Blood Rebellion

"He has no respect for my granddaughter, or her position as Queen," Wylend huffed. "Imagine how I might feel if I had a mate who insisted to me that her brothels were legitimate businesses, and then insisted that her training of all her employees was purely business. While that might be true on the surface of things, it makes you seem less in others’ eyes that you accept it because you are desperate to keep his love and affection. If my mate did this to me, I would end our relationship, Granddaughter. I will not have my subjects laughing at me behind my back, because my mate does this to me in such a public fashion."

"Em-pah, I don’t think the public is laughing at me."

"No, Granddaughter? You have not been watching the vids on other worlds. You only pay attention to what is produced on Le-Ath Veronis and the ones who run your news network care for you too much to publish what others are running away with."

"Erland, what is he talking about?" I turned to my Karathian Warlock for an explanation.

"Lissa, I can show you, but it will be painful." Erland’s beautiful face was set in a frown. That statement had me drawing in a breath and closing my eyes. I nodded. Wylend had a vid screen hidden in a table inside his library, where we sat. It rose when he flicked his hand—who needed a remote control when you had that kind of power?

"I learned of this one’s presence a short while ago—I still keep spies on Campiaa to watch Arvil San Gerxon," Erland said as Wylend flicked his hand again, causing the vid screen to display images. "She works in San Gerxon’s private stable of call girls that he hands out to his best gamblers. She came to Le-Ath Veronis three weeks ago, to work in one of Gabron’s pleasure houses." Erland took my chin in his fingers and turned it toward the screen. I watched in shock and horror as Gabron taught this woman how to put her mouth on a man. He was shouting at her when she didn’t do it to his satisfaction. Somehow, a hidden camera had recorded this for the universe to see.

"There are other images too—images of his training her in other ways. These images are now being shown all across the Alliance, Lissa. This spy for Arvil San Gerxon is seeing to that. She has managed to record these lessons and now your name is being sullied and ridiculed, because Gabron remains mated to you." Erland flicked his fingers, stopping the images. His dark eyes held a great deal of anger. On my behalf.

Stunned was too small and meaningless a word. I had no idea this had been happening and I couldn’t even cry, I was so numb. Wylend flicked his fingers again and other images were displayed on the screen. I remembered the gossipmongers from the television programs three hundred years earlier. Those people had nothing on what was happening now. These so-called journalists ripped into me, calling me stupid, oblivious and desperate, all while showing clips of Gabron and his training sessions. I couldn’t believe this. I’d trusted him, once. Fought alongside him and helped save his home planet. Accepted his proposal and his ring. One of his employees had tried to kill me and almost killed Roff. Now, Roff was without his memories of me. Gabron had not attempted to apologize.

"Em-pah, what do I do?" I moaned.

* * *

"This letter came for you," Heathe handed the heavy cream envelope to Gabron. It bore the claw crown—Lissa’s royal seal. Gabron glanced up at his assistant.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"No, sir. It came just a few moments ago and I was instructed to bring it directly to you."

Gabron broke the seal on the envelope and lifted out the note.

Raona Lissa requests your presence, tonight at eight of the evening. Dress is casual. Gabron reread the message aloud so Heathe would know.

"What do you think she wants?" Heathe asked.

"I think I may be a single vampire, after tonight," Gabron replied stiffly.

Heathe watched his employer. He’d wondered, over the past several months, why Gabron had not gone to the palace to speak with Lissa. That was the proper thing to do. He dared not argue with Gabron, however.

"Would you like for me to lay clothing out for you?" Heathe asked instead.

"One of my black suits, Heathe."

"Of course."

* * *

"Lissa, this will be over quickly." Gavin attempted to reassure me. Every one of my available mates was there, including Connegar and Reemagar. Connegar waited to place a healing sleep afterward, if things went badly. I had to get through this. I had to. Griffin and Wylend had come and both looked so angry they could have chewed nails into tacks, I think. Flavio had also come, accompanied by Kyler. Kyler wanted to strangle someone, I think.

Gavin had gone into a cold fury when he’d seen the footage that Wylend brought. They’d all seen it; all my mates had. Erland was now watching me pace inside my library. The vid screen on the wall there was huge—Gabron would see all of it—his secretly recorded sessions and then what the Alliance media said about me as a result. I planned to have a talk with Bryan in the next few days. I intended to ask him to expand the media on Le-Ath Veronis to include feeds from the entire Alliance. I never wanted something like this to happen again.

Gabron arrived a few seconds later, nodding to everyone present. "Lissa, why did you ask me here tonight?" he inquired.

"Sit down, Gabron. Would you like a drink?" I asked as politely as I could.

"No, thank you," he refused. Just as well, I didn’t want to give him another thing.

"You have an employee named Desire working for you?" I asked.

"I do—she needed instruction when I hired her, but things are better with her now." His answer was stiff—as was his body. He suspected. He just didn’t know what it was he suspected. I doubted he’d watched any vids, just as I hadn’t. He’d carefully groomed himself and dressed formally for this occasion; he’d armed himself as well as he could. Well, he should have dressed in steel for what was coming his way.

"That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Gabron. She’s a spy for Arvil San Gerxon. Did you know that?"

I stood before him, my arms crossed over my chest to keep my hands from shaking. I didn’t want him to see how upset I was. Gabron sat on a sofa, blinking up at me. "I was not aware," Gabron replied tautly. "Are you sure this is not a product of your overactive imagination, Lissa? I know how you feel about my girls."

I wanted to shout at him, then. Tell him what kind of fool he was and what kind of fool he’d made of me. I didn’t. Wylend did his little trick and the vid screen powered up. Gabron sat and watched image after image of his instruction of Desire. And then other articles were shown. Gossipmonger after gossipmonger. Laughing at me while the vids of Gabron and Desire played behind them. Calling me all sorts of unkind things. One even pointed out that the camera angle could have been better, but he wasn’t going to complain—Desire could do that for him, any day. He then went on to say that I must have been cold and unimaginative in bed and deserved all the mud being slung in my direction.