Page 101 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
Contraindre
BASTIEN
Ididn’t want to lead by fear, but sometimes I had to remind people of my strength. Words of fealty and welcome passed around the table, but it wasn’t a happy announcement. I might’ve told them all I was cutting their pay in half instead of announcing my marriage.
The council room grew silent, save for beating hearts and tapping feet, but it didn’t remain silent for long.
My nephew—unsurprisingly—was the one to speak first.
“But she’s your sanguine partner. Uncle, the laws clearly state?—”
I growled, low in my chest. He abruptly shut his mouth and swallowed whatever he was going to say. To have my decisions questioned was not the issue. I welcomed dissent. But I could not abide it fromhim. Not when I knew how poor his own decision-making was.
“I know what the laws say,” I said.
My Grand Advisor cleared his throat, and in his kind way, offered, “Of course we desire you here, leading us as you havedone for centuries, Your Grace. Surely when you return to the capital with the Lady Claire, you’ll be welcomed warmly.”
Tyson stifled a laugh.
My lip curled at his obvious disrespect. I wanted to rage at him for it, but I rather agreed with his sentiment.
“I don’t believe my brother will be so forgiving. I’ve already crossed him once, and even he has limits.”
My Grand Advisor rose from his chair and set his hand on my shoulder, gazing up at me with a warm smile. “You should go to the capital. Beg for his mercy. Face-to-face. Man-to-man. He is your brother.” Yes. Marius wasmon sang. My brother in blood. This was true. But just because we were brothers didn’t mean we always saw eye to eye. Laurent continued, undeterred. “The Viscount can serve in your place as steward until the duchess bears you achild.”
The wordchildpulled on everyone in the room. They all knew the power of an heir. The rising tension was so palpable and alive I could offer it a seat at the table. I’d taken Natalia in when she refused to be the heir Josse demanded. Tyson had an older brother who ruled his father’s duchy while he remained at the capital with his mate.
Those who were born in Roselyn, my human advisors, did not follow the patriarchal rules set forth in the Blood Treaty, and thus did not understand the need for a male heir. Any heir would do.
And then there was Claire.
My new bride. A woman raised in isolation at a convent filled with other women. And who feared the sight of blood so deeply she couldn’t wield a knife or even bear hearing the word spoken aloud. The birthing bed was no place for her.
Despite all of this animosity, a fuzzy image flashed in my mind’s eye. A young boy with silver lilac hair and ice-blue eyes. He was the most wondrous thing I’d ever seen. No more thantwo years old, but strong. He looked just like me, save for his mother’s iridescent hair. The color she’d been born with.
I wished to hold him more than I’d ever wanted anything. But the woman whose lap he sat on, my wife, looked… ill. Blood wept from the bites on her neck, and her breasts were covered in gruesome bruises. A mother was always the sanguine partner for the child until he reached school-age.
I watched the little boy as he wiped a drop of red blood from his lips. My throat grew thick and tight with emotion. He was killing her. No, I told myself.I would not allow it.
I gripped the table, disoriented by what I’d seen and what it foretold, and tried to regain my composure. If that fantasy was not a premonition, it was surely a projection of things to come.
Claire could not survive it.
Besides, having a child was a dream I’d given up on long ago. A wish that would never come true. Not if he hurt Claire.
I caught sight of my wife sitting with her head bowed, one hand pressing against her stomach. I wondered if she’d seen the same thing. If the image had drifted through her mind too. I reached out through our connection, probing her emotions. Needing to know how this was affecting her. All I could feel was fear and panic. The emotions so strong they made my chest clench. But there was also intrigue. Pride. And…
I drew in a deep breath, and the scent of her arousal filled me with desire I shouldn’t have. I’d already taken my fill of her twice today. Too much for her to endure. And yet, I wanted more.
She lifted her gaze to mine, her brown eyes blazing with flecks of molten gold, and the need to fill her with every last drop of me became overwhelming.
Gritting my teeth, I forced my gaze back to those assembled. Willing myself to have the composure of a level-headedleader and not be sucked into some misbegotten fantasy. I was stronger than these base desires, and I was going to prove it.
My nephew rose from his seat across the table, and in that moment, he looked so much like my brother Josse that I might have trouble distinguishing the two if they were side by side, especially since Tyson still insisted on wearing the royal blue of his father and styling his black hair in the slicked back way of the South.
“I am prepared to lead in your absence,” Tyson confirmed with all the arrogance of youth.
I scowled back at him.
