"I watched the guards slaughter baby princes." I tensed as those horrific images crashed into my mind. The babies' screams returned. "I'd rather die than watch my babies or any other helpless person murdered."

"I agree." Samuel's body stiffened around me. "Go to sleep, Brie. You need your rest."

Chapter Five.

A black cape draped the vampire executioner. No hair covered his head. A leather mask with the royal seal shielded his ident.i.ty from the onlookers. He laid each baby prince on a gray slab that dripped with blood. The babies bawled and squealed. They couldn't have been more than two months old. Patterns of dark black lines trailed up their tiny legs. Each child had their own unique design. The princely marks started at their ankles and ended at their little hips. Only princes possessed the marks and only The Quiet King knew why. Everyone else was too afraid to ask. Instead, we just sat there powerless, witnessing the infants' deaths.

The guard raised his wooden ax high above his masked head. "Go in peace, little ones."

"Close your eyes," my maid whispered behind me, but I kept them wide open as the ax slammed down on the first child's neck. Boom! The tiny head rolled off the table and crashed onto the floor. Red liquid coated the s.p.a.ce in seconds and spotted my pale yellow robe.

"I won't close my eyes." Tears formed and threatened to spill over my eyelids. "The least I can do is remember their deaths."

The guard stepped to the next screaming baby. The boy turned his wailing face to me. His little copper eyes begged for me to save him. And then suddenly, his skin stretched and formed into my daughter's image, Lily's. Auburn curls sprouted from the baby's bald head.

"Mama!" she cried.

"No!" I struggled to get up, but I couldn't move. It was like I was stuck in dried cement. "Not Lily!"

"Brie! Wake up." Samuel violently shook me. My head bobbed back and forth with the force.

"I'm awake." Blinking, I opened my eyes to a night sky above me. The two moons were far apart from each other, which meant dusk had just arrived. I lay on the cool ground. Gra.s.s shifted in the breeze and scratched my bare legs.

"You were having a nightmare?" Samuel kneeled over me. His blonde-and-black-striped eyebrows furrowed. "What were you dreaming about?"

"It was a nightmare about one time when I was forced to watch four prince babies be executed." I got up off the ground.

Samuel's lips formed into a grim line. His eyes brightened.

"Your eyes." I pointed to his face.

The eyes returned to normal.

"What about them?" he asked.

Did I really see them glow? I shook my head. "Nothing."

The aroma of cooked food drifted on the night air.

"Where are we?" I asked.

Cracked paint coated all the wooden buildings around me. There was no way we were in Capitol City. Wooden buildings weren't allowed.

"We're in Freemont, a human town right outside of Capitol City." Samuel seized my hand and towed me to a standing position. "Usually, I guide my party beyond this place to another town, but after searching for you and then carrying you the rest of the way, I'm too tired. We're staying here tonight."

Music and laughter floated out of the wooden building behind me. Samuel pointed to the back entrance. "I know the owner. We'll sleep, wash, and eat here. I could even get us some supplies to help us with our journey to Zumaya."

I combed my fingers through my hair. Slime left my auburn strands and attached on my fingers. "A shower or bath sounds good. Will you need me to give you more blood? I could-"

"No," Samuel snapped. I flinched at the sudden mood change. Frowning, he directed his attention away from me. "I would prefer it if you stop offering your blood to me."

"I just don't want you wasting away all your funds while you help me." I held my hands out to my sides.

"Don't worry. I figured out a different way you could pay me while you were sleeping in my arms." Samuel headed to the entrance and knocked on the door. "Could you get me a box of Zumaya mushrooms when we get there?"

"Definitely," I agreed. "My family is in the mushrooming business."

"Then we'll use the last vial of your blood to get us there," Samuel said. "And in exchange you'll give me a large box of mushrooms."

"Deal, but I'll give you two boxes instead of one." I came up beside him and smoothed down the now tattered and blood-stained shirt I wore. "Hold on. Last vial? What happened to the other vial of blood?"

Keeping his back to me, he blew out a loud breath and shifted his weight on to his left foot. "Why? It doesn't matter what happened to it."

"I'm just wondering."

"If you must know, I drank it."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "You drank the whole vial?"

Domina blood held a high potency level for vampires. One sip and blood energized and healed them of any pain. More than a few sips and they became sick. I'd read that large doses could be lethal.

"You can't just drink a whole vial of my blood. Are you okay?" I touched his back. He waved my hand away.

"I'm fine." Samuel cleared his throat and banged his fist against the door. "I'm completely normal. Well, besides the odd new habit of wanting to be near you, I'm the same as usual."

"Wanting to be near me?"

The door burst open. An old woman peered out and smiled. Her pale blue eyes concentrated on Samuel. A gray ponytail rested on the top of her head. She wore a long white dress with a rainbow pattern. "Finally, Sammy comes to visit my hotel. What do you want? You must be in some sort of trouble."

He smirked. "I came here for room and board like everybody else."

She giggled into her wrinkled hand. "Knocking at the back of my establishment and begging for room and board? I haven't seen you in a year, not since the last Ambi's Blessings Day. I should toss you over my leg and whip you."

"I'm too old for whipping." He tilted his head to the side.

She flashed a wide smile. "Yes, you are, dear Sammy. The time of your youth ended too soon. I'd just begun to enjoy disciplining you. Why did you grow up so fast?"

"I'm not the G.o.d Ambi." He shrugged. "I can't control nature."

The door opened wider. She held a green wooden pipe in her other hand. Brown smoke floated from the opening. Zumayan mushrooms. She gestured for us to enter. "And will you introduce me to your friend?"

"No." Samuel took my hand and guided me up a pair of stairs behind her.

She seems nice enough.

"I'm Brie," I said, following him. Samuel glanced over his shoulder and scowled at me.

"That's a lovely name," the old woman exclaimed. "Do you like simpleton soup with rice?"

"Yes, I do." My stomach growled. "Thank you."

"I'm pretty heavy-handed with the peppers and goat meat," she confessed and inhaled some of her pipe. "I hope that's okay."

"It's absolutely fine."

"And what do you want to drink?" she asked. "Tea, wine, or water?"

"Tea and whatever wine you have would be great." I did my best to suppress my joy. I hadn't enjoyed a gla.s.s of wine in all the two years I'd been a domina. We were forbidden to drink spirits. The king believed it might interfere with our ability to breed.

"And where are you from, Brie?" the old woman asked. "You have a southerner's accent."

"Enough talking," Samuel warned.

An upbeat piano played somewhere in the building. Lots of chatter accompanied the music. I could barely make out what the people were saying or exactly where they were located. We must have been pretty far back in the hotel.

"Do you have a bar or restaurant here?" I ignored Samuel's warning.

"Oh, yes." She tapped the edge of her pipe. The ground mushrooms lit up to fiery embers. Smoke swirled up. "I have the biggest bar in Freemont. After you clean up, you should come down. I have some beautiful dresses that would fit you and just go lovely with your captivating red hair."

"Thank you."

"I've never seen red hair before." She eyed my strands with curiosity. "Not since I was a little girl."

"Don't worry about giving Brie dresses. We won't be visiting the bar." Samuel tugged on my arm.

"And why not?" she asked. He groaned in annoyance. I decided not to respond.

"I know very well what you do and why you do it." The woman pulled out a long white cord from her dress's pocket. At least thirty or forty keys hung from it. She searched through a few of them as they jingled against each other. "I raised you, boy. There's no need to keep secrets."

"Yes, there is," he replied. "And I'm a man now."

"No." She picked a crooked black key. "You're a vampire. It's time you embrace that."

"I drink blood with the best of them." Samuel released my hand. She unlocked and opened the door.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." She fanned the smoke in the air and lit a candle on the dresser near the door.

Samuel and I headed in the room. No paint existed on the wooden walls. A black s.h.a.ggy carpet lay on the floor. Jade curtains adorned the only window in the room. A large bed stood in the center with an olive quilt. The scent of polish and cleaning fluid lingered in the s.p.a.ce.

"Will you need more than one room?" she asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"No. We should stay together." Samuel looked at me. "I'm a gentle vampire. You'll take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

The woman's face went to mine as if waiting for my reply.

"Then we'll only need one room," I muttered, not really sure if it was a good idea or not.

She strolled to the door and then paused. "How is Octavia?"

"Enough." Samuel's face held a pained look as if he were about to get angry but was holding all his rage inside.

Maybe Octavia and he weren't lovers, but they probably grew up together.

"Octavia doesn't visit me anymore." She stood in the doorway. "Three months ago she used to come by every weekend and give proper respect. Now I'm lucky to get a letter from her."

I didn't know her relationship to Octavia, but for some reason I felt sad for the woman.

"It's probably because three months ago, The Quiet King forbade all princesses from leaving Capitol City," I blurted out.

"Thank you for telling me. I was so worried." She placed the pipe's end between her lips. A cloud of smoke escaped her nostrils. "If the king added more restrictions, then it must have been even more difficult for you to escape."

I bit my lip. I should have listened to Samuel and kept my mouth closed.

"Don't worry. I worked as a maid for fifty years in the castle. I can sniff out a domina from miles away, dirty shirt or not." She waved away some of the smoke. "You're lucky to have Samuel helping you. He's a good vampire."

"We're done talking." Samuel stomped toward the window and closed the curtains. "The more information you both share, the more you put each other in danger."

"Oh hush. I'm eighty-five years old," she huffed. "I've enjoyed my life. If I died tonight, I'd be happy and content."

"Blasted woman," Samuel murmured.

She focused on me. "I'll bring you soup and clothes. There are plenty of towels in the bathroom, but try to conserve the water when you shower. This is not the castle's bath areas. I'm only rationed a small water supply per month."

"Thank you so much. This really means a lot." I headed for the bathroom, shut the door behind me, and tore out of my clothes in seconds. It was probably rude to leave so quickly, but I couldn't deal with the sewer gunk anymore.

White paint coated the walls. A black rug rested on the floor. The shower was small and sat at the center of the room, just a big gla.s.s box. I slipped out of my muddy and blood-crusted sandals. Clumps of grime corroded my feet. Dirt caked under my toenails.

Entering the shower, I twisted the steel k.n.o.bs. Warm water sprayed out of the nozzle. Steam rose around me. My skin sparked with satisfaction. I could stay in here all day. Drops streamed through my hair and raced down my back. The water spurted over my face and dripped to my naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Do you want any shampoo or soap?" Samuel asked behind me.

I screamed and jumped forward, banging my head and knee into the gla.s.s. Pain bit at my forehead. When did he come in here? I didn't hear him. His hand went under my arms as he helped me up. The touch sent a jolt of warmth to my core. I covered my hardening nipples with my hands and kept my back to him.

"What are you doing in here?" I shrieked.

"We need to conserve the water." He handed the shampoo to me over my shoulder.

I didn't take it. "What happened to you being a gentle vampire?"

"You had no problem with me watching you disrobe in the alley so I figured we could shower together," he explained. "Here, take the shampoo."