Page 58 of The Tainted and the Tamed
A tremble went through Murasaki’s body. Every suspicion she’d had—every question she was too numbed by shock to explore or even to speak aloud—was being exposed here in this room. It was too much. This reality was too much to comprehend. She didn’t think she could keep listening.
Yet how could she turn away without knowing?
“I wish for you to hear my story before you decide,” Ms. Tanabe said.
Murasaki hung her head. Then, summoning her courage, she said, “Please continue.”
“Many years ago, other, powerful vampires wanted me put to death. No one but my parents and I, and a few servants, knew the circumstances of how I was born. They caught the servants and fed from them. They caught my mother—they killed her, when she tried to protect me. And they used me to lure my chairman father into a trap. You would know his name, though I use my mother’s family name.”
By now, Murasaki had gone cold. She did know his name, didn’t she? Kaba Yukio—the only chairman who had been replaced. He died some twenty years ago from a short illness, they said.
Ms. Tanabe was Chairman Kaba’s daughter?
Her eyes twinkled. “I see you understand.”
“I’m not sure I do. How did you—”
“Escape death and somehow become another chairman’s housekeeper?” Ms. Tanabe laughed politely. “It was all Chairman Asami’s doing. He had no loyalty to my father, yet he aided those who helped me escape. I left the country and made a new life for myself for an entire decade before I was caught.
“When I returned in chains, Chairman Asami was ready. He negotiated a deal for my life.” One by one, she ticked off the stipulations on her fingers. “I would guard the secrets of vampire procreation. All vampires were forbidden to seek the information from me upon pain of death. And Chairman Asami would take personal responsibility for me. I have lived here ever since. Since I had no desire to be idle—and since there was no lady of the house to manage the staff—I volunteered for this position.”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Murasaki said. “What’s the problem with vampires having children?”Not that I’m eager to have one myself—this is all too much!
Ms. Tanabe sighed. “Must I explain everything?”
“I think you ought to. No one else has.”
The housekeeper raised a brow. “If you don’t like what I have to say, know that I told you so.”
Murasaki crept to the edge of her chair.
“An imperial descendent lives.”
“What?”
Ms. Tanabe pursed her lips. “I told you. The vampires—let’s say they have more power than you would think. It’s not in their best interest to have an imperial dynasty restored. They want the balance of power to stay as it is, and the last survivor to remain the last.”
She stared back at Ms. Tanabe. “Then he’s a vampire?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“All the other chairmen are vampires, too, aren’t they?”
“I didn’t say that, either.”
“My head is spinning.”
At long last, Ms. Tanabe cracked a genuine smile. “I told you so.”
“But why? Why tell me any of it?”
The smile vanished. Ms. Tanabe leaned back in her chair. “Because, Ms. Mukai. If you choose to remain here with Chairman Asami—if you choose to be his mate, you will need to know all of this. And if you reject his blood, these secrets will die with you.”
“That’s silly logic! I could tell anyone. I could run to the newspapers—”
“They wouldn’t print it.”
“Because it’s far-fetched?”
