The knowledge that Frederick almost killed himself burned his soul with shame. Knowing that the attempt on his own life had cost Arabella the entirety of hers made him want to slit his wrists all over again.

But he couldn't. When he awakened, he noticed that all the weaponry had been removed from his room, including his family sword.

He cleaned then dressed himself in attire that might give him half the appearance of a Thescan king, needing his strength to face today. There would be no other attempts to take his own life. For her, he had to force himself to live. Or else her sacrifice would be for naught.

He had to find a way to live with himself until he freed her.

Frederick approached the dining room he and his father favored breakfasting in, hoping to find him there alone. Urnald was there, but he sat at the circular table with Saebane, Rathmore, Rycard, and Arabella.

She wasn't dressed in rags this morning. That metal collar remained locked around her neck, but she'd been given some royal-blue fashion worthy of a gaudy queen. Something Queen Dorothea would have-

He recognized that dress. Someone had given Queen Dorothea's clothing for Arabella to wear. Surely it made her very skin itch to be in it.

Someone cleared their throat, breaking Frederick's spell. He'd been gaping at Arabella for gods knew how long, and she'd been viewing him in much the same way. She pulled her gaze from his wrists and returned it to the men before her.

"Frederick," Urnald said, rising. "The servants were supposed to notify me when you woke up."

"I ordered them not to," Frederick said hoarsely.

"Join us," Saebane said, waving to an empty seat by Arabella. "And please-someone bring him something to eat."

Frederick assumed the seat by Arabella's side, his knee brushing against her thigh. She met his eyes for a brief moment before addressing Saebane. "I think that's about all of it."

"We were just discussing some items that might be of value in the Carnelian ruins," Saebane said.

"This is quite an extensive and impressive list," Rathmore said, his eyes darting over the paper before him, and Frederick noted the sunlight harmlessly warming the vampyre's back. "I don't know much about the current affairs of the Star, but I would wager this is the largest collection of magical items in existence."

"And the oldest," she said softly.

Frederick resisted reaching for her hand. Seated next to her, he could smell the soap she'd used to bathe herself with. It made him want to bury his nose in her hair and hold her tight.

"Is that really all of it?" Saebane asked.

She leaned back into her seat, crossing her legs. Viewing her now, no one would have known that she'd spent the last several days being tortured and degraded. She had gone straight back to being a lady. A queen. Calmness. Stillness. Acceptance.

Defeat hidden by perfect grace.

"Anything else?" Rycard prompted.

She stared at the table, smiling to herself.

Saebane raised a brow. "There is something else. I sorely hope you aren't about to force me to use my power to get the truth from you so soon."

Warning blared through Frederick's senses. Saebane tended to threaten her with the use of his power rather than just using his power on her. There had to be a reason why, and it had to be more than desiring her total submission.

The power must come at a great cost to Saebane. He might have been a strong sorcerer once, but recently resurrected, Frederick began to suspect-

Arabella gave a shaky laugh. "No, darling. I'm not going to do that. I was just thinking, is all."

"About what?"

"The armor," she said, her smile widening. "I was in the process of making dragon armor for Frederick. It would be such a shame for it to go to waste in those ruins."

Saebane folded his arms. "What kind of dragon?"

"Invisible dragon."

Rathmore swore.

"Yes, invisible dragon," she said, rubbing her knuckles. "Of course, I hadn't gotten the armor to turn between visibility and invisibility. It is not a living thing, after all. But even in its resting state, the properties were so impressive. Impervious to fire, blades, water ... offensive magics." She shrugged. "It is invaluable."

Rycard's brows raised. "How remarkable."

"Indeed," Saebane said. "What's interesting is that you liked a husband enough to want to make something like this. Frederick must have been very special, indeed."

Frederick's skin burned beneath the collar. He had been special once. He'd meant something to her. No longer.

Arabella's eyes never left that one spot on the table. "I was making something for my husband. Turns out my husband was you, Saebane. Good thing I started it. For with this armor, you won't be leaving this world so easily a second time."

But Saebane appeared far from convinced. "It won't fit me."

She wrapped both hands around her knee. "Nothing a little magic can't fix, I'm sure."

"You know just as well as I do that magical items cannot be altered."

"I wasn't ready to commit to the sizing of it because once it's finished, I cannot undo it or source more materials to make another," she said. "The idea I had in my head was too big to put on him anyway. It might fit you, Saebane. You only need try it and if it doesn't fit, I can shape it into different things. That will mean you have to find my sewing tools made of dragon bone, of course. Otherwise, the whole thing is quite useless to me, therefore useless to you."

"Make those a priority," Saebane said to Rathmore, who scribbled on the page while nodding. "The dragon-bone sewing tools and the invisible dragon armor. The rest, we will recover in time."

"I'm happy to be of assistance wherever I'm permitted to be of assistance," Arabella said with a dip of her head. To Frederick's surprise, she turned to him, her brown eyes paining him to suddenly look into. "And you, Your Highness? Do you feel better today."

Saebane laughed. "You two are quite familiar. You don't have to address him as Your Highness on my account. The formality of the modern age is rather stifling-don't you agree?"

Arabella smiled softly. "How are you today, Frederick?"

"Well, thank you," Frederick forced himself to say. He hoped those words were enough for her to understand how thankful he was. This time he would not squander his life so easily. Not until he freed her from this.

And I will free you from this if it's the last thing I ever do.

"Well enough to discuss something important?" she asked.

Frederick searched her face. "Why? What's happened."

"Yes, we were just about to get to that," Saebane said as the servants entered, placing dishes before everyone except for the two vampyres seated at the table. "Thank you."

"Get to what?"

Urnald turned to him with a weary expression. "There's been an attack overnight on one of the villages on the far outskirts of Thescan."

Frederick straightened. "Which village?"

"Langensay."

Frederick shook his head. "How many dead?"

"All of them."

The air within his lungs dissipated. "All of them?"

"No survivors," Urnald said grimly. "One hundred and eighty-three villagers slaughtered."

Frederick's hand automatically went to clench the sword at his side, finding it missing. "Who?"

Arabella folded her arms. "I suspect it's something from Carnelia. Without me and my subjects to protect the borders, there are hundreds of species free to roam the world. I would have to go to this Langensay and examine the victims to make an accurate determination, but I'm willing to bet it's something nasty and Carnelian."

Thoughts sped through Frederick's mind, none of them coherent enough to catch. "Carnelian? Gods, we did not even plan for what would be free to leave Carnelia when we took you down."

She grinned, baring her dainty fangs. "No. You did not. Now they're everywhere. Ghouls. Demons. Changelings. Shifters. Every manner of nightmare is roaming around the Star at this very moment."

His pulse pounded in his throat.

Gods.

Gods.

Gods.

He'd fucked up. He'd fucked up.

"And here you are," Frederick said, undisguised disgust lacing his words, "cataloging enchanted items, wasting the time we need to discuss on which creatures may have free roam of the Star."

Saebane scowled. "Yes, we're cataloging items that may be of use in containing them-not to mention we need to know which items might be in the hands of the wrong creatures. Is it my fault that your notes didn't include what manner of creatures we risked releasing?"

Fredrick clenched his fists. The bastard knew what creatures he risked releasing before he ever went after Arabella. He just didn't care.

"Frederick never knew all of what was in Carnelia," Arabella said, "so don't blame him. But, Saebane, you should let me get to this village soon. There are quite a few groupings of creatures that are capable of such a massacre and an even larger grouping of creatures that can become empowered after feeding on the flesh. If I get there now, I can determine the type of beast and perhaps identify a pattern in where they will strike next."

"It is sun-up," Saebane said. "You aren't going anywhere."

She drew back. "I am stronger than I used to be. I can stay in the sun for an indeterminate amount of time. I'm in a brightly-lit room right now."

"But you don't know how much time. Besides-we can send your expert Gheorge to assess this matter, can't we?"

"No," she said firmly. "He cannot go now. He is young. The risk of sun exposure is too great for him. He might turn into ash within minutes. You need to send me."

Saebane shrugged. "Then we will just have to wait until nightfall for Gheorge to be strong enough to go. You are needed here."

"But what am I needed for?"

He reached a gloved hand toward her, a serene expression overcoming his face as he tucked loose hair behind her ear. "It's been thousands of years since we last saw each other. Some misunderstandings between us need to be cleared, and we don't need these people to sit in on our reunion."

"Saebane," Frederick rasped, his fists tightening in his lap, "if we could just take a small amount of her time, we'll be able to find out-"

A hand gripped his thigh until it hurt. Arabella's hand. A silent warning to shut-up. His mind wiped of all thought. There was so much to do, and all he could think of was the places where their bodies met.

Saebane channeled a pointed glance in his direction. "Surely you have enough soldiers to investigate. And Hendlemark will assist-yes, Rycard?"

Rycard nodded. "Of course. Whatever Thescan requires."

"Then it's settled. The humans will go and deal with the matter in the village while Arabella and I take the rest of the day to speak with one another.-Arabella, if you will? The gentlemen have work to attend to."

She rose from her seat and dipped her head. "Gentlemen."

A hungry expression stole over Rathmore's face, but in a blink, it was gone. "Your Highness."

Saebane came around the table and offered his elbow to Arabella. She assessed it before accepting him, and she let him lead her out of the room.

It took all of Frederick's decorum not to reach for her skirt to stop her from slipping away. But for now, there were more important matters to attend to as opposed to making a scene, and he mentally braced himself for what was to be discovered at Langensay as he watched Arabella leave with the sorcerer.