9 | THE COURT OF FANGS AND BLOOD

We enter a huge room, twice the size of the foyer, gorgeously engraved stone walls with thin lines of gold and silver make the whole area feel like we’ve entered a gold and silver forest. Intricate carvings of trees, gracefully caught in breeze immediately capture my attention. I long to trail my fingers over each line and leaf, study each mark to discover how the creator managed to get the stone to look so life-like.

“Welcome, Mikyle and Scarlett.” Mina’s voice pulls me out of the reverie and my eyes snap to where she sits at the center of the room. Beside me, Mikyle is facing the the Queen and the man beside her. Not looking at the faces and mixed expression of the other vampires around the room. Fire and ice war inside me, both embarrassed and terrified to realize how oblivious I was to everyone for those few seconds.

“Your Majesty,” I sweep into a funky cross between a curtsy and a bow, stumbling a little as I nearly loose my balance. Mikyle manages to catch me before I make a complete fool of myself, helping me straighten while he maintains a firm stare-down with the King. I get a good look at the man, like Mina, his hair has that black-and-silver thing going on, the high fade and showcasing little of the coloration until my eyes catch the long, curly stands on top of his head. Silken, and perfectly arranged, they seem to shimmer more prominently, the color shifting from black, to silver and back again in a fraction of a second. His dark eyes are more brown than red, their shape similar to Mikyle’s. If they were a few shades darker - more black than brown - they’d be identical to Mikyle’s. Full of mischief and an echo of curiosity as they flick between Mikyle and me.

At my lack of grace, I catch the tail-end of tittering laughter to my right and glance over to see several pairs of eyes watching me. In all my lessons with Ms. Jin, she never mentioned anything about the Court being more than just Mina and William. But walking into the large, domed room, there are at least sixteen people around an arced table aside from the Queen. Four on each side of the Queen and King are seated, the four behind them dressed almost identically to the way Lizeth had been. *Paznic* and their charges. The Princess and Princes of the Court, I assume.

“*Paznic* Lizeth, you may leave us.” A man on the other side of Mina says, not bothering to stand like the rest of the Court. He plucks his glass goblet from the table and takes a drink from its’ contents. And as he disturbs the clear thing, I catch the heady aroma of fermented blood - blood wine. My mouth begins to water, jaw aching, and causing my whole body to pulse as Mikyle and I slowly step deeper into the lion’s den. Lizeth doesn’t budge, looking to Mina for confirmation.

“That will be all, Lizeth. Thank you.” Mina confirms to the bodyguard. As soon as Mina has given the go-ahead, Lizeth drops into a smooth bow before leaving with her head held high. “Scarlett, these are my advisors,” Mina explains, gesturing to the rest of the Court. “Talon, Xena, Walter, and Irie.” She gestures from the man who spoke earlier to the end of the table where a woman nods to me. Then Mina gestures to the King’s side of the room. “Joan, Uriah, Olivia, and Pieter.” They’re all dressed in an assortment of red clothing. “Behind them are their *Paznic*,” She starts again from her side to the Kings as she introduces the ones standing slightly behind the ones she just introduced. “Laya, Zahir, Trina, Darius, Jay, Katrina, Fatima, and Gregor.” I’m beginning to see a pattern here. Green for *Paznic*/Guardians, red for Princesses/Princes, and…Mina and the King are wearing silvery clothing.

“It’s good to see you both,” The King says after Mina is done introducing everyone, though his eyes remain firmly on Mikyle while he says this. Then he looks directly at me. “Like Mina, I don’t enjoy the formalities of Court, so feel free to just address me as William, Scarlett.”

“Yes, Your-” My heart jumps into my throat as I correct myself. “William.” More out of fear than anything else. Something’s off about the King/William. At first, I’m not sure what it is about him that freaks me out, then I allow some of my vampire senses to mingle with my Wolven ones and nearly gasp aloud. His aura is dark. Not empty the way Craven’s or Caly’s gets when they’re hiding themselves, but dark as night. A black hole of soul-sucking nothingness. An endless hungry storm. I’ve never seen anything like it before. And now that I’m *looking*, I can’t seem to un-see it.

“Good. Now that we have the introductions over with,” Mina nods once at me and looks around the Court. “Shall we get started?” The members of the Court who stood now take their seats. When no one objects, Mina continues. “Scarlett, you’ve been summoned to appear before the Court for two reasons,” Mina begins, addressing me now. “You recently Bloomed and must be tested by the Court to see if you pose a threat to the existence of our kind, and there was an incident at a human high school in which you exposed the existence of vampires to a room of adolescent humans.” Mina’s expression becomes somber as she states the second reason. My insides twist a little, both in guilt and fear. Guilt for what happened, and fear because - well - I think this might be the reason I die.

“Luckily,” The King says, looking around the room as the others in the Court shift in their seats. “Halestorm Holland and Ritska Jin were able to successfully wipe the memories of the exposed adolescents and are monitoring the situation.” I’m a little surprised to hear the King come to my defense, but am relieved all the same as the uncomfortable movement around the room stops.

“So…why are we discussing this?” The woman directly beside the King, Joan, speaks. Her voice has a heavy accent but her annunciation is so perfect I understand her completely. “If the humans do not remember the event, did it even happen?”

“Of course it happened,” The man beside Mina, Talon, snarls at the woman, brandishing his goblet of almost-gone-blood-wine at her. The wine sloshes violently, the aroma bursting over me like a wave. I feel my body react almost immediately, the icy chill of my vampire side rising from my bones and slithering over my skin. “Look-!” Talon seems to notice the change slipping over me before anyone else. “She can’t even control herself around blood wine!” The accusation bites at my nerves, heat from my Wolven side flares at the insult and tamps down the vamp change. The whole room goes still - even Mikyle has stopped breathing beside me.

“Huh, that’s interesting.” The King murmurs, breaking the silence. He leans forward, studying me with his brownish-red eyes. I try not to shiver at the weight of his analytical stare, the cool calculation in it almost feels like a palpable force.

“What she needs is to learn how to use a glamor.” This suggestion comes from the woman closest to me, Irie. Her helpful suggestion seems to ease the rest of the tension around the room as the Court considers this.

“True. A glamor like the one Hale uses could shield her true form from humans as it does his.” Mina replies pensively and smiles at Irie. “Nice thinking, Irie.” Irie bows once at Mina, accepting the praise. “Any objections to having Scarlett learn how to use a glamor?” When no one says anything, Mina claps her hands. “Good, so that’s settled.” The tiniest spark of relief settles into her eyes. “Now as for our testing you-”

“I think we should have her run the gauntlet.” Pieter speaks from the other side of Mikyle, his raspy voice sending shiver down my spine. There’s an eerie beat of stillness as the Court considers this, but I don’t miss the way Mina’s face pales at the mention of the word ‘gauntlet’.

“She’s only just Bloomed-!” Mikyle growls at the vampire through gritted teeth.

“Which is why she should run it. This is the time we would see the most of her power and potential. The trial has been known to bring out the hidden quality in an individual.”

“And kill.” Mikyle grits out. I begin to feel a little nauseous when he says that. I’ve seen vamps in action, very little slows them down and they’re pretty hard to kill.

“We can discuss this tomorrow.” Mina interjects, bringing the attention back to her. “This isn’t something we should just decide in one day.” She adds to her advisors, looking each meaningfully in the eye. “Why don’t we take the night to think about it and see if there are any other options available?” Again, no one objects to Mina’s wisdom. The relief that fills me as a few even nod in agreement nearly makes my knees give out. I feel like I’ve just dodged a major bullet. “Alright, then I declare todays meeting over.” Mina smacks her hands together, as thought hitting a gavel against a podium. The members of the Court stand - including Mina and the King. “Everyone’s dismissed!” Mina announces, and her advisors all leave silently with their *Paznic*. The second they’re gone, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Good job, princess.” Mikyle mutters to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a brief, one-armed hug. I sag a little and pass him a wary smile.

“I don’t think I could have said anything if I tried.” I admit. Mina and the King approach us, Mina going over to Mikyle and giving him a quick hug of greeting. Leaving me to be confronted by the King.

“Though I wish we could have met under different circumstances,” He tells me, extending his hand out to me. “I’m pleased to meet you, Scarlett.”

“Me too.” I agree with a sheepish smile at the King. When I shake the King’s hand, I feel something crisp press into my palm. I automatically take the thing, my hand closing around it as our handshake ends. Paper. A folded note of some kind. I nonchalantly slip the thing into my pocket, not sure why the King has just passed me a note, but know it can’t be something he wants the others in the room to know about if he passed it to me so covertly.

“Fang, would you please show our guests to their rooms?” Mina asks, still facing us. I wait to see who this *Fang* is, when the wall behind her shimmers and a man becomes visible. The *Paznic* behind Mina was invisible until she called him forward. Dressed in the green of the other *Paznic*, he should have stood out against the wall, but I hadn’t even noticed him until he moved. His silvery hair gives away his age, but his face is as youthful as Mina’s - sharing the same warm tone. The vampire gives Mina a graceful bow before leading Mikyle and I out of the throne room.

“Shout if you need anything, princess.” Mikyle tells me when we get to my room. My duffle has been placed just inside, looking so worn and out of place against the elegance of the room. “My room’s across the hall.” He points across the hallway to an open door where the small red suitcase he brought sits. “Dinner will be served a little late, so make sure you have a snack if you get hungry. No hulking out here, okay?” He grins at me, ruffling my hair like I’m a cute little dog rather than a full-grown person. I swat at his hand, scowling at his affectionate touching.

“I’m not a child, Mikyle.” I hiss at him in annoyance. His smile drops a little as a glimmer of heat flares in his eyes at my reminder.

“I know, princess.” He tells me a little stiffly before his playful grin returns. “I’ll see you at dinner.” He throws me a salute before following Fang to his room and disappearing inside. I roll my eyes at his closed door and duck into my own room, running my fingers through my disheveled curls and coax them back into place.

My room is plain, but fully furnished with a large bed, a dark wardrobe, and a pair of bedside tables. The walls are painted in a lavish coat of evergreen, and really all the color in the room either comes from a varying shades of green or dark wood. I stick my hands in my pockets, half-wishing my room had some of those ornate carvings that we saw in the throne room, when I touch something in my right pocket. I pull the note the King had passed to me, and unfold it.

*After you have settled into your room, please consider meeting with me. I have some questions and answers for you we cannot discuss in front of the entire Court. At the end of the hall where your room is, you will find a staircase. Go up two flights and down the hall. I will be waiting in the second room on the left*.

*-William*