Page 17 of Rite of Blood and Secrets

I snort. "You can say that again. And I'm sure there's worse to come. I haven't drunk blood yet."

"You're holding some."

I stare at him for a moment. "This is wine. I had some earlier."

The way he looks at me gives me all the answers I need, and without meaning to, the goblet falls onto the floor and spills the contents everywhere.

"I'm so sorry," I stare at the mess and try not to think about the tears pooling in my eyes. "I..."

"It's fine, Beatrice," he responds, gesturing for one of the servants to clean it up.

"I drank some earlier," I say with horror, then frown. "It didn't taste like blood."

"What does blood taste like?"

"I...don't know. How do I not know?"

He shrugs. "Maybe it's a dhampir thing? I've heard humans describe the taste of blood as metallic, but it's never been anything like that for me. More sweet and deep."

Any lingering doubts about the truth of my nature flee my mind. How can they stay when what he's saying is the truth? I've heard people say that blood is metallic several times, but that's not how the wine tasted when I first arrived here.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't." The moment I say it, I realise it's a lie. "Or you did, but not because of what you said. This whole evening has been surreal."

"I can only imagine. Where's your dog? She's not with you any more."

"She's in my room. Apparently I have one of those now. My cousin arranged for her to have food brought to her." I frown. "Our cousin? She's yours too, right?"

"I believe so, though I haven't consulted the blood charts."

"Are those a thing?"

"They have to be. When marriage alliances are sealed, it's important for us to check that the participants aren't actually related. Sometimes closer family can be approved considering the way dhampirs change things."

"What do you mean?" I'm trying to follow what he's saying, but I'm not doing a good job of it.

"Well, take my brother. He was a dhampir, so while you're my cousin because my mother is your great-aunt, you're not his cousin because his mother was a human. So even though the queen consort is House Rothorne, my brother's future wife could also be from House Rothorne, whereas mine can't be."

"That sounds unnecessarily complicated."

He chuckles. "Perhaps, but I didn't make the laws."

"Your family did," I say, picking up on something else he said. "Your mother is the queen consort?"

"Ah, you caught that. I have the dubious honour of being the crown prince, yes."

"My cousin wants to marry you. Or our cousin. Or maybe she's hoping that it's your brother in attendance tonight," I say before realising I shouldn't be revealing Bella's secrets like that.

Thankfully, Marcus seems more amused than anything. "I've known Isabella for close to thirty years, that very much sounds like her. It's not expressly forbidden for me to marry a cousin, it's just frowned upon."

"More so than drinking blood," I mutter.

"Drinking blood is a matter of survival," Marcus points out. "Do you eat meat?"

"When we can afford it."

"So how is drinking blood any different to that?" he asks.

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