“That seems perfectly reasonable, my king,” Cassandra says with a nod.
“Is that a joke, sir?” Thomas gasps, looking at me in horror.
I roll my eyes. “It’s not a joke, it’s a reference to…”
“Fine, then!” Thomas hangs his head dramatically. “You can have her, Cassandra. I’d rather you enjoy her than she gets cut in half!”
Cassandra shouts in glee, and skips out of the war room. Thomas follows her with a resigned sigh.
I can’t remember if that’s how it was supposed to work out, but I honestly don’t care.
“Next,” I groan.
Another vampire steps forward, an older one, with short, wavy red hair that kisses their neck, pale skin and narrow, grey eyes like my own. They’re my only surviving progeny. I find the vampire turning process tedious, and so I haven’t created many new vampires over the course of my existence. I try not to openly favour them, and I get the sense that they resent me slightly for it.
Tonight, they stand fiercely at the center of the war room, their gaze trained on me with determination, like they already know that I’m not going to like what they have to say, but they don’t plan on backing down.
“What is it, Kai?” I ask sharply.
“I’d like permission to marry my lover,” they reply haughtily. “We’ve been together for ten years, and we want to cement our bond formally. I’d like your blessing, and…”
“Whois your lover?”
They pause, their lip twitching. “He’s…one of the mermaids of the Crystal Coast.”
There it is. I glare down at them. “Kai, you’re not allowed to marry a mermaid.”
“And whynot?” they demand.
“Well, to start, the mermaids are not our allies,” I tell them, firmly. I hate the way my voice has taken on a lecturing tone, but apparently this is what I’ve become. “The eastern dolphin shifter alliance would be furious if they discovered that one of our vampires has married a merman, you know that.”
Kai huffs angrily, crimson tinging their eyes. “AlexandraPricegot to marry a wolf shifter!”
“That was for a strategic alliance,” I counter, giving them a forceful look.
“I don’t care about alliances!” Kai declares, tossing their head back so their wavy locks bounce around their cheeks. “You can’t stop me from marrying him!”
“In mythree hundred years,” I boom. “I haveneverheard of a mermaid and a vampire together. It’s completely ridiculous.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think! We’re inlove!”
I shake my head irritably. “You’re not in love, you’re high off of seablood, and I willnothave you making such a statement. Our clan has spentyearscultivating a mutually beneficial relationship with the shifters. A formal wedding between a mermaid and one of our vampires -myprogeny, no less - would put our alliance at risk.”
Ruby-red tears start to pool in their eyes. “You’re a heartless monster, Crimson! And I don’t care what you say…we’re in love and nothing else matters!”
“Will nothing else matter when the dolphin shifters cut off our supply of glow from the northern regions, and we have to rely on the southern vampires clans for their supply? Will it not matter when the Artemis witches try to attack our warehouses again, but the mountain wolves won’t help us defend them, because they’re allied with the other shifters?”
I stand up from my throne, frustration mounting in my core. My voice fills the war room.
“Fuck him, drink from him, do whatever else you want to him…but you arenotgoing to marry that mermaid, Kai. That’s my final word!”
They shriek with anger, and stomp out of the war room, slamming the heavy door behind them.
I slump back into my seat. Is this what running a vampire clan is like? Newborn vampires whining at you all the time, with no conceptof how their actions affect our political alliances? They’re all happy to dance and drink and celebrate our wealth and power, but when it comes to maintaining it, they’re completely entitled!
Thank god, Murad steps forward next, a slightly amused expression on his face.
“Enjoying your reign, Solomon?” he asks cheekily. “That crown feeling heavy yet?”
