The Phoenix Prince Read online

  She stopped beside the table and averted her eyes to the side. Her heart was racing in her chest. Corina probably didn’t want her to let the prince know that she’d asked her to come in, so she tried to make up something.

  “I just thought we hadn’t talked in a long while,” she said.

  Keiran nodded, as it was the sad truth. Thana was the same age as him, and as children, the prince, Jerris, and she used to run around and play together. Eventually, the girl had stopped interacting with them, and the boys had gone about their business alone.

  Thana hadn’t stopped associating with the boys on her own, however. Her mother, Sorna, had always held very strict beliefs over what was proper in the ways of interactions between the classes. Seeing her daughter, though just a child, running around with the prince had bothered her. She’d eventually forbidden the girl from calling Keiran by name and spending time with him. Thana started to work in the castle soon after. She’d done her best to keep her distance from Keiran, wanting to satisfy her mother. Because she was unwed, even at the age of twenty-three, Thana was legally considered her mother’s property, and she had to do as Sorna wished.

  Despite it, in recent years the girl had been drawn to the prince again. Even if her mother had insisted that Thana not act like Keiran was her peer, he’d always been kind to her and he’d never talked down to her. He’d also grown up into a rather nice looking young man, too. Though she wouldn’t dare tell him that she’d developed feelings for him, she most certainly had. She was utterly oblivious that he felt the same way about her.

  “We haven’t, but I suppose you’ve been busy. I know my father always had plenty of work lined up for everyone. I’m sincerely hoping that I can be more reasonable to deal with,” he said. “Maybe we’ll be able to talk more? Like we used to. Jerris and I always had a lot of fun as kids when you’d come along with us. I mean, I know we’re not children anymore and I don’t foresee us all sneaking off to play around like we used to. I mean…” Keiran let his words trail off, feeling like he was coming off as an idiot to the girl yet again.

  Thana had to smile, and brought her sights back to him. “My Lord, it would be very nice to be able to spend time together like we used to. Though, to be honest, Jerris was always a bit much to put up with. I only really liked you.”

  Right on cue, Keiran’s cheeks flushed red. He reached out a hand to where his wine goblet had been sitting, only to realize a second later that it was gone. Slowly, he lowered his hand and fussed with the table’s surface.

  “Well, I think a lot of people only really want Jerris in small doses. I get on with him great, but I know how he can be. Thana, you don’t have to use titles with me. You used to call me by name, and I wouldn’t hold it against you if you started to again.”

  She frowned and turned away. “My mother says it’s not proper for me to do that. She demands that I be professional now that I work here alongside her. I mean no disrespect by it, but she is my mother, and I must do what she wishes.”

  He had never given thought as to why she’d changed the way she acted toward him. While this news hurt a little, it was a relief in another way. Perhaps if she’d been left to her own devices, she never would have been distanced from him. He didn’t dare speculate about it to her, however. There weren’t really any laws forbidding royalty from associating with commoners in a friendly manner, it was just illegal for there to be romantic involvement. He wouldn’t let himself think for one moment that she would ever have that sort of interest in him, though. He already did for her and had for a while.

  “I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble. I can understand. It’s all right,” he said.

  Her eyes closed as something twisted up in her chest. She could hear the disappointment in his voice, but she wasn’t sure exactly where it came from. Surely as the prince, and the king in the very near future, he would have plenty of company. Whether it was on Corina’s order that she be there or not, Thana felt like she needed to get out of the room before she got too emotional over the situation and made a scene. “I should get back to work. The kitchen still needs to be cleaned up.”

  “Very well. I appreciate you coming in, even if just for a little while,” he said. While he tried to force his expression to remain neutral, his eyes gave his real sentiments away.

  Thana didn’t see it, however, as she simply turned and walked from the room. She stopped a short ways down the hall, and she tried to calm down for a few minutes. If her mother saw her all worked up, the older woman would start to speculate, and Thana didn’t need that.

  * * *

  Instead of going back to the kitchen where the wine was stored, Corina had moved down the corridor to go to the castle medic’s quarters. She knocked and was told to enter.

  The medic was sitting on the edge of his desk, flipping through some anatomy etchings. Laron was a middle-aged man with short, dark hair and a weathered face. He’d been a field medic for the Tordanian military in his younger years.

  He looked at Corina with a kind smile, but he was clearly a little surprised to see her. Generally, the old woman took care of her own medical needs with her herbal cures and rarely sought out his help.

  “Madame Corina, to what do I owe the honor of this? Are you feeling all right?” he asked.

  She closed the door behind her and neared him, making sure that no one else was present. “Laron, it’s about Keiran…”

  “The prince? What’s going on? Do I need to see him?” He quickly set down the etchings and stood up, folding his hands behind his back and taking a few steps forward. Discussing the health of the heir-apparent was one of the few times they interacted. He knew Corina had been concerned over Keiran for a long time. The medic had noticed Keiran’s slow physical decline as well, and he wondered if the events of the day had started to overwhelm him.

  “No, in fact, I don’t want him to know that I’ve come to you at all.” Corina shifted her weight back and forth, knowing that what she wanted to ask was wrong. She found herself torn between going on and simply leaving and getting Keiran more wine.

  The medic looked thoughtful and gave a nod. “I won’t betray your trust, Corina. I know you think of him like a son, and if you just need reassurance over his well being, I’m more than happy to talk to you.”

  “Aye, well, you have reassured me in the past, but the fact still is that he’s a vampire that’s conditioned himself to refuse human blood. Deep down, we all know it’s destroying him,” she said, averting her eyes to the side. Her shoulders slumped, hands tightening around the goblet. “Turis Lee always forbade it, but you know that several of us have offered it to him, regardless. He just won’t do it, and I don’t think he’s going to survive much longer.”

  Laron drew in a long breath and shook his head. “At some point, self-preservation will kick in, and he’ll decide on his own to start taking the blood he needs to thrive. There’s nothing we can do about it until then. For better or worse, he is the prince and will soon be the king. We can’t force him into anything he doesn’t choose to do.”

  “You do bloodlettings nearly every day, Laron. What if we took a bit of what you collected and replaced the animal blood I put in his wine with it? I’m ashamed to even consider doing something like that, I know it’s dishonest, but if anything happened to him…” she whispered, words trailing off. Tears burned in her eyes. It felt like betrayal to even suggest such a thing, and it made her nearly sick to her stomach.

  “Ah, Corina,” he sighed, raising his hands slightly. Dealing with mothers, biological or adoptive, was always a tricky thing. They were often willing to do anything to make a sick child better, but when the child in question was an adult, he couldn’t ethically act without their permission. Besides, this was the soon-to-be leader of the entire country they were discussing. “You don’t think he’d notice instantly? I don’t make a habit of drinking blood, but I’m willing to bet just like he can taste the differences in varieties of wine, he’d know it wasn’t blood from that night’s
main course. And if it did start to alter him, make him stronger, don’t you think that would be a clue to him as well that something was up? He knows you love him, I’m sure of it, but if you pulled something like that, why, it might damage your relationship. You’re worried and grasping for straws, but you know as well as I do it would be wrong.”

  The old woman took in a long breath, stared down into the goblet she held and nodded slowly. She knew he was right, and the guilt of even asking washed over her heavily. Tears silently broke loose and trailed down her cheeks. Inwardly, she reprimanded herself for having not only considered it but making it all the way to the medic’s quarters.

  “Aye, you’re right. Keiran is a grown man, and I have to let him do this on his own. I know he has his reasons, I just don’t agree with them. It’s not my call though. I shouldn’t have expected him to change his outlook on it the same day his father died.”

  Laron closed the distance between them and put a hand on her shoulder. “If it was my son in the same situation, I probably would have considered it myself, Corina.”

  “He’s not mine, though. I don’t have the right to even think of it,” she replied, reaching up with a hand to wipe her cheeks.

  “You raised him, Corina. I’ve been around this place long enough to have seen you and him together plenty of times. The way the two of you interact, it’s clear he very much does consider you to be his mother. Motherhood is more than just giving birth.” He patted her shoulder before letting his hand fall away. “Now, why don’t you go back out there and give our stubborn prince some wine in that cup, and let him do what he’s going to do?”

  Feeling a little better, Corina agreed and slipped from the room. She scrambled to get to the kitchen quickly. She found his favorite wine and topped off his cup before heading back. The shame that had been eating away at her abated enough so she could act normally when she returned.

  Keiran was in the same place she’d left him. He was still a little giddy from his talk with Thana, but he tried to bury it. He looked over at Corina, wondering what had taken so long, but he didn’t ask. Maybe she’d been delayed by something. Then again, maybe she hadn’t been gone all that long. Thana had gotten him rattled, and he was still working to get calmed down.

  Corina went and handed over his wine, managing a smile. He didn’t look like he suspected anything as far as she could tell. She was curious how his encounter with Thana had gone, but since she didn’t want to give him the impression she’d sent the girl in or even noticed, she decided to carry on like normal.

  “There you go. Why don’t you take that up with you to your room and just try to relax for a bit before you turn in? It’s been a long day, Keiran,” she said.

  He stood up and took the cup, returning her smile. She was visibly more at ease than she’d been just a few minutes before, he noticed. “It has. I’ll just go up and sit before the fire and think for a little. I suppose I have enough of that do to right now.”

  With a nod, she swept an arm toward the door to urge him onward. “I’d rather you just relax and not get to thinking to the point that headache gets any worse. And no staying up all night brooding.”

  “I don’t brood,” he said with a laugh, knowing good and well that he did. Keiran gave her a wink and moved out the door. He climbed the stairs to the second floor where his room was.

  His room was moderately sized, nowhere near as spacious as his father’s quarters were. Still, he had his bed, a sitting area before a fireplace, and his own bathroom facilities which included a heated bathing tub. One of the housekeepers had already asked him earlier in the day if he wanted his things moved over to his father’s room after it was cleared out. Keiran refused, and ordered that his father’s room not be touched for the time being. He was content to stay where he’d always been until things settled into their new routine.

  * * *

  A storm blew in after the sun went down, pelting the walls of the castle with heavy rain and a few bouts of hail. The window to his room that overlooked the courtyard rattled in its frame. The wind picked up, and his curtains started to drift a little in the draft that managed through.

  He moved to sit in one of the two high-backed chairs in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames. Sipping slowly at the wine Corina had given him, he let his mind go comfortably blank thanks to the alcohol and whatever it was she’d been dosing him with all day. When a knock came to his door, Keiran forced himself out of his daze and went to answer.

  Jerris was standing there with a bottle in his hand and a sheepish smile. He stood a few inches shorter than the prince, but they were only four days apart in age. The guard still possessed a youthful, lanky body, though, if his father was any indication, he’d fill out well as he matured. No one was quite sure where his trademark red hair had come from, though. Kanan had been blonde before going gray, and his mother had been as well. The young man sported a goatee that was even more orange than the hair on his head. That tended to get him mercilessly teased behind his back amongst the other guards.

  Jerris knew that Keiran tended to hide away alone when he could actually use the company. This prompted him to take it upon himself to pay a visit. “Time for your best friend and a drink or three?”

  Keiran gave a shrug and turned away from the door to return to his chair. He fell back into it heavily. It wasn’t that he was in a bad mood, really. He was just overwhelmed. Drinking more probably wasn’t the best course of action for the night, but for the time being, Keiran honestly didn’t care. In a week, he’d be king and staying up drinking with Jerris would probably have to be put on the back burner. Keiran wasn’t an alcoholic per se, but it did ease his constant malaise from the bloodlust.

  “Just lock the door behind you,” he said.

  The guard nodded and slipped in, doing as instructed before landing in the second chair present near the fire. He pulled the cork before offering the bottle to Keiran, who leaned forward and accepted it with an exhausted smile. He opted to forego bothering with the goblet he’d been using and brought the bottle up, drinking straight from it.

  Jerris let a few silent moments pass as Keiran took several drinks before passing the bottle back. Jerris tipped it up to his lips and then settled, looking over at the prince in the firelight.

  “Haven’t seen much of you since this afternoon,” Jerris said.

  Keiran looked to the side and made a small motion with his left hand, and then dropped it back into his lap. “Not really a whole lot for me to do. I mean, I suppose there is, but I figured that everyone sort of deserved a day or two to adjust to not having my father screaming at them. Besides, I’d feel out of place giving orders for the most part until after the coronation.”

  Jerris nodded a little and then gave a smirk, his dark blue eyes glinting. “I didn’t follow you into the throne room after we got the news, but I heard that you might have snapped a little bit at Peirte.”

  He gave a wry grin and raised a brow, looking over at Jerris. It had been the first time in his life that he’d ever faced down the councillor and actually pushed against him. Peirte was just fortunate that Keiran was generally a gentle creature. A lesser man may have unloaded on the councillor after a life of bullying in a far more severe and physical manner.

  “It felt pretty damn good. I figured the faster I let him feel a little castrated, the better. Sent him down into town to go notify the priests. I suppose he’s back by now?”

  Jerris thought for a few seconds, then shrugged. He was actually proud of his friend in not letting Peirte run wild. “I’m sure he is, though I haven’t seen him. Where else would he go, after all?”

  “Exactly, but who would want him around is more like it. We could hope that he would have run away from home, but I guess that’s about as likely as—” Keiran didn’t finish the thought, just reaching over and motioning for Jerris to give him the bottle again.

  When he got it back, he had another long drink of the guard’s bitter, homemade wine or whatever the drink quali
fied as. Keiran wasn’t certain what went into those bottles, only knowing that it was tended to vary between strong to virtually undrinkable. Luckily, this bottle seemed to fall somewhere in the middle.

  Jerris leaned sideways in his chair and propped his chin in his hand, watching Keiran drink. “What do you plan to do with him? Surely you won’t keep him as Grand Councillor.”

  His green eyes narrowed sharply and fixed on the bottle he held in his hands. The thought of what to do with Peirte had been on his mind all evening. Hoping for the man to just fade away gracefully was probably too much to ask. As much as he generally didn’t like conflict, direct confrontation was going to be the only way to get rid of him. Peirte was like an infected appendage to the country that needed to be cut off.

  “Absolutely not! I have some ideas on who I’d like to have replace him. Keeping the bastard isn’t in the stars. It’d serve him right for me to throw him in prison for the rest of his life, or to have him executed outright. I’ve seen firsthand the sorts of things he’s capable of, and I’m afraid that if he figured out that I planned to do either of those things that I’d need to be pretty heavily concerned for my own well-being. The man has always had an uncanny ability to know what everyone ever planned, even in private. I don’t know if it’s just an annoying gift on his part, or if he’s into something weird. I don’t care to speculate, honestly.”

  Grunting his ascent, Jerris leaned forward a little. “Keir, I’m afraid you should be damn worried about your well-being even without him knowing those things. I spoke with Corina earlier and we both—”

  Keiran frowned instantly and brought his gaze to bear on Jerris, one of his hands uncurling from the bottle and pointing right at him. “Don’t! I already know what she thinks, and I don’t want you to start in on it as well. If Peirte was going to do anything, he’d have to act alone unless he managed to hire some mercenary. No one in their right mind would side with him. I think we can handle it. And if I stay here, locked away, what harm can he do? This castle wouldn’t be easy to breech by some assassin. I’m sure Kanan has taken it upon himself to up the number of guards on active duty around the place.”