116

“I seriously do not know what you see in that man, Amar. He is simply awful,” Toreh exclaimed as she set down a crate of wine on the table.

“I refuse to believe that Wilhelm said such awful things, Toreh. Yes, he might be a little bit rough, but he would never belittle a woman’s strength or underestimate her.”

Toreh scoffed. “Then you truly do not know that man.”

“Do any of us? He just came in this season, so I doubt anyone would ever truly know him except his fantastic father.”

Toreh deadpanned. “Please tell me you’re being sarcastic.”

“Of course I’m being sarcastic, Toreh. His father is simply despicable!” Amar exclaimed, setting down another crate. There were still twenty more outside, and Amar figured they would have to stay out there now that her arms were starting to throb.

“I know right. He’s the worst,” Toreh said.

“But at least he’s there for his child.”

“Mother!” Amar exclaimed, standing upright. “What are you trying to say?”

“The vampire king might be awful, but at least he was there for his child,” Mrs. Torver said.

Toreh sighed. “Mother, it’s not father’s fault.”

“It’s never the man’s fault, is it?” her mother yelled before breathing in. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? He’s gone now, and the king will make sure that he would never return.”

“He will return, mama,” Amar said. “All we need to do is to get Toreh to confess, and he would be set free.”

Mrs. Torver laughed. “Your father doesn’t rot in that cell because of Toreh, Amar. He rots in there because of the love he has for his daughter. Now tell me, child, do you really think that anyone would believe that a child who’s barely nine put an end to a noble vampire?”

“Well, the prince seemed to believe,” Amar muttered.

“I do not care what the prince’s beliefs are, Amar. You shouldn’t too. Now enough of all that talk. Those crates can’t sleep outside.”

“Can’t we carry them in the morning?” Toreh whined, already weary. Maybe liquor wasn’t her strongest suit.

Mrs. Torver turned to her daughter. “It’s already morning, dear. Plus, it’s because of you that we have been tasked with this chore.”

“Me?” Toreh asked. “What did I do?”

“You went ahead and offered yourself up to the queen as a potential governess for her son. She is simply making us distribute wine to see if we’re responsible,” her mother explained.

“Meaning, she wants to know whether her son’s tutor is a thief,” Amar added.

“I am not!” Toreh cried out.

“Are you now? That choker doesn’t even belong to you,” Amar said.

“You were the one that said we needed a disguise if we wanted to live on these lands. You also said that it would have been better if I was a slave and you a worker while mother… Our mother! You simply cannot blame me for being obedient!” Toreh yelled.

“I can and I will because your obedience has done nothing in our favor.”

“And yours have?”

“Girls, enough!” their mother yelled.

“It is not enough, mother!” Amar yelled. “It is not enough until we are able to recover our freedom and dignity. Until we are able to live without fear of being exposed! Mother, it would never be enough until I stop being afraid of becoming one of them! A monster. It can never be enough until I’m free of the curse that warlock placed on me eighteen years ago when I was just a baby!”

The door creaked open, and the three women turned to look at Colin smiling sheepishly in the doorway.

“Um… I just wanted to see if you needed help with the crates, but it looks like you’ve got it all covered, so I will take my leave now,” he muttered before walking away.

“Do you think he heard?” Amar asked quietly.

“Of course he did,” Toreh replied. “Why do you think he ran away? We have to make him forget. Colin is a blabbermouth and would definitely be looking for someone to tell his tales. He must forget.”

“Oh, will you stop? It’s not like she can compel him to forget,” Mrs. Torver snapped.

“She can’t, but Wilhelm can,” Toreh stated with glee.

“What? No! That vampire boy would cease to step foot into this house again,” said Mrs. Torver.

“He’s not a boy, mama,” Amar said. “He’s just as old as the Crown Prince if not older.”

“I do not care if he’s older than the king. All I know is that no vampires are allowed in my house!”

Toreh turned to her sister. “She has no idea of what you did, does she?”

Their mother looked between both of them. “Toreh, what are you talking about?”

The young girl remained quiet.

“Toreh?”

“Amar invited Wilhelm in. It means he can come into this house anytime he likes,” Toreh answered.

“Oh dear! Oh dear! Amar, how could you?”

“He compelled me!” Amar yelled.

Mrs. Torver scoffed. “We all know that Tamacs can’t be compelled, so you’ve got to give me something better than that.”

Amar remained quiet.

“Do you have feelings for that boy, Amar?” Mrs. Torver asked.

“Mother!” Toreh exclaimed.

“You stay out of this, Toreh. You’ve caused me problems more than the white hairs on my head,” she spat before turning to Amar. “Do you have feelings for the son of the man who killed your boyfriend?”

“Mother!” Amar cried out. “Do not bring Aspen into this.”

“Answer the question, Amar, and maybe I would stop mentioning your dead boyfriend. Do you have feelings for the man who killed your boyfriend?”

“Mother, please! Can you just stop referring to him as the son of the man who killed my boyfriend?”

“Isn’t that what he is? The son of the man who killed your boyfriend?”

Amar grabbed a wine bottle and threw it. “Mother, enough! Call him that one more time, and I would break another one of these.”

Toreh stared at the glass shards, wide-eyed.

“Amar… Amar...”

“What?” Amar shouted.

“You broke the queen’s wine! Now she’s going to think that we’re irresponsible, and…”

“You don’t have to care about what the queen thinks, Toreh,” Amar said coolly.

“You don’t understand, Amar! If she thinks that I am irresponsible, then she won’t have me tutor her grandson, and tutoring him is the only way we can gain favor with the royals. And if we gain favor with them, we could get father out of prison and find the man to which shall put an end to our problems,” Toreh interjected.

“It’s just wine, Toreh. We’ll replace it.”

“When? She will be here in a few days to inspect them,” Toreh cried out.

“Then we shall welcome her and express our gratitude,” Mrs. Torver said. “Toreh, clean up this mess. Amar, go fetch that vampire boy. We need him to get rid of Colin. I will call him Colin. Now hurry up.”

“It will take me hours to get to the palace, mother,” Amar said.

“Then call him. He gave you a phone, didn’t he? Then make good use of it.”

“Alright,” Amar concluded, pulling the phone out of her pocket. She had later taken it after giving it a second thought. Unlocking it, she dialed his number, and he picked up immediately.

“I didn’t think you would actually take it,” he drawled. Amar rolled her eyes.

“Mock me later, Will, right now I…”

“Will?”

“Ugh! Can you just focus right now? We can discuss the nickname later.”

He laughed. “Nickname? Baby girl, there will be no discussion because I like it.”

Amar smiled. “You do?”

Toreh kicked her sister. “Oh yes, of course you do.”

“I like it, Amar, so don’t overthink it. Was there a reason you called me?”

“Yes,” she replied before sighing. “Will, I need your help.”

“You sure about that? Your sister made it clear that you two didn’t need my help.”

“My sister, not me. Will, please?” Amar asked, softening her tone.

“Alright. I’ll do anything for you, principessa. Be there in a sec.”