Somehow, I didn’t think asking Marvina to spare a couple rangers to escort me the hell out of her House would go over well. But I was more than capable of getting myself home, at least during daylight hours.
“Open the gate, please,” I said in a pleasant tone that was still clearly an order.
I’d been perfecting both the tone and facial expression over the years, and I found that it worked very well. When the guard saw no one else in the vicinity who could override me, he nodded in a jerky motion and pulled on the thick chain next to him.
The portcullis rose, and I led Zosa underneath it.
“HALT!” someone commanded from further behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see Demetri running towards me with half a dozen guards and Marvina striding out onto a balcony to overlook the scene playing out before her.
My heartbeat picked up as I rapidly thought through my options.
I could stay to hear them out and then politely decline whatever they offered before leaving. That was probably the more politically advantageous approach and would help reduce the fallout between House Harker and Laurent.
Despite that, my head whipped towards the open road that beckoned to me beyond the gate.
I didn’t want to wait.
I didn’t want to hear Demetri’s false platitudes and Marvina’s thinly veiled threats.
I wanted to get the fuck out of here.
Before the guard who’d opened the gate could stop me, I vaulted onto Zosa and spurred her forward. She didn’t need any more encouragement as she leapt into a gallop, kicking up dirt in her wake.
I laughed as we raced away from House Laurent, my raven-black hair intertwining with the cloak as they both whipped behind me.
Demetri’s scream for me to return echoed through the trees, but I ignored it. I was done with him and his bloody House, and that thought felt just as freeing as the wind on my face.
Excitement coursed through me as I crouched over Zosa and she only ran faster, her mane flying back to brush against my cheeks. After a few miles, I pulled her back into a ground-eating canter and glanced behind me.
No one was following us, but I suspected they would soon. If we stayed on the main road, our only option was to outrun them.
I looked to my right and left as Zosa continued her steady pace. She was in good shape thanks to our frequent rides, but I couldn’t ask her to keep this up forever.
The right led to the coastline, and I knew from experience that the ground would turn sandy very quickly, which would be tiring for Zosa. To the left meant more forest-type setting, where the ground was firmer but uneven.
Choices, choices.
“A little further, girl,” I whispered over Zosa’s neck. “Then we’ll take our chances in the forest.”
Once I was confident we’d put a decent amount of distance between us and House Laurent, I slowed Zosa and directed her off the trail.
As long as we stayed close to the main road, we’d be fine. After some trial and error, I found a good path that wasn’t too far from the main road but also wasn’t overgrown so much that it hindered Zosa from continuing her steady jog. My thighs and core burned from maintaining my seat with the bumpier gait, but I promised myself that I would soak in a bath all night and possibly all day tomorrow.
My bloodlust had all but disappeared now. The physical exertion of riding had helped, but it was mostly the distance between me and House Laurent. I should still feed soon because I was overdue, but at least I didn’t have to worry about showing up at House Harker’s gates with my fangs on display and a wild look in my eyes.
Now that I had successfully escaped and my mind was more settled, my thoughts turned to the future… which for the first time in almost a decade looked drastically different. If not hopeful.
My parents had jointly ruled House Harker until they died, and then my mother’s sister, Carmilla, took over because I was too young. She’d adopted me and I was officially named Heir, but as I grew older and became more involved with the runnings of our House, we’d discussed how I could benefit House Harker the most.
Carmilla was a fourth-generation Moroi, and despite being only a few years away from turning a century old, she was showing no signs of slowing down. House Harker was in good hands with her, so we’d turned our attention to other Houses and what they could do for us.
There were a few contenders, but we’d ultimately decided on House Laurent because they controlled a lot of resources and there was already a strain between them and our House.
Really, between them and most of the other Moroi Houses. I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with Marvina; her opposition to the Sovereign House was well-known, although nobody exactly knew why. Even in the three years I’d spent at House Laurent, I’d never been able to uncover the reason Marvina hated the Sovereigns so much.
The marriage proposal between our Houses had been initially suggested when I was fourteen and Demetri was sixteen.
After some back-and-forth negotiation, everyone hadagreed to the marriage that would take place when I turned twenty-one with the understanding that either House could break the arrangement prior to then with no penalties.
