Vampire King Chapter 49

Just Like Us
Капе
I try not to focus on the worst case scenarios of my brother being held as a political hostage by Scarlett Thunder. I need to hope that King Peter will keep his word not to harm Lex, and I have to trust Lex not to get himself killed before this conflict with Scarlett Thunder is over. This is a test of honor for both King Peter and I, to show we can be trusted to keep our promises. The stakes are dire; a monarch whose word has no weight makes diplomacy with other kingdoms a near impossibility.
I feel helpless, which is not an emotion I’ve ever cared for. Shame colors my view of everything, and I can’t help comparing myself to my father. King Michael never had to send away any of his family to become hostages. He wouldn’t have given in to King Peter’s demands no matter what the consequences were. He would have resolved things by now.
What have I done? I have just sent my only brother off alone to fight for his survival in a den of vipers. My little brother who has never been to war who has spent his long life chasing every pleasure he could get his hands on. I fear that he is too soft and will break without an ally in a foreign court.
I watch the view outside the window from the throne room, my thoughts muddled with worry and frustration. Rainier has returned from escorting Lex to Castle Blackmoor. My best friend arrives with no fanfare. He steps into the throne room and approaches me without hesitation.
of courtly Rainier only bows to me when we have an audience. I have long dissuaded him from the pomp manners. I have known him too long to expect him to act as nothing but my closest friend and confidant. We have known each other for so long now, he can practically guess what I’m thinking most of the time.
“How was he?” I ask
“Lex was his usual charming self,” Rainier replies. “He didn’t even look the least bit scared at the concept of being a political prisoner.”
“You know as well as I do that my brother is good at hiding his true emotions,” I remind him. “If Lex was scared, he would never show it around you.”
Rainier looks thoughtful. “It’s strange. No matter how many years pass, I still see Lex as that little boy that cried over every little thing, clutching at Queen Agatha’s skirts for protection.”
“Lex hasn’t been that boy in a long time.”
“Are you sure?” Rainier questions. “Hasn’t his impulsiveness brought us to the situation we are currently
in?”
“It’s King Peter’s offspring that are to blame for the situation we are in. He raised them to be cruel and thoughtless. Lex’s… activities in the bedroom may not have helped the situation, but it wouldn’t be fair to drop all the blame at his feet.”
Rainier shakes his head. “You still do that.”
“I still do what?”
“Protect him even when he doesn’t deserve it. You used to take the blame for his messes when you were children and get punished for it, didn’t you?”
Just Like Us
25 BONUS
“I did. He was smaller than me, and punishment never worked well on Lex. I didn’t mind taking the punishments.”
“As you’ve said, Lex isn’t that little boy anymore,” Rainier points out. “Maybe you should let him be a mant and take accountability for his actions.”
“He has taken accountability for his actions. He practically volunteered to be a hostage. That is the most selfless thing he’s ever done.”
Rainier snorts. “Lex is not selfless. Everything he does is for his own self-interest. And he’ll never change. You’re giving him waaay too much credit.”
I cannot change Rainier’s opinion of Lex. He knows my brother far too well for me to even try. Numerous mistakes over the centuries have cemented what Rainier thinks of Lex. There’ve been times when I’ve wished the two of them could get along, but without Lex here now, it really doesn’t matter.
“I trust Lex,” I tell him. “You may not see his potential to be more than what he has been, but I do. I want to have faith in his growth.”
“Growth?” Rainier repeats with a scoff. “Like that time he insulted the am**dor of Ruby Rivers by admitting to the man’s face that he slept with his wife, and she wasn’t good in bed?”
“That was a long time ago.” Why I’m defending him, I’m not sure.
“Or the time he stole a carriage that belonged to the Queen of Sardania and crashed it into a tree?”
“He’d been distracted by her beautiful daughter. And he had made sure to profusely apologize to Queen Olga after it happened,”
Rainier gives me a challenging look. “How about when he pulled a prank by forging your handwriting and sent a letter to your lead famer Cyrus asking for a hundred geese that he put in this very room?”
I grimace at the memory. Geese are more aggressive than anyone talks about. It took all the s**ts hours to gather the geese and get them out of the castle. All the while, Lex hid away in a tower and laughed at the chaos he’d created
“It was childish, but there was no real harm done,” I say.
“No real harm?” Rainier raises his dark eyebrows in disbelief. “Do you remember that time your father almost killed him for almost accidentally creating another vampire?”
“That was centuries ago. And my father punished Lex for that.”
“What about when Emory was attacked in the library? He stood and watched as Opal and Jacob fed on her and threw her down the stairwell?”
The famillar anger at what Emory endured under my nose bubbles up. I am angry at Jacob and Opal but not more than I am at myself, I should have protected her better. It’s a mistake I intend never to make again.
“Lex is the only reason Emory is still alive,” I remind Rainier. “If he hadn’t gotten help, she would have bled out.”
“If he had grown a pair and told you what those two a**es had planned, Emory wouldn’t have needed to get hurt.”
Just Like Us
25 BONUS
“He claims he didn’t know they were going to do that. Besides, there’s no changing what happened. I trust Lex to do the right thing this time. He has proven himself loyal before by giving King Peter false information to help us.”
“And what makes you think that when this little act of his gets boring that he won’t sell you out so he can be king instead?”
I remember what Lex’s words. Do you have any idea what it’s like living in your shadow?
“Nothing.” I answer. “But I choose to believe he won’t betray me.”
Lex
“You are lucky,” King Peter declares. “You get to live in luxury. Your whims will be catered to as what benefits your station. And yet my son… he is treated worse than an animal.”
I stand still as King Peter circles me in the throne room. He’s angry, and I am his chosen target. I can’t truly fight back without risking my head being separated from my neck. I choose to keep quiet and let him air out his grievances.
“I had thought Kane would send your mother or that mo**el he’s gotten pregnant. And yet, he sends you? How does it feel to know you are less valued than a werewolf bi**h?”
I bite the inside of my cheek so as not to retort. King Peter wants to diminish my ego because he wants. to hurt my brother. I’m the closest thing to my brother he can reach. I tell myself that his words don’t matter, and they are the rantings of an old man.
“Is this what has become of the sons of the great King Michael of Crimson Peak?” he continues. “One fornicates with wolves, and the other is a sniveling little coward. Michael is fortunate he’s dead so he
doesn’t have to witness the fall of his bloodline.”
“Don’t bring my father into this,” I say, unable to hold my tongue anymore.
“Why shouldn’t I? You are in my home. You have no power here, Lex. From now on, you wake up each morning alive and well because I decided to be merciful and not end your pathetic life.”
These are empty threats. Part of the deal of me being a hostage is he can’t harm me, not physically anyway. He can call me awful names every minute of my time here, but he cannot have me killed. King Peter is a lot of things, but he’s not an idiot. Nobody rules for this long by being one
He has always been vain. I know that.
Kane told me I had to be smart. I have always been better at playing games than him.
If I play my cards right, I might just survive this.
bow deeply and rise up slowly. “Of course, Your Majesty. I am eternally grateful for your generosity.”
King Peter turns away in disgust. “I have no patience for your groveling. Get out of my sight.”
bow to him, not as deeply this time. The guards escort me from the throne room and to another wing of the castle. They bring me to a suite of rooms, smaller than I’m used to, but it still contins a kitchenette, an en suite bathroom, and a bedroom with a large four-poster bed. The furniture is all heavy, dark wood with
Just Like Us
the walls painted a deep green.
+25 BONUS
The guards close the door behind them but don’t lock it. I know they are waiting outside the door, making sure I either can’t leave the rooms without them following me. I don’t plan to leave the suite at all.
My trunks have been brought into the castle and placed in the middle of the bedroom. I go to the window to see the view of the grounds. I’m on the opposite end of the castle where I can’t see Crimson Peak in the distance.
A deep longing threatens to overcome me. I’ve rarely been homesick. There have been times I visited faraway kingdoms in a futile attempt to escape my identity, trying to be known as somebody else besides King Kane’s brother. In this dark room in this miserable castle, I miss my home.
The door opens, and I turn to see Opal has entered the room. Objectively, I see her pretty face with her long, dark hair and milk pale skin and know there have been plenty of men that have succumb to her physical perfection. I know what truly lies underneath the expensive gowns and coifed hair. I feel nothing but disgust at the sight of her.
“Lex,” she croons, moving closer to me. “I’ve missed you.”
Her cold hands grab for my clothes to remove them. I catch her hands and stop her,
“I haven’t missed you,” I tell her bluntly. “Not after everything you’ve done, Opal.”
“What I’ve done?” she challenges with an ugly scowl. “What about what you and your brother have done? Using me and tossing me aside now that you have that werewolf s**t to play with?”
“You don’t even compare to Emory. She has more heart in her pinky finger than you do in your entire body.”
“How dare you!” she shrieks. “I am a princess, the daughter of a king! I’m not lesser than some common wolf wh**e Kane plucked off the streets! And I’m carrying a royal child!”
I push her away from me, not wanting her in my personal space. “Believe what you want, Opal.” “Don’t you f***ing patronize me, Lex! If anyone doesn’t matter here, it’s you. If you were to die in this castle, nobody would care! You’re the spare and you always have been! You’re nothing!”
I give her a bland smile, knowing she’s lashing out because my words have affected her more than she wants them to.
Η
“I may be just the spare, but do you know what you are, Opal? You’re a broodmare that your father sold off to the highest bidder as soon as he could because, in the end, we’re both disposable.”
“I’m nothing like you! I am not disposable!*
“You’re exactly like me,” I declare. “And that means our child we’ll be a monster just like us.