Chapter 99
The time had passed so quickly since she’d declared her intentions and she had focused on learning every skill Nicole was giving her. Wielding daggers, swords, and her magic together with ease. Her magic was slower than the physical weapons, but she learned to use it to Nicole's satisfaction. Daphne looked at herself in the mirror. She looked familiar and vastly different than she had the last time she’d seen her reflection. There was a coldness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
The dream of the glowing wolf in the darkness had changed since the first time she’d had it. He grew more solid. His scent seemed more familiar. His presence was comforting and easing the guilt and agony of having lost her child, but she still didn’t know who the wolf was. She didn’t even know what the origin of the flickering red light was. It was fading with each passing night and the wolf was strange. He sat with her, curling around her protectively.
Sometimes, she would hear voices in her dreams, little flickers of memories she couldn’t make full sense of before they winked out into the darkness. Some of them brought terror, others brought joy, but the wolf remained by her side, shielding her from the worst of them.
Honestly, it didn’t matter. The wolf wouldn’t bring her son back. He couldn’t stop this war even if he wanted to. He wouldn’t stop her from gaining revenge.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in.”
She felt Nicole enter, carrying a bunch of things, and turned. Nicole looked at her, skimming her gaze over the laces of her boot and the way she carried herself. She’d tied her hair up and out of the way. Nicole nodded in approval.
Daphne eyed her carefully, intrigued. She said that the royal family, traditionally, had armor with some sort of nod to their names. Nicole’s armor seemed molded to her form. There was a little sigil on her shoulder of a golden wreath of laurel leaves. She wore a diadem that sparkled in the light and seemed too ornate to be a helmet, but too protective to be a crown. It was odd to see her armor trimmed in gold considering that the entire castle seemed trimmed in silver. On her chest was the crest of the August family.
She looked proud and regal, like a warrior queen. She wondered for a moment if her grandmother had looked the same way. She looked dangerous with a sword on her belt and one strapped to her back over her dark cloak. She knew that Nicole had several concealed daggers on her person, but she couldn’t tell where they were.
“How are you feeling?”
Daphne shook her head, “Furious.”
Nicole nodded and approached her, “Most of the preparations have been completed.”
Daphne nodded, “Good.”
Nicole approached her carrying a set of armor that looked a lot like hers though it gleamed in silver.
“I had it resurfaced due to your status,” Nicole said. “Your mother was a princess and not the first in line for the throne. You are our queen, thus your armor is silver.”
Daphne eyed it, “A bit flashy, isn’t it?”
She chuckled, “Maybe, but it is protective. It will keep a sword dealing a fatal blow. Shall we?”
She nodded, watching Nicole set the chest plate on her shoulders and tighten it to her form. She smiled a little at the training roses and vines across the collar of the chest plate. Then, she placed a sash of red and black, bearing the August family’s crest over her shoulder.
“I will not leave your side,” Nicole said as she adjusted the straps around her hips and settled her sword belt into place. “However, this war… is far more complicated than you think.”
“Are you trying to convince me to change my mind?”
She sighed and stood, meeting Daphne’s gaze in the mirror, “I am trying to tell you to think on it and reconsider peace. What good will it do?”
“Those werewolves attacked us.”
“You think that werewolves orchestrated an attack that nearly killed their king?”
A spike of fear went through her, “What do you mean?”
Nicole searched her eyes, finding a familiar glimmer of the Daphne who had come willingly in her eyes. Nicole shook her head.
“We shouldn’t talk here. Come with me.”
Nicole turned and led her out of the room. The path seemed familiar. She knew that she’d walked the path before, but it felt almost dream-like. Nicole led them to a closed corridor and pulled a sconce from the wall. The wall rumbled and slid aside. She gasped, her heart lurching as a vision flickered behind her eyelids. She followed Nicole down the steps as the torches began to light until they reached the bottom of the steps.
They walked through a short hallway until the spade opened up. The floor seemed to shimmer and revolve as they indeed.
She had been in this room before, but she couldn’t place when.
“You seem pensive.”
“Have you brought me here before?”
“I have…” Nicole looked at her. “This is the family crypt. Your mother and grandmother, our ancestors are here, forever lost to Eternal Sleep.”
She nodded slowly, “You said that I fell into Eternal Sleep.”
“Something like it,” she said. “You were born half-vampire. You may never fall into a complete Eternal Sleep, but nothing is for certain.”
Daphne nodded and met her gaze, “What is it that you wanted to tell me that couldn’t be said upstairs?”
“As we were escaping, the werewolf king was severely injured. Had I not set the rest of those werewolves to flame, there is a good chance that he would have been killed before he woke.”
Daphne narrowed her eyes, “You saved his life. Why?”
Nicole sighed, “Before all of this, I swore to support you in any way I could. You made it clear that reuniting you with the king was a part of that.”
Daphne frowned, not understanding and she shoved that thought away, “I will avenge him.”
“You told me once that you love him,” she said and Daphne gasped. The words rang true and painful in her chest. “You told me that you had every intention of returning to his side as soon as the two weeks were over… That your marriage and mated bond were precious to you. That version of you had all of her memories. Do you think you could trust her words even if you cannot trust mine?”
Daphne scoffs, “She may have had all of her memories, but she also had the prospect of her unborn child. That was before her son died before he could live and werewolves ambushed us!”
“There is no way Arthur or his forces could have orchestrated that attack.”
“What do you mean?” Daphne asked, looking at her.
“Those werewolves were turned, Daphne,” she said. “It’s a barbaric tactic that was made popular during the war. A turned werewolf is not a full vampire. It may maintain some semblance of its instincts and the ability to shift, but it is, for all intents and purposes, a slave to the will of its sire.”
Daphne stared at her in shock and horror.
“Arthur, your mate, would never order such a thing even if they had a vampire on their side.”
Mate.
The word rattled around inside her, poking and prodding at the darkness yet nothing surfaced. Nicole’s words rang true, though she wasn’t sure if it was because they were true or if Daphne trusted Nicole not to lie to her.
Nicole sighed, turning, “Luckily, you are more like your mother than your grandmother.”
She crossed the room towards the platform where two glass-topped coffins sat.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother was officially an enchantress. The only sharp object she could be trusted with was a letter opener.”
Daphne laughed at the thought. She trailed her hand over the two caskets before going to the wall and pulling down a sword. She pulled it from its sheath, checking the blade.
“Your grandmother was an enchantress as well, but she used melee weaponry as well…” She lifted the sword, “This sword was commissioned by your grandfather as a courting gift. It’s designed to help channel your magic and regulate it so you don’t tire yourself out.”
Nicole returned to her, placing it in her hands. It felt warm in her head. On the pommel was a gleaming silver and diamond lily. Her lips twitched.
“It… feels a bit like I’m taking them into battle with me.” She looked up at Nicole, “What about you? Aren’t you an enchantress?”
Nicole smiled, “No one but my closest subordinates and you know that I am. Most think I am capable of minor magic, mostly healing… my concealed daggers are made to channel magic.”
She frowned, “Why?”
“Because magic is considered reserved for the royal family. It would stir up suspicions about my parentage.”
“Why didn’t you just take the throne?” Daphne asked.
Their gazes met.
“Because I didn’t want to admit that I was the only one left.”
Daphne clenched her hands around the sword, “When this is over… I want your true identity revealed.”
Her eyes widened.
“I don’t want to be alone either.”
Nicole’s eyes softened and she nodded, “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
