“Because you allowed it,” he said, brushing more glass out of his hair. “And the prince is going to make me pay for the glass.”
“He should; you broke it.”
Crossing his arms, he regarded me. “So a matan, eh? A human vampyr. Sounds made up to me.”
I shrugged.
“Did you know I bested Hadrian in hand-to-hand combat during the Crimean campaign of 1689. He’ll try and tell you it was 1687, but that’s ludicrous.”
Stuffing a sock in his mouth, strangling him, dropping him down a deep hole—it all sounded good. “You should go take a shower; you’re covered in glass.”
“Where?” he asked, pointing toward the door to the bathroom. “In there?”
“Not here, in your quarters.”
“Oh yes, of course,” he said, grinning at me, his eyes now more a lovely warm charcoal than the lighter gray they had been. “I will send people to clean up the mess and fix the glass.”
“Thank you.”
He went down on one knee then.
“What’re you doing now?”
“Don’t sound so put out,” he snapped at me. “I’m making a pledge here.”
“Please don’t, because I won’t accept,” I warned him. “I can already tell I don’t like you.”
“You will.”
“I wouldn’t put money on it.”
“We’ll see,” he said, lifting his head, and I noticed that he had his hand over his heart. “Now, don’t argue, just accept me as hendr, as your champion, and I will protect you with my body, my blood, and my heart.”
I found myself overwhelmed at the thought of having someone live and die for me. “I’m not—I don’t need a champion. I––”
“You do,” he assured me, not moving, hand still over his heart. “Because unlike Hadrian and Tiago, the dreki, and even the prince, I won’t tell you where not to go or what not to do. I will only make sure that wherever you choose to go, you’re safe.”
I studied him, unsure of what he was telling me.
“You will never find yourself alone again,” he promised me. “Unless you’re inside that infernal ballroom, but I suspect, after this incident, that your prince will be more watchful, since he almost lost you in the bowels of purgatory.”
“Nice.”
He shrugged. “I have a way with words.”
I had to ask the obvious. “I would think that hendr would be a step down from captain of the king’s guard. No?”
He shrugged. “I have been such for ages. A change of scenery is not a bad thing.”
“What if you get bored?”
“Then I’ll go back to my first talent, which was stealing things,” he boasted, winking at me. “Perhaps I’ll even warn people beforehand, and they can really bump up their security to give them a sporting chance.”
I shook my head.
“What? Boredom is terrible, and you just threatened me with it.”
“But really, why would you want to be my hendr?”
“Because I have a crazy feeling that protecting you might finally put me at cross purposes with Gideon, and wouldn’t that be wild if I turned out to be right?”
I tried another tactic. “Where’s your family?”
“I’m an orphan. I have neither kith nor kin.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, be pleased that I can offer you all that I am.”
“Is there anyone special that you want to bring with you?”
He looked horrified. “Who are you?”
I heaved out a breath. “Will you be sad to leave the king’s service?”
“The king no longer values my judgement, so it’s best to leave before he takes my head in a fit of rage.”
“Did the king release you?”
“If you accept me,” he rasped, and finally, I could hear a trace of feeling in his voice, not pain but resignation. Like the separation from the king had been a long time coming. “I am in your service and will move my things from the barracks this very day.”
“I accept you,” I muttered, not happy with the choice but worried, somehow, that if I said no, he’d suffer the same fate as Dae-Jung was supposed to. Not accepting a gift or service got tricky in the king’s court.
“Excellent,” he told me. “I’ll be back shortly. Tell Tiago I expect to be shown to my quarters when I return.”
“Wait, I––”
“It’s going to be marvelous, my consort,” he extolled sarcastically. “Just you wait.”
As he swaggered away—even his walk was annoying—I called Tiago.
“My consort, we are in the middle of––”
“I accepted Zev as my hendr, so could you get back here and show him his quarters, please,” I said quickly and hung up before he could react in any way. It was safer that way.
“You live dangerously,” Zev said, leaning into the space. “I really don’t think we have to worry about me being bored.”
Perhaps not.
Having the party in the king’s private salon made it seem like it was going to be a small affair, but there were so many ornate, opulent rooms, along with his grotto and the quarters of the concubines—who were there to entertain guests—that what I had imagined the quarters being was nothing like it actually was.
“Do you wish to see more of the apartments?” the king asked me.
“I would, yes, if you would allow that.”
“Please,” he said kindly, hand slipping to the small of my back, “go forth.”
“Thank you,” I said, turning to leave.
“But first,” he said, catching me, his grip tight on the back of my neck. “Everyone, I have an announcement to make. The consort of the prince has claimed the captain of my guard for his champion! Please make sure to congratulate him on such a distinguished, albeit outspoken, addition to his household!”
There was clapping, but I also noticed a lot of fleeting looks that were not at all friendly.
“It is a coup to claim such a capable and deadly man,” the king said against my ear. “You are to be commended.”
“I do so appreciate you releasing him, Your Majesty.”
He nodded slowly and then waved me on, graciously. “Please, go forth and admire my harem’s quarters. When Nerilla arrives, I will send her to you.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him.
“Charming man,” he murmured, releasing his grip on my neck.
“I appreciate you thinking so, Your Majesty,” I told him, laughing, stepping back, hoping he didn’t see it as me not enjoying him touching me, which I didn’t. It felt different from the way the queen was with me, even from Gideon or Zev. There was a strange undercurrent of menace laced with flirting. I was betting that for many people, the thrill of having such a powerful man interested in them was exciting. It was also possible he might be the type that came on strong and then dissolved into playfulness, or that he was testing me to see how devoted I was to his son. It was hard to get a read on him, and I wasn’t comfortable asking the queen if her husband was hitting on me. Perhaps, though, neither of my ideas about the man were correct, and there was a third option. It was possible that being the most powerful vampyr in the world, feeling entitled to everything and everyone, that he tested and pushed for no other reason than to see what would, or could, happen. To him, it was probably perfectly normal because he was the king. Cassius had Carice because the king allowed it. He could have kept her for himself. I wasn’t sure if he could take me from Varic, but it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. I wondered if he was even aware that he was doing anything at all. If I called him out on his behavior, would he be surprised or angry? Or more to the point, would it purely be par for the course?