’ but I draw the line at allowing you to cavort with an abomination.”

For a moment, I honestly thought Marcus was going to Challenge our father. For a moment, I was ready to back him up.

But the moment passed, and Marcus stormed out of the room. I watched him go.

“I wish you would reconsider this, Father,” I said.

“I will not.”

I bowed and left before my wolf could convince me to do something ill advised.

My father was aging, yes, but he was still strong and powerful. I would not win in a fair challenge. Neither would Marcus. We both knew it, and for the first time in my life, the knowledge burned.

My wolf howled in rage within me. He demanded I go to the dungeon and save Clara, immediately. He roared at me to challenge my father, to make him rescind the sentence.

I could do neither of those things. So, I decided that I would have answers. I would know why all of this was happening.

And the only place I was likely to find those answers was Nora, my mistress. The vampire’s mate.

I found Nora in her rooms. Her eyes were swollen and red rimmed. She had been crying.

“So you heard the news,” I said.

Nora nodded, and threw herself at my feet, sobbing fresh tears.

“Please,” she begged, “My Prince, my love, please! You must save her! You cannot let them kill her!”

“I have no choice,” I said. “The king has made his decision.”

“There has to be some way,” Nora sobbed. “Please! Clara is my best friend. My only friend!”

“She’s your best friend, and you didn’t know she was half vampire?” I asked.

“I didn’t know! No one did, I swear it,” Nora said.

“Like you didn’t know your fated mate was a vampire?” I demanded.

Nora stared up at me, eyes wide in shock. Did she think she could hide it? Did she think no one would tell me?

I took the photograph out of my shirt and held it out to her.

“Oh,” Nora whispered, taking the faded photograph and staring down at it.

“Oh? Is that all you have to say to me?” I demanded.

“I can explain,” Nora whispered.

“I would love to hear it,” I said.

“May I rise? The story is long, and painful to tell,” Nora asked. She didn’t look up.

“You may,” I said.

I wasn’t a monster. I waited until she had taken a seat, and chose one opposite her. I would not share a couch with her while she told me how she had lied to and manipulated me.

“You are my fated mate,” Nora insisted, “but, well, you aren’t my first. You’re my Second Chance.”

I blinked. It was true that most wolves had a second mate. But usually, the first mate had to either die or reject them before they found that mate. From what I understood, neither had happened.

“So the vampire was your first mate?” I asked.

Nora nodded, tears leaking from her eyes again. “He was, yes.”

“But you never told me you had a mate,” I said.

Nora looked down. Her hands were clenched in the skirt of her dress. They shook as she answered.

“He was horrible,” she said. “A monster. Not because he was a vampire. Because he was a beast! He treated me like his slave. He beat me, he yelled at me, he took my wages and kept me under his control even when I cooperated.”

“Under his control?” I asked.

“He had power,” Nora said. “Strange powers. He made people forget things. Like that he was an outsider. No one questioned where he came from, ever. He spoke, and my body obeyed no matter how hard I fought. I did fight, you know. I’m not as strong as Clara, but I did fight.”

“Did Clara have any idea?” I asked.

“That my mate was a vampire? No. I was never allowed to tell, and I didn’t want to tell her anyway. He would have hurt her. He did hurt her, once, because she saw him hit me. He broke her arm, and then he made her forget it. She told everyone she fell. She believed she fell. But it was him.”

“So she knew he hurt you?” I guessed.

“Yes, but after that, after he hurt her, I knew I couldn’t let her interfere. So I hid the worst of it and I convinced her that there was no point in saying anything.” Nora shrugged. “It was the truth. The superior servants never stepped in to stop they bullying and harassment we both went through at the hands of the other maids. Why would they interfere between me and my mate?”

I winced. I was still angry with Nora for her lies, but I did have sympathy for the hard life she and Clara lived. I needed to look into doing something about that.

One thing bothered me about Nora’s story. Well, many things troubled me but one thing stood out in particular.

“When you helped me, when you found me in the stables, you took me to your rooms,” I said. “Didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, why?” Nora asked.

“You took me to the rooms you shared with your mate, a vampire? And he never said a word or breathed or moved while I was there?” I asked. “I am sure I was alone in those rooms.”

Nora slumped, almost curling into a ball on the couch.

“You lied, didn’t you?” I asked.

Nora nodded. “I lied,” she admitted.

“Tell me the truth,” I said, keeping my voice soft.

It would do me no good to yell now. I needed to know.

“It was Clara,” Nora said. “She found you in the stables. She took you to her room, and tended your injuries, and cared for you through the night.”

“Clara,” I repeated.

Nora nodded. “I did help! I was the one who took the token, that pen, to Beta Jasper. I told him where to find you. But it was Clara who saved your life that night.” Nora looked up and stared me in the eye. “You owe her your life.”