Chapter 71 - The Rogue King And His Hybrid Mate

Daphne remained silent as they rode through the canyon into the vampire's territory. Her stomach churned more and more as the distance between them increased. The bond felt like it was vibrating at the back of her mind with Arthur's worry, but she had to be strong.

If she panicked, the plan would be for nothing.

"What's that sound?"

Daphne turned to where Mamie was looking out the window and leaned to see. They were still within the canyon, but Daphne had no idea what she was hearing.

"Cheering," one of the women said with a little sneer. "The vampire queen comes."

Daphne pursed her lips, "I don't appreciate your tone."

"And I don't appreciate your existence. We all have problems."

Mamie growled, "Knock it off. You will speak to her with respect."

She glowered at her and rolled her eyes, "We're only here because we were ordered to come. "

Daphne swallowed and looked at them, irritated about their flippant disrespect.

"I am risking my life," Daphne said. "And my freedom to get more information about what's going on and what they want and you want to talk to me like I've betrayed you."

"You're a vampire--"

"We know they have werewolf spies, how do we know it isn't any of you who is the traitor?"

She scoffed, "I would never. My grandfather died in the war. I have no respect for your disgusting kind."

Daphne shook her head, "Then why don't you go home? I don't need you here complicating everything."

She knocked on the carriage door. The carriage stopped and the door opened.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" The vampire asked.

Daphne glared at the other three women.

"Go," Daphne said. "If you have that much disgust for me."

She sneered, "As if I would ever disobey the king's orders."

Daphne glared at her, "Go!"

The air shook for a moment. A rush of power went through her. The woman flinched and a panicked look filled her face before she got out of the carriage with stilted movements. Daphne frowned watching her. She got out of the carriage and started to walk back the way they came, shifting when she got to a distance and running.

The vampire's brow furrowed and he looked up at Daphne who swallowed and tried to regain her composure.

"That was all. Thank you."

The vampire nodded and closed the door. The carriage picked back up.

Mamie looked at her, "How... did you do that?"

Daphne shook her head, "I... don't know."

She fiddled with her sleeve. She knew that Arthur could command werewolves due to his bloodline, but that couldn't mean that she could tap into that power.

The remaining two women remained silent for the rest of the ride. Slowly, the sounds of cheering became clearer. Mamie and the other women seemed tense, their eyes wide as they rode into the walled city. In the distance, a tall, dark castle stood against the cloudy sky. Daphne shivered a bit at the cold as she looked at all the people lining the streets. Most of them were pale, but not all of them seemed to be vampires.

They threw flower petals into the air as they stared up at the carriage with awed gazes, waving and cheering.

"Long live the queen!"

Daphne swallowed, looking out across them. She had imagined the vampire lands to be gloomy and a bit oppressive from the way Tom and the others made vampires seem, but there was nothing in these people's actions that made her think that her mother and grandmother had been cruel people.

Could everything that the werewolves knew about the war and about vampires be wrong? Maybe there was a chance for real peace.

The carriage passed through a set of gates, but the celebration of the people outside continued. The door of the carriage opened and Nicole smiled up at her.

"We have arrived, Your Majesty."

Daphne took a deep breath and accepted the footman's help to get out of the carriage first.

The group of vampires standing at a distance froze upon seeing her and took deep breaths before focusing on her.

"Y-Your Majesty," one of them said, bowing formally. "It is... my great honor to meet you."

She smiled tentatively, "Hello..."

Nicole took her by her elbow gently, "Her Majesty will be given space to rest the night from her trip before meeting you all formally over breakfast."

"Of course, General Steward." Another said with a nod.

Nicole's gaze drifted over the group for a moment before turning to a smaller group of people who seemed to be servants. Unlike the servants of the werewolf castle, they each wore well-kept uniforms of pants, vests, and white shirts. Daphne swallowed, wondering how much of what Tom said about the war was accurate.

"Prepare rooms for these three werewolves. One will be in the room adjacent to Her Majesty," she gestured to Mamie. "This one. The others may stay in the other quarters in her wing."

They nodded and darted off into the castle in a flash of movement. Nicole led them away from the people in the same direction. The decorations were different than she expected. In place of the abundance of gold in the werewolf castle, there was silver. The architecture wasn't the same. Somehow, the vampire's castle seemed older. She wondered for a moment if there was a hall of portraits she could see.

"I will have dinner brought up to you if you wish," Nicole said, "However, you are welcome to come down to eat. If the rest of your escort can manage to behave themselves, they are welcome as well."

The other two women stilled while Mamie drew closer to Daphne.

"I'll eat in my quarters," Daphne said. "It's... all been quite a lot."

Nicole nodded, "I understand. Is there anything, in particular, you would like? Her Highness, Princess Rose, was fond of chicken and roast."

Daphne looked at the woman confused, "What do you mean?"

Nicole's eyebrow drifted up with a question, "Your Majesty.... what do you know of the vampire race?"

She winced at the first thing that came to mind. Talking about how to make sure vampires stayed dead was probably not for the best.

"Not... much."

Nicole chuckled, "I suppose burn the body would be the extent of what you would learn... Perhaps we've been painted as vicious, bloodthirsty uncivilized creatures of the night?"

Daphne's face warmed with embarrassment as Nicole shook her head.

"If you have an open mind, you may find there are more... similarities than differences between us and the werewolves."

Daphne wasn't sure what to make of that.

"If you have no preferences, I shall instruct the staff to bring you some known favorites... Perhaps more than their likeness has been passed onto you."

Daphne nodded, "I... would appreciate that."

She nodded and they walked up the stairs. When they turned the corner, the darkness of the decor seemed to vanish. The walls seemed inlaid with silver and precious gems in the dark stone.

"We have reached the queen's wing," Nicole gestured to the walls. "These gems have several functions, protection is one of them. There is no way of knowing if you have inherited your mother's powers until you are trained, but if you start to awaken those gifts, these stones will keep you from blowing a hole in the walls."

Daphne gasped, "Has... that happened?"

She smirked, "Your mother was a force to be reckoned with as was your grandmother... You may find more of them in you than you would think."

Daphne nodded and followed her down the halls. The servants from earlier were stationed in front of four rooms.

"Would you like to inspect the rooms, Your Majesty?" Nicole said.

Daphne nodded. She half expected to see a room closer to a dungeon than a guest suite, but the room was lavish by any standard.

"As you requested, they will be staying in the queen's guest suites."

Daphne nodded, "Thank you."

"Your friend, Mamie," Nicole said gesturing to the third room, "Will be staying in the princess' old suite. It shares an internal parlor with the queen's suite."

Daphne peeked in with a curious eye and pulled back. It was about as lavishly decorated as Arthur's room was with gems and silver lining nearly every surface. The wood gleamed with fresh polish and a pleasant scent hung in the air like flowers.

She could only imagine how luxurious the queen's suite was. Nicole led her down the hall and opened the double doors. The scent was the first thing she noticed, light and captivating. It was a different scent than the scent in Mamie's room. She spotted several vases of fresh flowers around the room as she walked in and looked around. On the table in her private parlor was her bag.

She went to it and fumbled the bag open to find everything still inside.

"The man who took your bag is one of my subordinates," Nicole said, "I trust everything is still inside."

"Y-Yes... Thank you."

She smiled and nodded, "Dinner will be brought soon. Enjoy a bath if you wish. There are clothes in the wardrobe, books on the shelves for you to entertain yourself until then. If you need anything, simply call or pull the tassel in the corner of your room."

Daphne glanced to the long tassel that hung in the room and nodded. Nicole bowed and closed the double doors behind her leaving Daphne alone in the near unnerving quiet of the castle.