Page 67 of Their Blood Queen

We will see her again in her dreams, I assure him.

Because I know we will. After my encounter with Scarlett, I can almost feel her inside her mind.

She’s close to letting us back in.

And then… we will play. Tasting the peach nectar between her thighs holds no violation in the Dream Realm.

For the time being, my beast seems satisfied enough with that. We watch as the Earl guides Scarlett to various families and seems to show her off like a new bauble he’s just purchased.

I suppose that’s all she would be to him. A toy he intends to use and then throw away when he’s finished. That’s how most Elites function. I would expect no less of a member of the Rinhold family.

He makes a good show of being a gentleman, though. And, in truth, I know very little about him. I typically pay more attention to disobedient families or problem-makers. The Rinholds have always paid their quotas and then some. I’ve had little cause to investigate them.

Until now.

“What have you discovered of Duke and Duchess Rinhold?” I ask Bernard. I briefly flick my gaze to the older pair conversing with another wealthy family on the verge of ascension.

The Duke and Duchess in question don’t appear old, of course. Neither of them boasts a single wrinkle, despite their elevated ages, as far as humans go.

“Not much outside the information I’ve already shown you,” he admits. “But I’ve been doing more than just tracking their comings and goings. I’ve also been taking an account of their assets against the history of their awarded points for successful monster-human matches.”

“And?” I press when he goes silent.

He takes his time continuing, but I don’t have the patience for his delay tactics tonight. I glare at him until he responds. “They have more wealth than the numbers say they should. We’ve missed something.”

“Hmm,” I agree. The Rinholds might have a large village population and excellent selections with many successful monster pairings, but their wealth doesn’t add up if I take everything into consideration.

They didn’t so much as bat an eye at paying my blood price for Scarlett’s courtship contract. There’s no lack of anti-aging tonics, even with merchants raising their prices. Sure, the Duchess protested when that happened, but she would just on principle.

The Rinholds act like they can no longer afford to upgrade to the Immortality Sector, but I wonder if that’s really true. If they tried to pay it this year, I would run an audit of their finances.

Perhaps they don’t want me to look too closely.

What are you hiding from me? I wonder.

The Duchess is wearing a black lace choker with an oversized blood diamond at her throat. Such jewels are only sold in Monster City, and importing them comes at a great cost. A secondary chain holds an even larger red gem that nestles above her ample cleavage. The fashion is more suited for a younger lady, but she pulls it off.

The bleached effect of her pale blue irises explains why. She has probably used anti-aging tonics at high doses since she was a teen.

Duke Rinhold is a more mature version of his son. He greets his guests and slicks back his brown hair he prefers to keep bound by a silk bow at his nape. There’s not a single hair out of place. He doesn’t choose to display his wealth with frills like many of the other peacocks in the room, but I spot the matching blood diamonds sewn into the belt around his waist. His polished boots whisper with magic, too, that keeps his steps silent.

Why would a Duke need silent steps at a noisy fête?

I figure that out when he breaks from the Duchess and moves through the crowd. Like most Elites, he regularly prays to me, so I have some access to his mind. I’m able to catch snippets of the conversations around him. I’m not omniscient. I can only listen in if I’m intentionally doing so.

I’m listening now, Duke Rinhold.

He blends in as he eavesdrops on various conversations, only to swoop in at the right moment to control the narrative of his guests.

He wants them talking about the village selections, not about Scarlett. The families are taking bets on who will mate the highest-level monsters and, therefore, who will earn the Rinholds the most points. It’s a competition between families. Some place bets on their own selections, and the Duke shakes hands more than a few times.

This might be a fraction of their wealth I’m missing. But how does he control who wins? What makes him so confident?

I pocket those questions for later. It’s one piece of the puzzle I intend to figure out.

Moving on with my observations, I glance at the servants taking care of the guests. I make note of more than a few who were previously members of various villages. Some are stunningly beautiful or handsome, more so than is necessary to be simple servants of an oversized household.

Which might mean they’re being held for trades, or for sex labor among Elites.

---