Page 15 of Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

“Sounds like something a conqueror would say.”

He didn’t laugh this time. He didn’t move, either, his fingertips still warm against my cheek, pinching the silk fabric of my blindfold.

“Moral outrage from a member of the Arachessen,” he said. “Interesting.”

He released me and stepped back.

“I have no love for your little cult, but I don’t intend to piss them off, either. Tell me where you’d like to be returned, and my second will escort you there. You’ll make it there safely. You have my word.”

What?

He was letting me go?

I didn’t let my expression change, but internally, I cursed.

I wasn’t expecting this turn. I’d miscalculated. I’d been right that my appearance as a member of the Arachessen would mark me clearly as someone who could seer—but hadn’t accounted for the fact that our conqueror might be more risk-averse than I’d suspected. A little funny, actually, that he wasn’t afraid of taking on the Pythora King, but the idea of tangling with the Arachessen scared him.

“It was my men’s mistake that you were taken here,” he went on. “My apologies.”

He didn’t sound all that sorry.

“I’m not a member of the Arachessen,” I said. “Not anymore.”

He paused. I felt his interest—and skepticism—ripple through the air.

I laughed softly. “That’s so surprising to you?”

“People don’t usually forsake their goddesses.”

A question, in that statement. I saw the trap laid before me.

“I have no qualms with my goddess,” I said.

No, he had to know I was still on good terms with the gods. Otherwise, I would be useless as a seer.

“The Arachessen, though…” I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “You said it. They demand sacrifices. Take them without permission.”

I could feel the little smile on his lips, something between a grimace and a smirk. “Is it really a sacrifice if it’s taken instead of offered?”

It bothered me a bit that this was a reasonable point. I tilted my head, as if to concede it.

“So you’re a former Arachessen. Still devoted to the gods. All by yourself.” He paused, as if lining up all of these incongruent, unlikely facts. “And the Arachessen let you leave.”

“I didn’t give them a choice.”

“You don’t look strong enough to evade them.”

No sarcasm, no double-speak. Surprising, but I could appreciate that.

It was a valid point. The Arachessen did not allow its members to leave their ranks. You joined for life. Death was the only escape, and they would make sure that anyone who did escape did it through that door alone.

“I’ve been running,” I said.

“Yet you’re still here in Glaea. One would think it would be smarter to get out of the country.”

“Yourinvasion made it hard to leave,” I snapped. “No ships out anymore. So thank you for that.”

His presence shifted. Interest. He leaned forward.

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