Page 21 of King of the Damned
I feel something wet fall down my cheek. Tears.
Disgusting.
I frown at myself and wipe them away. “I held her and wept for three days before the Tenth Priestess found me. And do you know what she did, Adelasia?” My face twists at the memory. “She plucked out my mother’s right eye and staked it through the sharp crown atop her head.”
“Kaius…”
“I killed her,” I admit quietly. “I ripped that crown from her head and shoved it into her throat before pulling out her spine. And when the other Priestesses found out about what I had done to their beloved sister, they cursed me again, and said that the only way I could earn my mortality back is if I released their sister’s soul back to this plane of existence.”
“How do you release her soul?”
“A ritual.”
Adelasia scoffs and rolls her eyes. “And here I thought we were bonding. We’re back to vague answers I see.”
That pulls my mouth into a small, but fake smile. “Secrets, Adelasia.”
She moves to sit with her back against the bed as I am, the length of our long legs touching. She’s the tallest woman I’ve ever seen, aside from the Priestesses. All ten of them could touch the sky with their fingertips, made of beautiful long lines and expressive hands. They wore long veils in shades of black and gray that covered them head to toe. It was considered a great honor to see their faces. I saw them once. Yekaterina introduced me at the height of our passionate love affair. I thought they would make me powerful. Desirable. Rich.
But instead, I let them steal everything I held dear, and then they punished me for retaliating.
Adelasia is so unlike them despite sharing their physical features. Tall stature. Sharp cheekbones. Long hair. Their skin colors varied depending on which part of the world they came from, but they always shared this otherworldly beauty that women and men alike can only dream of possessing.
Despite what legends say, they’re not all inherently evil. They can be spiteful and wicked, yes, and they punished me harshly for killing their sister, but many of them simply want to see that all creatures, demons and humans alike, live in harmony with nature. Perhaps not with each other, but with the earth. They all have unprecedented affinities for magic, and four of them fancy the Four Elements, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Gaia, the Earth Priestess, is quite pleasant, and the only one who seemed distraught by what Yekaterina had done to me.
But her loyalty to her sisters outweighed her conscience, and she cursed me anyway.
In an attempt to change the subject, I look at Adelasia’s feet in her dancing shoes. “Adelasia, tell me why you dance.”
Her feet flex into perfect arches and she sighs as if she’s been waiting her entire life for someone to ask that exact thing.
“Because if you go anywhere in the world…any culture, any time of day or night, amid war or famine and all other sufferings, dancing brings joy. It’s a language all its own, that can be spoken to anyone, anywhere, and you’ll always find someone willing to share in that joy with you.”
I huff, because I was expecting her to say that she enjoyed the attention. I have a bad habit of assuming the worst in her, but then again, she does the same for me.
“I’d like to feel joy again.”
Adelasia places her hand gently on my thigh. “What’s stopping you?”
“My joy comes at a cost I’m not sure I’m willing to pay anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
I take her hand in my own and lift it to my lips to kiss her knuckles. “Goodnight, Adelasia,” I whisper, and then stand up to leave without another word.
Eleven
Adelasia
Three days pass, and the palace seems more lively than usual. The normally silent halls are now teeming with whispers and chatter from humans and vampires alike, who all seem…cheerful.
When I step into my dance studio, even the enchanted instruments seem to shoot up in excitement at the sight of me.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me why everyone seems to have such high spirits today?” I ask absently to the violin, which only swivels from left to right in response.
I take a place on the floor and begin to stretch my muscles. The violin begins to play something soft in the background. I close my eyes and let the music fill my heart, and once my body feels ready, I begin to secure the ribbons of my shoes around my ankles. Unfortunately, when I go to test their stability, I’m disappointed to find the arch of the shoe completely limp. Dead. They’re too worn and I don’t want to risk injury.
I take them off and feel a bit emotional as I drop them in the corner of the room. They were the only pair I had. One small relic I was able to bring with me to this new life.
