Page 18 of Queen Takes King
8
Guillaume
It had beenmy great misfortune to encounter many queens in my long, miserable lifetime, though I had only formally served one after leaving my lady mother’snest.
As Desideria’s executioner, I’d bathed in queens’ blood and wallowed in their Bloods’. I’d lived in their courts and been invited deep into their nests to the queen’s own bed. I’d drank from their throats and yes, fucked plenty, both queen andBlood.
In service, always in service, waiting in dread for the order to begin the killing. The order always came, and yet the queens always allowed me in. Willing to play the game. Hoping to win. Or at least end up allied with the most powerful living queen in the world, if she was able to retain herhead.
Once finally free of Desideria’s yoke, I had sworn never to be captured again. To never again be forced to give my blood or wield knife and sword in service to another queen. For I had had my fill of queens and their twisted games. While not related by bloodline, Marne Ceresa was just as twisted as Desideria, and I would wither to a husk of what I used to be and damn my soul for all eternity before I would ever feed from that bitch’sthroat.
I had often wondered if all queens grew up deep in the game, dealing in blood and lives as easily as human children played checkers. Perhaps Aima queens were simply born cruel, their needs endless, their thirst unimaginable, both for power andblood.
Until I felt the call floating through the night. A queen in desperate need. A queen unlike any I’d ever felt or tastedbefore.
Shara Isador played a game, the same as any other queen. She played a dangerous game to keep her own life and her Blood’s, but more, she played to keep her independence. Whether she knew it or not, she’d drawn a line in the sand and dared the Triune to do something about her veryexistence.
That was a game I was willing to play. Especially once I had a taste of her blood, her power, the likes of which I’d never tastedbefore.
She might be a young American queen without the training of a formal court, but to me, that was a blessing straight from thegoddess.
Her two prior Blood shifted closer to her, especially the big alpha, as much as the cramped tub would allow. He would not relinquish his place at her side, not that I’d fault him for that in the slightest. I felt her hunger burning in the bond, a wildfire threatening to consume us all, but she leaned back against the alpha and only looked atme.
I laid the thin blade on the side of the tub and waited for her firstplay.
Finally, she spoke. “There are things we need to iron out between us before we go any further.” She paused, moving her arms gently in the water, thinking of exactly what she wanted to say. I appreciated the fact that she wasn’t self conscious of her body—but neither did she flaunt her curves. We might as well have been sitting downstairs at the table sipping coffee than naked in a tub. “You said you would be willing to swear anoath.”
“Iam.”
“I don’t mean to insult you, but you take your word very seriously. More seriously than men of this age and countrydo.”
“My honor is all I have left, my queen. Were I to give an oath and then break it, my honor would be destroyed.” Just the thought made my stomach tighten with dread and I clenched my fingers around a nonexistent sword. I’d sworn hundreds of years ago never to dishonor my blades and I wouldn’t beginnow.
“Why were your fingers bent and twisted when you first came tome?”
I blinked, trying to follow her train of thought. “In the year of our lord thirteen hundred and seven, I was imprisoned by King Philip IV of France for being a heretic Templar knight. They tortured me. One of the things they did involved breaking every finger on my hands, numeroustimes.”
I could only hope she wouldn’t wantallthe gory details. I didn’t want to remember those dark years. Because they couldn’t kill me. They tried. Oh, how they’d tried. If I’d still been sane, perhaps I wouldn’t have weakened enough to accept the service Desideria offeredme.
Shara could have made me swear just about any oath under the sun when I came to her and lay down face first before her. I had been that ravenous. That close to death, which had not come easily to this unkillableknight.
“They’re straight now and your scars are healed. Did I do that, or would any queen’s blood have healedyou?”
“Any queen’s blood would have healed me to a point. Your power is great enough, and you allowed me to drink long enough, that I’m healed back to my former glory. Truth be told…” I took a deep breath and laid the truth out between us. “I have never been this strong, Your Majesty. You wrought that in me and youalone.”
“I hear horse hooves when I look at your bond,” she said softly, closing her eyes, her head tilting. “Why?”
“When I shift, I’m a hell horse. That’s why in the old days, when I served in Ireland, I was called the Dullahan, the headlessrider.”
“Gives hung like a horse all new meaning,” Daire said. Rik punched him in the shoulder. “What? Heis.”
“What about that… um… test?” Her cheeks flushed and I suddenly identified the most beautiful color in theworld.
I had no idea why Daire laughed and Rik looked disgruntled, as if he suddenly found himself the butt of a joke. “He accepted me asalpha.”
“I did, and do,” I said firmly, in case there had been any doubt. “I’m not a leader. I’m akiller.”
“But why would they call you aheadlessrider?” sheasked.
