CHAPTER 110: COUPLES 1

"And I can provide you with money too, Christina," Lilith continued, her voice a smooth, silken thing that was a stark contrast to the chaotic, emotional storm that had just swept through the room. "As an apology from the crown, for the suffering you have endured. You can use it to start anew, to build a life for yourself far from the shadows of this court."

Christina, who was still staring at me with a mixture of shock, confusion, and a dawning, unwilling admiration, finally turned to the Queen. "Thank you, Your Majesty," she whispered, her voice a low, grateful murmur. "I... I will think about it."

Then, I spoke, my own voice a sharp, cutting thing that was designed to break the fragile, tentative peace that had settled over the room. "Hey, Queen," I said, my tone a deliberate, insolent drawl. "What do you mean by ’pretend marriage’?"

She looked at me, her crimson eyes twinkling with a familiar, dangerous amusement. "It means exactly what it sounds like, Lord Ashen. You will have to behave like a loving, devoted couple in front of the people of this kingdom, to avoid any and all suspicions from the Knight Commander’s faction."

"I don’t have time for this," I shot back, my own patience wearing thin.

"And I don’t have time for your childish tantrums," Lilith retorted, her own voice a low, dangerous purr. "As you already know, I will be very busy in the coming months, dealing with the vipers in my own court."

I looked at Christina then, at her pale, beautiful face, at the quiet, desperate hope in her sky-blue eyes. And I sighed, a long, weary sound of resignation. "Fine," I said, my own voice a low, defeated murmur. "I will do it. But I only have one month to stay here. Then, I leave for my Academy. Is that clear?"

Lilith didn’t say anything. She just smiled, a slow, triumphant expression that was more infuriating than any verbal declaration.

Christina, however, looked at me, a genuine, beautiful smile on her face. "Okay," she said, her own voice a quiet, grateful whisper. "And thank you, Ashen."

The System laughed, a silent, smug sound in the back of my mind.

Ding!

[Quest Completed: ’Protect Christina’] [You have acquired the SSS-Rank Sword: [The Black Sword of Ruin]. The reward will be granted to you in a private, secure location, after no one is watching.]

I laughed inwardly, a dark, humorless sound. I should thank you, I thought, my own mind a chaotic battlefield of conflicting emotions.

"Thank you, Ashen," Lilith said, her own voice a low, genuine murmur. "From my side, too."

"It’s an honor, my lady," I replied, my own voice a sarcastic, insolent drawl.

"Don’t be so sarcastic," she chided, her own voice a low, amused purr. "And after I take care of my own... family matters... I will be coming for you. And I almost forgot," she added, a wicked, dangerous glint in her eyes. "Give me my handkerchief back before you try to sell my kingdom with it."

"How did you know?" I asked, my own voice a low, surprised murmur.

"How wouldn’t I?" she retorted, her own voice a low, triumphant thing. "I was the one who gave it to you, indirectly."

"So you wanted to meet me, huh?" I said, a slow, dawning understanding in my own mind.

"Not exactly like this," she admitted, a faint, almost imperceptible blush coloring her cheeks. "But yes. See you later, fool."

We left the palace then, the heavy, crystalline doors closing behind us with a soft, final thud. As we walked through the quiet, moonlit streets of the Dragon Kingdom, Christina, who had been so silent, so still, finally spoke. "You seem... close to the Queen."

"Yeah," I said, a slow, mischievous grin spreading across my face. "She’s my... godmother. We have tea and plot the downfall of minor kingdoms on Tuesdays."

She looked at me, a mixture of confusion and a dawning, unwilling amusement in her sky-blue eyes. And for the first time since I had met her, I saw a flicker of the girl she might have been, the girl she might one day become, in the quiet, gentle smile that touched her lips. The game was afoot. The pieces were in motion. And the Dragon Kingdom, whether it knew it or not, was about to be turned on its head.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a while, the only sound the soft click of our boots on the polished obsidian streets. The city was a different beast at night, the earlier, bustling energy replaced by a quiet, watchful peace. The dragons that had soared through the skies during the day were now sleeping, their massive, scaled forms curled up on the rooftops of the grand, volcanic towers, their snores a low, rumbling thunder that seemed to vibrate in the very air.

"So," Christina began, her voice a low, hesitant murmur that was a stark contrast to her earlier, fiery defiance. "This... this ’pretend marriage’... what does it entail?"

"It means," I said, my own voice a low, practical thing, "that for the next month, we will be the most devoted, and most insufferable, couple in the entire Dragon Kingdom. We will attend banquets together. We will walk through the royal gardens together. We will smile, we will laugh, and we will make the entire court so sick of our nauseating, public displays of affection that they will be begging for me to leave when the time comes."

She blinked, a flicker of something that might have been amusement in her sky-blue eyes. "And you think that will work?"

"It has to," I replied, my own voice a grim, determined thing. "The Knight Commander is a man of pride and tradition. He will not, and cannot, make a move against the officially recognized, and royally sanctioned, husband of the woman his son so publicly tried to claim. To do so would be to declare war on the Queen herself."

"And after the month is over?" she asked, her own voice a quiet, hopeful whisper. "What happens then?"

"Then," I said, my own voice a low, steady murmur, "I return to my Academy. And you, with the Queen’s backing and a small fortune of your own, will be free to go wherever you please. The Vampire Academy, a quiet, scholarly life in one of the free cities... the choice will be yours."