Chapter 121
Kateesha's lieutenant had very little to say. He sat in the cold fire pit in the throne room, his hands and feet tied, and a look of satisfied martyrdom on his face. Kerosene soaked wood was stacked around his feet and Oren stood in front of him, a torch in his hand. The war coven, with the exception of their one casualty - one of the dark haired vampires Katelina hadn't been introduced to - stood in little pockets near the proceedings. Anya and Thomas stood close together, both angry at the accusations of espionage.
Katelina glanced across the room to Jorick. He stared straight ahead, his face a mask, as if what transpired was of no consequence to him. They'd had to enter separately - Katelina officially escorted by Oren - and now stood apart, for fear that someone would claim they were conspiring. Like she cared.
Micah stepped towards the uncooperative prisoner. "Answer him!"
The lieutenant only said the same sentence he'd been saying over and over, "I die willingly for my queen." The strange, toneless quality of his voice made Katelina think of brainwashed victims in alien movies. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
Jeda stood off to the side, her brows drawn together uncertainly. "Whether he answers or not, I believe the papers exonerate Jorick."
"Of being a spy," Fabian snapped. "That was obviously Thomas, but there still isn't any proof that Jorick didn't order his human to kill Kateesha."
"This is ridiculous!" Anya strode forward and wrenched the torch from Oren's hand. "Thomas isn't on trial here! This man is. And he's guilty. Let him burn like we agreed." She thrust the torch into the wood at the lieutenant's feet. "It will be the first thing that's gone according to plan yet."
"Anya!" Oren roared. He tried to snatch the torch back, but it was too late; the wood was already alight. "The interrogation wasn't finished."
"Maybe she has something to hide?" Torina suggested coldly. She and Des stood next to each other, but the space between them might have been a chasm for all the closeness they shared. "Maybe she's afraid he'll say something."
Anya spun to face the redheaded vampiress. "And what would he say except the same thing he's been saying? You're both wasting time so Jorick and his little pet can build a case. It won't do them any good. The facts are clear, and she'll be next!"
They continued to argue, though Katelina's attention was focused on the golden fire pit. The vampire inside sat motionless, even as flames caught his clothes and smoke curled up around him to disappear through the hole in the ceiling. Katelina couldn't understand why he didn't run, or try to get away, or at the least make some kind of noise. Watching him silently greet death was far eerier than bloodcurdling screams would have been.
Jorick spoke suddenly, "Anya is partially correct." At the sound of his voice, the room fell silent and all eyes turned to him. "We'll learn nothing from him. Kateesha broke him."
"Or you did," Des snarled. "Convenient, since he's the only one who could say who the spy was."
"The papers already said that, man." Micah said. "Like I've been telling you numb nuts all along. We need to lock the little puke up and punish him!"
"Yes," Torina purred. "Why isn't Thomas being detained? After all, he is a suspect now."
Des snorted. "Jorick and his human are free, and we know what they did; we saw it. So, unless you're going to lock them up, too..."
Thomas started to interject, but Anya silenced him with a look and the words, "Let me handle this!" He hung back, sulkily, and gave everyone a generally filthy look.
"Thomas is not on trial," Anya snapped. "If you want to try him, then I suggest you do so when we've finished with those two." She jabbed an angry finger towards Jorick and Katelina.
"Maybe we will," Fabian replied. "And maybe we'll try you as well."
"If you think you're man enough. But I want the same kind of slanted trial that the human's going to get. We all know it won't be fair."
"Stop!" Oren shouted. "Why is it you can't be civil, even for this? If you want to know why nothing went as planned, then this is why. Your petty squabbling is tiresome!" He threw his hands up uselessly. "Tomorrow we will convene and put the human, Katelina, to trial, as agreed. Depending on the findings, Jorick may follow. After that, we will see. In the meantime, we have a far more pressing problem; Kateesha's followers. I've spoken with one of them, Kale, and he's of the opinion that since no vampire drank from the heart, no one claimed the coven. He suggested that those who remain of Kateesha's coven should be permitted to choose their own allegiance between us."
"Between who?" Anya asked sharply. "As far as I'm concerned, your war coven was dissolved the minute you allowed that traitor to live."
"Then whose coven are you in, now?" Micah asked. "You just hangin' out here with your sneaky little brother for the fun of it?"
Thomas looked sulky. "You'd better watch what you say. Once we're out of here, you'll be sorry."
"Oh, is that a threat?" Micah asked, a broad grin on his face. "We can go whenever the fuck you want, weasel. Right here, right now!"
Oren growled low in his throat. His anger was enough to silence them, though Katelina was sure it was only temporary. "The coven is not dissolved until the matter with Jorick and his human is settled. You took oaths to that effect."
"We took oaths of loyalty, but they were only good until it was over, and it's over," Des said. "Mine expired when Claudius was defeated, in case you've forgotten. I considered Kateesha and The Guild damage control, but unless the human is put to death, and Jorick punished, I'm finished with this."
The vampires continued; multiple opinions sliding over one another, while the stench of burning flesh grew thick and heavy. Katelina turned away, unable to deal with it all; the smell, the fighting, the flames, and the threats. Her stomach heaved and, if she'd eaten, she'd have thrown up. As it was, she only gagged up a mouth full of bile, then looked up to meet Loren's eyes. Oddly enough, he looked as sick as she did.
"We'll put it to a vote," Oren declared, but Jorick interrupted.
"Since Katelina has no say in this, I see no reason for her to remain."
Anya sneered. "I'm sure you'd like to take her off somewhere, alone. However-"
"He's right," Micah said suddenly, surprising everyone. "We don't need the human hanging around, listening in on all our plans. Loren can take her. Unlike the rest of you, he doesn't have a fucking agenda."
"He's loyal to Jorick," Des argued.
"Right, that's why he arrived running his mouth? I ain't seen him being overly friendly with Lunch here." Micah jerked his thumb towards Katelina. "Unless you have?"
Katelina would have glared at him, but she was too sick to care. Luckily, the vampires managed to agree that she and Loren could go before she threw up all over the throne room.
The hallway wasn't so lucky.
Loren stepped back from the puddle on the corridor floor and gagged. "Oh gross."
"Yeah, tell me about it," she moaned. "God, I hate all of them!"
"They probably hate you, too. That whole Kateesha thing really fucked shit up."
"Yeah, well, Oren can suck it, and so can the rest of them."
Loren shrugged, then took her arm and led her down the corridor, away from the smell. No matter how far they went they couldn't escape it; it was in their clothes.
"This reeks!" he complained. "I'm gonna have to go take a bath."
"Yeah, I'd like one too. And some food," she added testily. "But, I don't suppose any of that's coming?"
"You should have a bathroom off the bedroom. I dunno about food though. I guess I could go look."
Her gruff tone softened a little, "I'd appreciate it."
"Hey, no problem. You got me out of there, after all." He offered her a toothy grin. "I don't think I coulda taken much more of that, really. I don't know how they do it."
"Me either." For once, she and Loren were in complete agreement.
***
Loren was wrong. There was no bathroom off of her room, and no electricity, either. The teen whistled low, and commented that they'd obviously put her in the dungeon quarters. He questioned why Kateesha was down there - for it wasn't just the evil vampiress' clothes Katelina wore, but her bed she slept in as well - but the answer came soon enough. Some reconnaissance turned up what appeared to be a gigantic bathroom in a separate room. The golden tub was the size of a large sauna, and the alcoves and massive bronze pitchers hinted that slaves were probably involved in the bathing ritual. No doubt that was Claudius' touch, and if it had been Claudius' room, then Kateesha undoubtedly had had to have it. However, there was no part of Katelina that intended to haul hot water from God only knew where and bathe in a cavernous room, so Loren gallantly offered the loan of his more modern accommodations. Under different circumstances she'd have refused but, as it was, she took him up on it.
He was right about one thing; she was in the dungeon. They wound upwards at least one level, and possibly two, before they reached his room. He explained that the deeper chambers were older, and that was probably why they didn't have electricity or plumbing. Apparently he'd gotten a tour of the whole place earlier, and he felt the need to share all the odd trivia. Katelina didn't care about any of it, except the "blood stash", and even that was only so interesting.
"Seriously, there's like five cows down there in this big ass room. They've got hay and these big old vents cut into the ceiling, but I can't figure out what they do with all the mess, you know? Hey, after you take your shower, I'll show you!"
"That's all right," she declined politely. "I don't think they'd like it if I was roaming around too much."
She could see his disappointment. "Yeah, I guess you're right, since you're still condemned and all." He suddenly brightened. "Maybe after your trial tomorrow, huh?"
His optimism made her hopeful. After all, there was a chance that she wouldn't have much "after trial" time. Despite Jorick's assurances, they could find her guilty and sentence her to death, like the lieutenant. Even if they did, surely Jorick wouldn't really let them. He wouldn't allow her to have a trial if he thought she was in real danger. Would he?
