Kat was lying on one of the large sofas curled up asleep. The tiny timid fairy maid who called herself Maree returned at some point with a heavy crystal carafe of a dark red liquid that Kat could smell was blood. She had put it under a special heat lamp that would keep it at the perfect ambient temperature and Kat guessed it had some sort of anticoagulant in it. She had collected up the food tray and left with a nervous little smile in Kat’s direction that was clearly filled with pity. Kat had hoped that didn’t herald the arrival soon of King Luisette, but as another two hours went by she guessed not and had made herself comfortableShe heard one of the doors open and jolted up onto her elbow to look over with a startle, blinking in a haze to clear her sleepy state quickly. She saw the dark blue robes, the pale muscular chest and the white hair, knowing who it was before her vision fully cleared.She saw his satisfied smirk as his eyes fell upon her laying

As soon as King Luisette fell into the deep sleep that seduced all vampires down at the rising of the sun Kat sat up and stared down at him wanting to be able to plunge a dagger right into his black heart.She knew there wouldn’t be any obvious weapons in the room and she had noticed how even General Batton kept giving her food she could eat without cutlery…but she knew she couldn’t touch Luisette even if she really wanted to…and she really wanted to! If he wasn’t completely confident that there was no way she would kill him, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to sleep. He was a powerful vampire which meant the pull to sleep was merely a fancy he allowed to happen…it wasn’t critical for him.She looked at the rope binding between her wrists, it was a complicated knot but she was sure she could untie it…if not that one…perhaps the one attached to the bed post? She gazed up at it. Could she undo it and retie

As Kat ate a few more morsels of food from the hand of the Vampire King she noticed his eyes darkening to an intense glint as he seemed deep in thought about something that Kat knew was to do with her. He had fallen into a broody silence after confirming that only someone more powerful than her would ever be able to keep her.“Please don’t hurt me.” She breathed out, looking up at Luisette from under her lashes imploringly.Luisette froze and regarded Kat with a new perspective. “I don’t have any intention of ‘hurting’ you, precious…” She didn’t like what his emphasis on the word hurting could potentially mean. “…but not all pain hurts.” He gave her a little cruel smile.“Pain is pain.” She muttered, looking down at the floor under Luisette’s chair.He regarded her a moment with a small frown. “Some pain is merely a prelude to pleasure, precious…

General Batton stood up as Luisette came back in from the hearing, coming to attention and bowing his head.“That was quick.” He uttered a little startled from where he had been reading through a few papers, conducting his work from within Luisette’s chambers as Kat sulked, still peeved at Luisette’s treatment of her earlier, in a chair wrapped in a blanket.Luisette’s eyes fell upon Kat first with a little ire, he was still reeling from his encounter with his son, before his eyes slid to Batton. “I already had the outcome in mind, I just needed the Lord’s to agree on the time period for the sentence.” His voice sounded annoyed and Batton frowned at the tone wondering what else had happened as Luisette glared at Kat.She baulked and slipped off the chair she was in and fell to her knees, remembering his instruction from yesterday.He gave a vile smile. “Lucky…” He muttered, causing General

As Kat entered the vast hall, escorted by General Batton, there was an audible gasp from the throng of spectators lining the sides of the room for the first five meters behind red velvet ropes like in a theatre, leaving a small avenue for them to walk down. Kat saw Lord Echron and his cronies and met his eyes as she sedately walked past. He seemed a little disappointed to see she was no longer being led in on a leash and glanced at her wrists. He grinned to see the shackles still there. Kat glowered at him and walked on.Beyond that it opened out again and the large chair that acted like a throne was the predominant thing in the room, presented upon a dais as it was. Seated upon it in all his glory and finery in those impressive black and gold robes was Alessandro Luisette, the Vampire King. On the floor at his feet were two beautiful fae creatures sitting on velvet cushions, the King’s collars around their necks, while standing either side of his throne were the two wi