Free Royal Blood by Kolina Topel Page A

Already, I’d started to care for them, and I wasn’t sure if I could survive the guilt. Death was by no means new to me. I’d been to my share of funerals, but that had been in an entirely different life. The circumstances couldn’t be any more different. Battling for reign over a kingdom—for my kingdom? When was the last time that happened?
     
    My eyes finally found and rested on Alex. He didn’t notice my gawking, or, if he did, he ignored it. The thought made my heart clench for a moment, but I took a deep breath and forced it away. I had to let it go.
     
    My mind had already accepted what he had done and why, but my heart wasn’t so hasty to forgive.
     
    I licked my lips and found myself imagining his unbelievably sweet taste. My heart began to hammer at memories, and before I could pull myself back down to earth, I was aware of Alex’s head turning to meet my gaze. Before I could react, there was a brief connection, and I was struck by how cold and flat his eyes were as they examined me.
     
    That splash of cold water had me fleeing from his stare. I quickly looked away and was surprised to see half a dozen pairs of eyes watching me intently. They all had some degree of concern on their faces, all but Calpurnia. I blinked and unconsciously took a step back, overwhelmed with the sudden attention.
     
    “Princess, are you alright?”
     
    I looked toward the source of the voice and found Demitri staring at me, worry etched into his forehead. I was in the middle of shaking my head when I realized why they were anxious. They’d heard my heart spike up abruptly. With the exception of Calpurnia, they probably thought I’d become scared from whatever they had said just said. What was that anyways? Damn it, I need to pay more attention. I walked forward again, resuming my original place.
     
    “I’m fine. Please continue.”
     
    Determined to pay attention this time, I waited for the spotlight to move away from me. It didn’t take but a few seconds for them to shift back to the original topic. I was glad. I still wasn’t used to being such an asset to so many people. After a lifetime of being simple and unimportant, the sudden attention was unnerving.
     
    “Our biggest advantage is that Damascus doesn’t know we are planning a coup. The more silent and subtle we can be, the better. Best case scenario, the shift of power will be virtually undetectable,” Duncan’s quiet but sure voice stretched through the entire room. From across the room, I saw Marius shaking his head.
     
    “Surprised or not, Damascus will not go silently. He’s waited too long for this. He’s drunk with power and dangerous. I do not doubt he will have to be ended. It’s the only way.”
     
    I looked back to Duncan, waiting for a response, but the room shifted to Nebula instead.
     
    “Perhaps not,” she disagreed. “If Damascus finds himself outnumbered so severely, even he would know it’s a lost cause.”
     
    “Have you forgotten what he can do?”
     
    “No, but—”
     
    “He’ll do whatever it takes to target Princess Christina and kill her. We cannot allow that to happen.”
     
    “ Well, he also doesn’t know Nebula’s gift,” Marius chimed in.
     
    “ How is that possible?” I asked.
     
    “ She hasn’t had to use it in about three hundred years.”
     
    “ We’d better go before we lose the element of surprise,” Demitri finally stated. “Damascus won’t know yet that we’ve left.”
     
    The drive there was tense. Alex and I were in one car and everyone else was split up in two more. There was so much to say, and yet I didn’t know where to start. What a change the day had made!
     
    This morning we were headed to the beach, and now we were headed to bring a war to the man who killed my vampire father and had tried to kill me. Easy, right?
     
    As hard as it was, the one thing I couldn’t say but thought about the most was how drastically everything had changed between Alex and me and how much