All Frederick could see was a light so bright it absorbed the entire world. It warmed his face and body, but it wasn't as welcoming as it had once been. He didn't know whether he should stay here. He'd become so comfortable in the darkness that he searched for it now. And the brightness burned. Distracted. He tried to turn away but couldn't escape it. He turned once more.

Then opened his eyes.

It took a few blinks before he realized that sunlight warmed his face. Panic pulsed shortly after. Vampyres-sun-vampyres-

He hurried out of bed, dragging the blanket with him. Shit. He pushed the chair to the window and climbed on top of it, hurrying to stuff the blanket over the glass. But it wasn't enough-and it wouldn't hold. So he rushed to the door and shouted to no one in particular: "Get curtains in here at once."

Servants scurried throughout the hall, and Frederick shut the door and turned to the bed. "Ara, I-"

But she wasn't there.

He leaned against the wall and stared at the bed, slack-jawed as the memories of the night before returned to him. He'd lost count of how many times they'd had sex or how many times either of them had climaxed. Even when they fell asleep, it never lasted long, awakened by the need to talk, touch, and explore each other.

Gods. She was incredible. The way she tasted, the sounds she made, the way she moved ...

Insanity.

He washed and dressed quickly then excused himself from the room to make way for the servants to install the curtains. A servant woman proceeded to strip the bed when he said, "Ensure you leave the sheets untouched."

"But, sire, they're damp?"

He stifled a shudder. "Leave them until I say otherwise."

He left and started down the hall, but he didn't know where to find her. Perhaps she'd vanished and headed back to Carnelia to attend to some important matters. He had no doubt she'd return.

But what if she doesn't?

Then he would get on a horse and ride back to Carnelia to find out why she left.

But after what they did last night, she would return. He knew it. For now, he would find his father. They had matters to discuss. He wasn't going to divorce the Widow Queen and Urnald needed to know. They would argue but Urnald would have to accept this. Arabella committed to him last night-committed to giving him anything he wanted or needed. They had a vampyre army at their beck and call, and that had to satisfy his father for the present.

Frederick stopped before his father's door and inhaled for patience before knocking. "It's me-are you in there?"

Several seconds passed with no response, and he turned the handle and entered the room. Urnald viewed him through narrowed eyes, a cigar smoking at his lips. A woman hurried to pull up her dress-a ball gown from the night before-tears in her eyes as she struggled. "Please-my reputation-"

"Get out," Urnald said.

Frederick bowed his head. "Lady Amsterdein, if you head to the end of the hall, one of the servants will ensure you're set to rights. I'd-uh-do it myself but I don't think it would be appropriate."

She covered her beet-red face with her gloved hands and hurried to the door, and Frederick held it open for her as she left. "I see you were in good company," he commented.

"Not as good as yours," Urnald said, smoke clouding from his mouth. "The servants have been gossiping all morning. This whole hallway heard you. I heard you. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire castle heard with the way the two of you carried on. Just look at the state of you."

The corner of Frederick's lip twitched. "I do feel a little light-headed. I could use some breakfast."

"I'm not surprised. That beast has probably worn you to a stump."

"Oh, come now," Frederick said, "you're not upset over a little bed sport? You trained me to handle women in certain ways to obtain certain advantages. Now stop with the sourness and come breakfast with me. I have much to discuss."

Urnald buttoned his jacket over his chest and rose, and he stubbed his cigar on the nearest tray. The two of them trudged down the hallway, and Urnald cast disapproving eyes over Frederick's body. "A tunic with no jacket? You're parading around like a peasant."

He shrugged. "I've grown accustomed to the informality in Carnelia. They don't put on airs or feign delicacies there."

"So we heard last night," Urnald muttered. "Such free spirits, they must be. Now get to the point. What have you to discuss?"

Frederick shook off the insult and continued. "She'll give me whatever I want. She's aligned to our cause. I only have to ask, and she will give it to me."

"I should hope so-what with that performance last night. It's the least she could bloody do. And where is she right now?"

Frederick closed his eyes. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Urnald repeated. "Well, where did she go?"

"Vampyres have the ability to vanish," Frederick reasoned. "She may have returned to her kingdom to attend to some matters, but she'll be back."

"She's not coming back," Urnald insisted. "She fucked you and left you. She got the last laugh. She made you think that she's on your side. Enlarged her ego to get what she wanted from you. And you told her about our cause? Oh, Frederick. You idiot. You fool. You-"

The servant opened the door, and his father stopped.

Arabella sat on the edge of the table in the shadows away from the sun, dressed in those indecent undergarments and customary robe. She stared at the blue sky without blinking, clutching a cup in her hand. She didn't turn to acknowledge their arrival as she said, "Good morning, Frederick. I didn't know your father was coming to breakfast with us."

He threw his father a satisfied look, but Urnald was frozen still. He paused, realization striking through him as he saw pages and pages of notes about Carnelia. "Shit, Arabella-"

"Such detailed notes you have here," she said, lifting a sheet of paper. "I assume all this information has come from you, Frederick, has it not?"

He stepped toward her, but Urnald gripped his bicep to stop him from advancing.

"What are these notes for?" she asked.

"I asked for them," Urnald said calmly. "No one knows anything about Carnelia, but Frederick got a first-hand glance. I wanted to know all about vampyres and Carnelia in the event of an attack. There are volumes written about each kingdom in the Star except for yours."

She nodded. "Yes, of course. It would be wise to learn how to defend against others of my kind. Though Frederick did tell you that the threat is not from me, my court, or my subjects, I assume? The threat comes from rogue vampyres with ill intent. I do my best to control them, but some of them tend to slip past the borders. So it's only right for you all to learn how to defend yourselves. This is good information, Freddie, but Gheorge didn't tell you all of it?"

"All of it?"

"I have something to show you," she said, setting the paper down. "Prince Urnald, be a dear and bring the mirror I saw at the end of the hallway. The exceedingly old-fashioned one."

"That mirror is hundreds of years old," Urnald hissed. "It was a gift from a kingdom beyond the sea. We cannot afford to move it."

She blinked. "And I am four millenniums old, so if my math serves me correctly-and it always has-that makes me older. Something you really can't afford to move. So go get it. I need to have a word with my husband, if you please."

Urnald threw an angry glance at Frederick before he left, leaving the two of them alone.

Arabella set down her cup and stood upright. "Pages upon pages of information about Carnelia. About the castle and Errand. About me. Why?"

He neared her, dread tearing his insides apart. "My father asked for it, and I didn't want to forget any of it."

"Do you still plan on destroying me?"

"Why would you think I plan on destroying you?"

"Because they all wanted to," Arabella said, her voice breaking. "Every husband I had always planned on ending me. Why would you be any different?"

"Ara-"

"Adding to your library of vampyre weaknesses, I understand," she continued, "but these details about me ... about how lonely and pathetic I've been."

"I never said or wrote pathetic."

"You may as well have. You've written so many details about me and all our conversations-that I'm a mechanic, metallurgist, seamstress, cook-why did your father need to know all these intimate things about me? Even that I create dresses that I'll never wear-"

"I didn't think-"

"They aren't weaknesses. They wouldn't help you in a fight against me or any other vampyre. Nor would the knowledge of how many lovers I've had." Her eyes swirled with red. "Why did you reveal all these things? And who did you reveal them to? I smell the presence of many people in this room-your generals, your soldiers? You undermined me to all of them?" He nearly reached her, but she moved away. "I left most of it here."

"Most of it?"

She raised her head to the ceiling. "The things about Gheorge and Viscon-those things, no one can have. Those things offend me the worst. Thank the gods you know nothing of Dumitri or Vignolo. Those two never trusted you, and those two were right."

Frederick struggled against the urge to reach for her again. "Ara, I ... I have no excuse for it. I wasn't in the right mind when I left you, so I didn't fight when my father pushed for information. I sat through his every interrogation and answered his questions with no protest. I didn't stop myself because I was mad at you for letting me go. I was furious at what happened between us."

His fists closed and released over and over. "I can't even apologize because there is no way to take this back. I was an idiot. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I did want to give my people the best chance they could have. I didn't consider what consequences this would have for you-or Viscon or Gheorge."

"I am so disappointed," she whispered. "I don't even know what to say. Are you thinking to betray me?"

His insides twisted, unsure if what he was about to say was still a lie or not. "I would never betray you."

"Because yours would be the worst betrayal, and if you betray me I will never recover. Never."

"The mirror is here," Urnald announced as he re-entered the room.

Two servants rested the great mirror against a wall then left. Frederick took Arabella's hand, and she allowed him to lead her to the mirror. "What is it you ..." But he saw it.

Arabella cast no reflection next to him.

"Mercury," Arabella murmured. "I noticed this mirror was old because it's made of mercury. In modern mirrors, I cast a reflection, but not these."

"Mercury," Urnald repeated, "is a vampyre weakness?"

"Correct. If you can find a way to infuse mercury with your shields and weapons," Arabella said, raising one of the sketches, "then the vampyres will find a real challenge against you. I myself have never been successful, but vampyres are poor against it. Almost useless. Tessande, the sorceress, has managed to make quite a lethal poison out of it. It shits me every time on the battlefield when she brings it out."

"And why are you telling us this?" Urnald asked, his brows creasing.

"My husband is a human," she said seriously, refusing to look at Frederick. "I don't want anything to happen to him if, for some reason, I can't protect him. And I'm aware that marriage to me will make him an automatic target."

"So you're not divorcing?" Urnald said hotly.

"No?" Frederick asked softly, squeezing her hand.

She raised her eyes to the mirror, viewing the place she didn't exist at his side.

"I'm sorry, Ara," Frederick said. "Don't ... don't do anything rash. Don't leave without talking about this."

"Yes, well," Urnald said tightly, "Frederick and I must be on our way to meet with Her Majesty Vellore, so if you will excuse us-"

Smoke wrapped around Arabella's ankles before swirling around the curves of her body. Within seconds, she was covered in one of the conservative black dresses she favored, her hair pinned behind her head. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Of course, we wouldn't," Frederick said.

Urnald turned on his heel and left, and Frederick looped Arabella's hand through his elbow. "My ... my father will come around."

She didn't respond, unnervingly quiet as he escorted her into the hallway. They remained that way for minute after unsufferable minute until Frederick said, "Ara, speak with me. This ... this silence is killing me."

"You are to never share information on any members of my court or my subjects," she said, her lethal tone making his skin prick with cold. "Never. Furthermore, don't tell them about the jail. I didn't see anything written about it, but just in case, make sure no records exist of that place."

Shit. Many things had been written about the jail, and he had to return and remove the pages at the earliest opportunity. "I understand."

Urnald brought them to a drawing-room where Queen Vellore waved a cigar around as she spoke with Yessara. She caught sight of the new entrants and bowed her head. "Urnald. And who have you managed to pry out of bed? The loud lovebirds from this morning's entertainment. Good gods, Frederick, how on earth do you have the stamina?" She nodded toward Yessara. "I've had the misfortune of being around her and her lovers. I tell you, vampyres are a completely different sort. How did you survive it?"

Yessara laughed and winked at Arabella, and to his shock, Arabella's lips twitched. "I woke up this morning, wondering how he managed to keep up with me, indeed."

Arabella lowered to sit at Yessara's feet, a gesture of submission, and Yessara raised a brow. The two of them began to speak, but he could not hear one word clearly enough to glean what they were talking about.

Frederick seated himself next to Queen Vellore, his father next to him, and he leaned over to examine her cup. "More tea?"

"Please," she said, holding up her saucer.

He lifted the pot and replenished her tea, and she raised her cup in thanks. "If only I were years younger, I would have swooned over you, Prince Frederick. You were just my sort."

Arabella glanced in their direction but continued speaking to Yessara, both women giving each other a rare smile. There seemed to be real fondness between them, an old friendship of sorts, and a truce for now. He wondered what had happened between them-then reasoned it was most likely something to do with Tessande.

"I can't figure them out either," Queen Vellore commented. "Queen Arabella circles her like a viper, always ready to strike, but Yessara speaks of her in nothing but hushed, impressed tones."

"Vampyre nature," Urnald said casually, lifting the pot to pour himself a cup of tea. "They're fickle and quite traitorous. Never take their relationships too seriously."

Queen Vellore went to speak when another joined the room-Bront. "So sorry to intrude, but my father said there was a meeting here I should attend today." He bowed. "If my cousin and uncle aren't opposed to it, then may I join you?"

Frederick looked to his father, who just stared at Bront.

"We don't mind at all," Arabella was the first to say. "If you don't mind sharing the floor with me, then you're welcome to settle between me and Her Majesty."

"Why don't we all just head to a bigger receiving room?" Frederick suggested. "No need to crowd."

"Because I quite like this one," Yessara said, smiling up at Bront.

"Yes, and I cannot be bothered to move rooms," Queen Vellore commented.

Arabella patted her side. "And I rather enjoy the informality of it. So what do you say?"

"What do I say?" Bront repeated. "I say I'm the luckiest man in the world."

Queen Vellore bristled and sipped her tea, watching Bront closely as he settled near her feet. Frederick did his best to return his attentions to her when she faced his way, but he couldn't help but notice the smiles Arabella and Bront exchanged as they sat shoulder to shoulder with one another.

Bront reddened. "I am sorry. There isn't a lot of space between you and this table."

"It's quite all right," she said, reaching over him to retrieve a plate of fruit tarts. "Care for one?"

"I sure do," Yessara said, and Arabella raised the plate to her, oblivious to Bront's fascinated gaze.

"Frederick?"

"Hmm?" he said, realizing Urnald had spoken. "Sorry, I did not hear you."

"The current matters of the Star," his father said through gritted teeth. "We must discuss them."

"Of course." Frederick cleared his throat and turned back to Queen Vellore. "Of course. What did you want to know?"

She raised her teacup to her lips and winked, and Frederick smiled as he did his best to listen to his father's ramblings.

#

"And that is the history behind the reason this frame is silver, not gold," Urnald finished dryly. "And as we continue down this hall, you will see more silver frames and tapestries of history gone past."

Frederick slowed his pace to match Arabella's, and they fell behind the others while Urnald continued with the castle tour. "Well?" Frederick said.

"Well?" Arabella replied, blinking up at him. "This is a lovely place to have grown up, Freddie."

"You have not spoken to me since before the meeting with the others."

She gave a minute shrug. "I didn't want to take your attention away from Her Other Majesty. She's quite fond of you, and you seemed to enjoy it."

He clenched his jaw. "I'm surprised you even noticed. You seemed to love all the attention you received from my cousin."

She raised her brow. "Are you accusing me of flirting with Bront?"

He leaned down to speak at her ear. "I'm not accusing anything-I'm implying. You laughed quite a lot."

"Yes, your cousin was making very amusing remarks. That is why I laughed."

"Yes, I've spoken with Bront, and I know he isn't the least bit amusing."

She raised both brows. "He's funnier than you."

"Oh?" Frederick said, tilting his head. "He is, is he?"

"Yessara laughed also."

"I don't care about, Yessara."

She frowned, the smallest line forming between her eyes. "You almost sound ... jealous?"

"I'm not-" He inhaled and looked up to the ceiling for patience. "So what if I am?"

She ceased walking. "You-you are jealous?"

"I don't like you giving attention to my cousin," he said, stopping also. "It isn't right, and people will talk."

"People will talk," she murmured. "Damn. I nearly thought you might care about me just a little, but no. You care about everybody else's impression of you far more."

She continued on, surpassing where Queen Vellore and Yessara were linked at the elbow, and the latter glanced at her back with concern.

Gods. If he cared about everybody else, he wouldn't have carried on with her in front of a ball then fucked her all morning, not giving a damn what others within earshot heard. He knew people would talk when he married her, but still, he never cared. He didn't care about anyone else's opinion but hers. And maybe that's what he should have said to her, what he should have-

And the thoughts were shocking. When did he begin to care about her opinion?

"-and here we have a tapestry millenniums old," Urnald said, daring a glance at Arabella. "It depicts Aide, Goddess of the Moon and founder of our House. Long ago the Star used to be riddled with creatures of unspeakable power. The Star was ruled by ten kings back then, and one by one, the kings and their kingdoms were overcome by these creatures. Some of them vanished in the Star overnight-"

"They weren't all kings," Arabella interrupted.

Urnald cleared his throat. "What?"

"I said, they weren't all kings. Four of them were queens."

Urnald raised his brow. "That wasn't in the texts."

"Then your texts are wrong," she said, stepping closer to the tapestry. "Six of the rulers were men-two of them ruled the land tribes-and the other four were women. Is that-" She raised a trembling hand. "Is that the-"

"Shield of Aide," Urnald said. "Yes, that's the largest known piece of it."

"My gods," she muttered, "I cannot believe it."

"As I said before," Urnald continued, "the kingdoms were falling, and only four kingdoms remained. They'd heard of a goddess who occasionally descended from the night to walk the lands with the ability to vanquish these creatures. They joined together and prayed for her at once. Eventually, she answered their prayers and set about righting the world.

"She drove the creatures to the center of the lands, trapping them for slaughter. Balance was restored to the Star, and in return she asked for a royal house to be dedicated to her. She named a new nation-Thescan-and they were to be the guards of the remaining creatures in the Middle Lands, and Thescan created two royal seats-the Sun and the Moon-where the House of the Sun continues to worship with the wisdom"-he choked on the word and beat on his chest-"of the Creator, and the House of the Moon continues to honor the promises made by the Star and Aide. The House of the Moon remains a militant house, defender of the Star just as she was. That shield there is rumored to be one of her weapons."

"I never thought-" She gripped her throat. "I never thought I'd see that shield again. My gods."

Urnald straightened. "You've seen that shield? Just how old are you?"

"Uncle," Bront said quietly, making his way to Arabella, "I think she's the owner of the shield.-Aren't you?"

She looked up into Bront's eyes with alarm.

"Arabella?" Frederick said.

Yessara examined the great navy and gold tapestry, Queen Vellore gaping by her side. "Well, is it true?" the queen demanded.

"Well, of course, it isn't true," Urnald said. "Her Majesty is not a goddess."

"No," Arabella said softly, "I was never a goddess ... that part of the story is wrong." She shook her head. "In fact, so many parts of that story were wrong. It's true, there were only two kings and queens left after the great decimation of the Star as we knew it. The Star was filled with creatures great and small with no sense of restraint. They were killing humans in the thousands, so I requested an audience with all the remaining rulers and offered my help."

She scratched her neck. "I'd only been free for a short while at that time, a vampyre for maybe a couple of centuries? I'd been killing the monsters for food and sport during the evening, as I could only hunt at night because of the sun."

She grinned but her eyes watered. "I'd been undefeated during that time, so I went to offer my services for a price. I wanted to be a ruler-have a queendom of my very own. They laughed themselves hoarse, but the other queens believed I could do it. So, they told me I could have lands for my own-if I could defeat the creatures. I accepted the challenge and went on my way."

"My word," Bront said, resting his hand on her shoulder, "the woman in the tapestry. It really is you?"

She didn't answer. "I set about my work, destroying demons, monsters, ghouls, and other creatures. Some entities were so powerful that I couldn't destroy them completely, so I drove them inland where it was hard to find water, hoping they would die eventually. And most did die, but not all."

"If that's true," Urnald started, annoyance in his tone, "and you aren't a goddess, then how did you manage to contain these 'entities.'"

She shook her head. "Enchantments existed even then. Not my enchantments, of course. But I had willing allies back then, and they helped me."

"Yessara, good word, you are gripping my arm too tight," Queen Vellore said, and Yessara made a soft apology.

"I killed all the problematic creatures," Arabella continued, "and enslaved the ones who couldn't be killed. I went back to the rulers and told them what I did. They expected that I would vanquish all of these creatures from the Star completely but I couldn't. A fight ensued, and it didn't end well." Bront squeezed her shoulder, infuriating Frederick, and she regarded his cousin in silence. "I was younger, not as controlled as I am now. I fled to the center, and once I was there, they enacted a Binding Spell that trapped me with the creatures I had angered."

She looked to the ceiling. "It took me decades to get them under my control-to get them to submit to me-but I did it. I lorded over creatures more powerful than I was. I built an empire unmatched in the history of the Star, and over the centuries I became a queen of all the things the Star feared."

Silence struck them all. Not even Urnald said a word, though he didn't likely believe it.

And Frederick ... he didn't know what to think. It was hard to even entertain. To think that he had married a symbol of Thescan without realizing ... Aide? Of all things. It would take some time to get his mind around, and he had so many questions.

Arabella whirled, scanning the halls.

Yessara joined her side. "Do you feel it, too?"

"What is it?" Bront asked.

Arabella's lips parted, her eyes widening. "Something is wrong."