A Rip of Realms (A Shade of Vampire #39)(32)

Ruby laughed. “I don’t know how much I’d mind a medicated bubble about now.”

“It has its plus points,” I agreed.

“What about that water the Impartial Ministers were floating in?” Ruby commented. “Do you think it has healing properties…like keeping them alive for centuries or something?”

“I think so—I’ve never come across anything like that before.”

The conversation prompted me to revisit a thought I’d had when we were at the ridge, and I put the sheets down, reaching for the dagger that Tejus had given me. I kept it sheathed in a belt around my waist, and now I pulled it out, studying it, in particular the white stone on the ornate handle.

“Don’t you think this looks similar?” I asked, showing the dagger to Ruby.

She peered over at the dagger, her eyebrows rising. “The stone? I wouldn’t say similar,” she replied, taking the dagger to inspect it more closely, “I would say exactly the same. The white glow…”

I nodded as she handed it back to me. It looked just like the light that had come from the water the ministers had been submerged in.

“Impressive weapon.” Ruby smiled. “Did Tejus give you that?”

“Who else?” I grinned. “It’s his idea of a romantic gesture.”

“Figures.”

“I should probably mention this to him, he might know what it is,” I replied, realizing that I hadn’t seen so much as a glimpse of Tejus for a while.

“I’m almost finished here anyway. Go.” Ruby pushed me gently toward the door. I left, looking down from the mezzanine to see if Tejus was downstairs. I couldn’t see him, so I checked a couple of rooms on the floor I was on. Finding them empty, I rushed down to the ground floor.

“Have you seen Tejus?” I asked Benedict, when I peered around the door of the kitchen.

He and Julian turned to me from the table with blank looks.

“Not seen him,” Benedict replied. “He’s probably with Ash somewhere—I haven’t seen him either.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, slightly concerned that Julian’s head looked like it was coming up with a monster bruise. Poor kid. I left them to it, not wanting to fuss, and walked through to the front entrance.

“Have you seen Tejus?” I asked one of the guards.

“In the garden,” he replied. “He and the emperor have been out there for a while.”

I frowned. Why were they outside now? It was almost dusk…I stepped out onto the lawn, looking around for them. Not seeing anyone, I went around the back, coming to a halt when I saw a small group of guards, Tejus, Ash and the Impartial Ministers, hidden by a cluster of trees to the right of the palace.

Not wanting to disturb them, I crept closer, chastising myself for trying to eavesdrop again. Would I ever learn? It was a strange scene though, and the fact that they were doing it far away from the palace, at dusk, made me curious.

Ash and the Impartial Ministers were standing directly in front of Tejus, who was kneeling on the grass, his chest bare. I watched for a few moments, my mouth drying as I became transfixed by the beauty of his skin and physique, at once lit up and heavily shadowed by the dying sun. His profile was solemn, looking up at Ash and the ministers. He looked like a fallen angel, the light making his skin appear marble-white and his otherworldly beauty contrasting with his long jet-black hair and impregnable lines of his face.

One of the ministers recited something, his voice low and methodical. After a few moments, Ash leant down, holding his fist out. He held a sharpened rock, and I watched in astonishment as he began to carve something into Tejus’s left pectoral. Tejus inhaled ever so slightly. It must have stung, but his body remained completely still.

When Ash was finished, Tejus rose, bowing before Ash. Then the three guards who had been standing behind Tejus knelt down on their knees.

“We pledge our service to the commander of the six kingdoms,” they chanted. “His sword leads us, his command we follow in faith. We are the sons of Nevertide, sworn to protect our brethren, sworn to protect our land.”

The guards rose, and a silence fell upon them. Ash handed Tejus a sword with both hands, his head lowered in reverence.

Commander of the six kingdoms?

I realized that I had truly intruded on a private moment, something that I wasn’t meant to see, and wasn’t meant to know about until Tejus chose to tell me. As quietly as I could, I made my way back to the entrance of the palace. I would just have to stay silent on the matter until Tejus was ready to talk to me about it.

As soon as I entered the palace, I rushed back upstairs, finding an empty room and shutting the door behind me. I needed a moment to myself. I leaned against its wood, my heart thumping in my chest, my legs feeling like jelly, as if they were going to give way at any moment. I couldn’t get out of my mind the image of Tejus’s face, serene and solemn, as he surrendered himself to Ash. It reminded me of the night that I’d overheard him telling the council that he was resigning as king. I felt the same overwhelming rush as I had that night, love and admiration feeling like it was going to burst out of my body. He was a soldier—a protector, a leader, capable of making the decisions that the rest of us couldn’t, the choices that none of us wanted to—and I loved him for it.





Tejus