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.You have heard rumors and speculation of his existence for the past five and a half months.You have seen his photographs in countless magazines—which I will admit I was not too thrilled about.” There was polite laughter.“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Xavier Du Bussey, Master of the Territory, member of High Council, and Head of the House of Du Bussey.Xavier is also the Consort to Marcus Du Bussey.”The crowd broke out in a loud roar.Most of it wasn’t cheers for my good health.Holy crap! Reggie offered support by hanging onto my arm and digging his nails through my tux sleeve.“You have been a member of the High Council for over two hundred years, Claudius!”Claudius raised his hands, and it was like magic.The whole room went still.“I have kept Xavier from the Vampire Nation to give him time to learn our laws and some of our vast history.He mastered this well enough to satisfy me.” Claudius finally gestured over to me.“Xavier.”All eyes in the room turned and looked at Reggie.He waved his hands and backed up, pointing at me.“Thanks a lot.” I groused at him.“I’m just a human.Too many fangs in this room for my liking.”I walked over to Claudius’s side, hoping not to trip and fall on my face.He stood me in front of him and put his hands on my shoulders.I didn’t know if it were to comfort me or to keep me from bolting out of the room.I think it was the latter, because I shifted my weight, and his hands tightened on my collarbones.“You have had your time to hide in the shadows, Little Blue.Now, it is time to walk in the light.” He pulled the cat mask off my face.“Ladies and Gentlemen, Xavier Du Bussey, my Son.”A grey haired gentleman stepped forward and stood in front of the little stage.He scanned the crowd.Claudius had told me that High Councilor Thomas would verify everything.This must be him.“Since there be no challenge in this assembly of the Thirteen, as Highest of the Vampire Council, I declare…”“HOLD!”Claudius’s grip tightened on my shoulders, threatening to snap my collarbones again.We turned our eyes to the back of the ballroom.The crowd parted like the Red Sea, and there stood Armanita…and she had brought a football team with her.Holy crap.Unlike the rest of the crowd, Armanita was dressed to hand out some serious ass-kicking.She had on a black, skin-tight bodysuit accented with strategically placed Kevlar armor.Her blonde hair was now tied back, and she had a black headband over her forehead.She looked like she escaped from an 1980s workout video.I would have found it funny, except for the fact that Claudius’s hold had gotten tighter, and he tensed up behind me.What makes the former First of Assassins nervous? Not a hell of a lot, so this was not good.Armanita stalked forward through the crowd, her green eyed gaze never leaving mine.She stopped a couple of feet from Thomas.She raised her hand and beckoned me to her.“Grandson, come here.”I backed up into Claudius.I stammered out, “Are you psycho? Claudius will kill you.”A cool smile crossed her face.“He can try.You forget, Grandson, I am an Ancient.I am far older than he.I remember him when he was still wet behind the ears.He was such an embarrassment to the Lord Emperor’s court that he was banned from it for a hundred years.Claudius is no match for me.”Thomas stood between them but a healthy distance back.“Grandson? Armanita, explain yourself.”“I challenge Claudius Du Bussey for the right of Introduction.Sigmund Edward is the Blood heir to the Emperor’s throne.His lineage can be traced back to my daughter, our daughter, Lord Emperor Sigmund’s daughter, Lenore.Sigmund is my grandson by blood.That claim is stronger than any made by the Covenant.” Armanita’s gaze never left me.She was giving off some serious vibes, but there was an undercurrent of something dark as well.There was no way in hell I was taking a step towards her.“Don’t call me Sigmund.”“Since my claim comes from House of Von Drachenfeld, all titles and associations with any Red Houses are now null and void.”“Meaning?” I dropped my voice.“You are free, Sigmund.You are free from the House of Assassins, and you are single again, my Lord Emperor.”A restless murmur went through the room at the mention of the secret guild, its existence previously known to only a select few, including the three oldest members of the High Council, the High Elders.“No.” I tensed as if I was going to run at her.The muscles in my stomach clenched tight.Claudius pulled me back to his chest, an arm tightly around my shoulders.“Her claims mean nothing,” he whispered into my ear.Thomas stepped forward.“Bold statements, Armanita.Do you have proof of these claims?”Armanita gestured to a fullback off to her left, and he stepped forward to hand over a scroll.Who the hell writes calligraphy scrolls in this day and age? Thomas read the whole thing.Considering there had to be about two hundred vampires and a smattering of humans scattered throughout the assembly, there was not a sound.“This lineage has been verified.What of your claim that he is Lord Emperor? The Council knows of all the Blue Vampires who have survived the Cull.”That little tidbit of information got the assembly twittering.Claudius’s arms tightened again.I felt as if I were in the grip of a boa constrictor.Much more of this, and he was going to squeeze a vital organ out of me.“Marcus called me when he finished with the birth.I investigated and found his Fledgling to be both Blue Flame and…Blue Line.” Her voice was like a claxon calling out doom…for me.“Armanita, why are you doing this?” Claudius asked in a calm voice that didn’t match his death grip around me.“We have discussed…”She waved her hand at him in a silence motion as she cut Claudius off.“The House of Von Drachenfeld has survived all these eons.This is his birthright.I want to restore Sigmund to his heritage and to see his Great House return to prominence.”Sigmund Von Drachenfeld the Second.I don’t think so.My fear and dread were quickly being overtaken by my anger and disappointment.I met her gaze evenly.“This has nothing to do with you now being acknowledged as Mother of the Nation?”“Everything I do, I do for the survival of the Vampire Nation, our Blood Nation.Everything I have ever done has been for the good of the Nation.”“Why would you break up his mating?” Claudius demanded.“The Royal Line must continue.A male-to-male pairing will not secure the lineage that this Nation so desperately needs.”High Councilor Thomas finally stepped forward.“Councilor Armanita, you have never denied the fact that you were Lord Emperor Sigmund’s concubine.” Armanita’s face hardened for a moment, and I saw a flare of Red in her gaze.“Can you provide absolute proof that Xavier is what you claim? It is known that the Emperor’s bastard child, Lenore, was a Red Vampire
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Tematy
IndexChristine Rimmer [Talk of Nei The Reluctant Cinderella (epub)
Civil War in Poland, 1942 1948
Jared Diamond Collapse; How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2011)
Varley, John Blue Champagne
Magiczne Królestwo 05 Napar czarownic Brooks Terry
Warren Murphy Destroyer 051 Shock Value
Civil War Lucan
Przybyłek Marcin Gamedec 6 Czas silnych istot, tom 2
MAURYCY MOCHNACKI Powstanie Narodu Polskiego w 1830 i 1831 tom II
Zemsta James Ian St