บททั้งหมดของ The Crimson Accord: บทที่ 101 - บทที่ 110

Margot doesn’t stir. She’s dreaming somewhat peacefully against the pillow I moved in place of my body. Every so often, she mutters in her slumber. Her body is curled, our bed sheet pulled up to her chin. I can see the soft curves where her hips meet her upper thighs and my cock grows hard at the thought. But I suffer through the erection and sit on the edge of the bed, watching her sleep. Cassia had made it clear that she needed bedrest. I wanted her to be involved in what was happening. A respectful partnership between the humans and vampires could be facilitated if they saw Margot by my side. But I couldn’t traumatize her anymore. We hadn’t really spoken about her father. I felt obligated to tell her what I knew about Vivienne, but I wouldn’t push the discussion of her father’s body in a makeshift morgue on the back of the property. For an hour, all I did was watch her. I can still hear her cries in the shower, my heart breaking again for my wife. She hadn’t seen death like me.

The silence of the Court chamber is suffocating. Tension spreads between the others sitting across from me. The table seems larger today, like the distance between us is wider than ever before. I don’t know how much the others know, but they will want to hear my side of things. I have to justify killing Lucien. I let out a deep breath and focused a bit too hard on my watch. The hands don’t move. There’s a large crack down the middle that splinters into tiny fissures on the glass. At some point last night it was broken. Just another example of the damage large and small Lucien caused. Eira coughs and I glance at her, realizing how much healthier she looks. Her stub is bandaged and she rests it against the table. Sasha looks unhappy per usual, his suit doesn’t have a wrinkle on it, as if he hasn’t been working all day. Julian sits next to me, obviously uncomfortable. An invite to our table was unprecedented. But he needed to be officially absolved of his crime. He earned his seat here

My reflection in the mirror doesn’t resemble my title. Instead of a strong king, I see a weak, tired man. My green eyes are rimmed in red and bloodshot. My physical wounds are healed, but the internal struggle I faced reminded me of something feral I once was. My skin looked taunt, like it was pulled too tight over my bones. The shadow of hair that grew on my face was fresh and longer than I usually let it grow. It didn’t match my dirty blonde hair that was still tinted red with blood. I was a mess. I had spent all my time since Julian’s rescue catering to others, cleaning up, and organizing our rebuilding of Tencrest and it showed in my reflection. The hot water that greeted me in the shower burned my skin. I relished in the heat as if it could burn away the memories of death. I have lived for hundreds of years,but the blood from last night would haunt me forever. It was on everything. Every memory of Tencrest had been marred by the death of my people. It wasn’t just about rebuildi

When sleep finally claimed me, I didn’t have peaceful dreams. I hadn’t slept in so long that my body seemed to rebel against the bed itself. I tossed and turned all night, waking up to hold my wife who herself wasn’t getting rest. I had watched Margot drift off between her sobs around three in the morning and followed her shortly after. I hadn’t wanted her to see her dad like that but it was necessary for her to actually grieve. It was apparent that she needed to see him, but I still hated watching her crumble. In my human life, I had seen so much death. It was common for disease and skirmishes to bring death back then. Here in this safe modern world, it seemed bizarre. I was supposed to keep her safe and so far I had failed. When I woke up to the sun a few hours after falling asleep, my body ached with every move. My head throbbed in the light. A blood bag and shower only dimmed the pain that I attempted to ignore to get through the rest of the day. I didn’t want to wake my wife.

The ballroom’s doors opened with a low groan that I felt in my bones. It was early in the morning, but the wooden boards over the large windows didn’t allow any light to come in, creating a darkened room lit up by candlelight and the hanging chandeliers. A chill went down my spine when we started walking to our table. It was unsettling to be in here again. The entire house had been cleaned and repairs had started, but that didn’t clean away the heaviness of the tragedies here. I could still smell the faint scent of dried blood. Fear lingered in the air, like it was dining with us today. It was eerily quiet. Nobody spoke. Nobody ate the food that was being delivered to each table as I navigated Margot to her chair. It was like everyone in the Founding Ten was holding their breath, waiting for me to speak. Next to us was the Court’s table and I searched the eyes of my closest confidants. They looked stoic, except for Eira who gave me a slight nod and smile. Once Margot was sitting,