I turned to glare at Xion. We had traversed much landscape, spent many hours on horses side by side, even slept in the same tent, and somehow, it had not come up that his mother was the Witch Queen. As if telling me about the seasonal weather here was more important.

I was mated to the vampire king and if that was not bad enough, his mother was the most feared woman on the entire continent.

The way his mouth was bracketed with tension told me that he assumed I knew. Charming. I set my jaw and turned back to the queen who was picking imaginary dirt off her dress.

"You couldn't just invite me to that fine palace of yours?" the queen said. "Now I'm out here in knee-deep mud."

"Mud has not killed anyone that I am aware of. But the rebels in my lands have killed many and your people have never been too fond of me, even when I was their prince," Xion stated. "There is no reason our meeting needed to be a suicide mission for either of us."

"Fondness is not required when ruling," his mother replied.

I turned my attention off the unnerving queen onto Devlin for a moment. A lesser warlock, unable to perform spells that she had somehow deemed valuable. What had it been like for him to grow up there? He was so bright and sunny; had he been squashed back then or had he bloomed in the vampire kingdom instead? Now, he hardly looked like the man who had taken me to the stables, his eyes sharp, his body perfectly motionless. A statue more than a person.

"I would prefer if you saved your lectures for a while. I have only been king for a few weeks. There is still so much to learn about the entire kingdom before I can even comprehend what kind of ruler I want to be," Xion replied tightly.

The queen nodded her head somberly. "I see, Xion. You are not ready to face reality. Now tell me, did those in your opposition wait for you to find out what kind of a ruler you are before they took your carriage? Did they tell you that they would kill you in two months' time, after you've figured it all out?"

How had she known? What could she see? Perhaps the things I heard about her weren't cruel rumors after all.

"This could have been a letter," Xion said. It felt like he had transformed before my eyes. Just a few minutes ago, it was calm and steady at my side, coaxing me through the black wall that separated the rest of the world from his mother. Now, his eyes were hard, his shoulders tight and his back rigidly straight.

"I did not seduce that vile man and raise his child to be ruler to have to do it all over again in a couple years when you are killed. You are in this position for a reason, Xion. Do not disappoint me."

I felt as if I had been slapped. It would have the flap of a butterfly's wing to send me off my pony's back and the words hadn't even been directed at me. My parents would never. My father only ever told us that we were his joys, my mother told us that she had felt no greater purpose than when we were born. Both of my parents would get tears in their eyes on our birthdays.

I jerked my head towards the two men who had accompanied me. Xion was entirely blank. Devlyn showed nothing, not his usual sunshine nor a storm cloud.

"When is that one going to be giving up his magic?" the queen asked, jerking her chin towards Devlin.

"That is not my call to make," Xion stated.

So the queen turned to Devlin. "Who do you serve, boy?"

"King Xion."

"And is it your duty that you fulfill any of your king's wishes?"

Devlin stared straight ahead, the dutiful solider. "Yes."

"Well then, it looks like it is your decision, son. You are proof that while consuming witch blood allows the barest of magic to be used, one cannot be both a witch and a vampire. You are the vampire king. Your entire staff needs to be vampires as well." Her gray eyes sliced towards me then, not quite hitting their mark, but alarmingly accurate considering I hadn't made a sound. "You."

"Lark is here, like you requested," Xion said tightly. "But I want to make it entirely clear that I only brought her here out of fear that you would storm my castle and cause a war by voiding treaties. She is not here to be your pin cushion."

"Oh child, you wound me."

Xion's warning didn't stop the queen from moving towards me, a guard coming to her side to help her navigate the mud. I imagined in her own palace on -- or in -- Mount Hexe she would move without any assistance. She would command the throne room with just the raise of her brow, I was sure. An entire room would be brought to their knees with nothing more than the flick of a wrist.

And to have her sights set on me was terrifying.

"Get off that horse, you're too tall for her anyway," she commanded.

I did my best to be like the men surrounding me and school my features into something blank, but I was sure I jerked back in surprise. Once I was on the ground, I realized how tall this woman was. Like Seraphina and Xion, she towered over me, her crown making her even more imposing. It was hard to tell the age of the other species, but there was not a wrinkle on her, not a grey in her black hair.

"Give me your hand, child."

I wanted to glance at Xion, to see a reassuring nod from him. But she could see my horse. She knew where I was, even if it was just vaguely. I didn't know how or if perhaps the rumors of her blindness were exaggerated. I just knew that I didn't want to reveal more weakness than I already had. I placed my palm against hers.

Her touch was cold and brief before falling away.

"Human. What a shame."

She turned back around as if mud was as common to her as cobblestone streets and marble flooring. A guard floated at her side, but never touched her.

"Will she serve your kingdom well?" the queen asked, not even bothering to look at her child as she asked.

"Mother, she is my m--"

"Do not bother with telling me about your mate bond. You know as well as I do that mate bonds are irrelevant where leadership is concerned. She needs to be not only what you require, but also what your kingdom desires."

"We are getting to know each other and through that, other matters can be determined," Xion said firmly.

The queen glanced over her shoulder at me. "Could you kill her if the kingdom required it?"

Xion let out a choked noise, all of his composure lost. "Mother!"

"I will take that as a no." The queen slid her eyes to Devlin. "And you? Could you kill her if you needed to? Even if it meant that your own king might turn on you?"

Devlin said nothing, mouth clamped shut. Because there was no right answer to give. There never would be.

"Take the carriage back with you," the queen ordered. "And a couple guards."

"I cannot leave you vulnerable," Xion denied.

"Oh, sweet child, when you rule like I do, vulnerability is not a concern."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

Have you ever had a crush on a book character?

Obviously, I loved Jacks from Once Upon a Broken Heart, Rhysand from ACOTAR, Hawke from Blood and Ash.