Traitors' Gate Read Free Page A

unannounced, but Christian could be in trouble.
Maybe he sustained a wound in the war and is in pain? I knock on the door and
it creaks open. I push it open further and find another sparse room, only this
one has two people in it.
    In the middle of the floor is Lord
Appleby. He is the one groaning. He is covered in blood and, when he sees me in
the doorway, he reaches a hand to me for help. Bending over him is Christian.
    “Christian?”
    When he looks up at me, the emotion
in his eyes is a mixture of shame and sadness, but I cannot keep my eyes on
his. Instead my attention is drawn to his mouth, which is smothered in blood.
He is drinking Lord Appleby.
    “Lucinda, I can explain!” he says,
wiping his mouth on a handkerchief.
    Lord Appleby flexes his fingers at
me, silently asking for help. Help he won’t get from me.
    “You don’t need to explain
anything. Just make sure he’s dead when you’re finished,” I say and I leave the
room, closing the door behind me. I go back down to the great hall and wait for
Christian to finish his breakfast.
    I’d heard stories of monsters that
drink blood, vampires. The stories had always intrigued me and, in France there
was plenty of talk about Count Dracula in Carpathia being one. How else could
he, a lowly knight with a tiny army be defeating the mighty Turks; he must be
either chosen by God or a bloodthirsty supernatural fiend.
    I don’t have to wait long before
Christian rushes into the room.
    “I’m so sorry you had to see that,
Lucinda. I thought you would sleep longer. I caught him out on my grounds and…”
    “You ate him.” I finish his excuse
with the obvious truth.
    “I would never harm you though, you
must believe that.”
    “Of course I do, I was practically
a lamb for the slaughter for you last night, and all you did was help me. I
trust you, Christian.”
    As I say that last sentence he
falls to his knees before me, “I have yet another confession,” he says.
    “You mean there is something else
other than you becoming a vampire?”
    “You’ll hate me now,” he whispers
and looks away.
    I can’t possibly imagine why I
would hate Christian. If that was going to happen it would have surely been
when I saw him fang deep in my horrible fiancé’s neck.
    “You can tell me anything,
Christian,” I say.
    “That’s the problem.” He reaches
over and gently takes my hands. He’s warmer than last night and flushed with
fresh blood and embarrassment “I’m not Christian.”
    I rip my hands from his. “What? Yes
you are, you’re in his house!”
    “I can understand the confusion.
But I didn’t actually introduce myself as Christian.”
    “What confusion? I’ve been calling
you Christian since we met. Why haven’t you corrected me?”
    I stand up and wobble a little. He
swiftly stands up and steadies me. “Please, I do know Christian. I served with
him. We fought for the White Rose together.”
    I can’t help myself. I slap him
hard across the face. He doesn’t even seem to feel it but my hand is stinging
like I’d shoved it into a stove. Fortunately my anger conceals my pain.
    “So, just to be clear, you’re fine
with the fact I’m a vampire, but not that I didn’t correct you about my name?”
    I slap him again.
    “Please, Lucinda you’re going to
hurt yourself.” He puts an arm about my shoulders and sits me back down.
    “Did you kill Christian?” I ask.
    “No, well, not really.”
    “Is he a vampire now too?”
    “Yes. It’s a long story.” He waves
me off like I should accept his answers. If I were still standing up, I would
have kneed him in the groin.
    “Shorten it,” I say.
    “Well, it was at the Battle of
Tewkesbury. Christian and I met during the battle. He was charged with keeping
Edward, Prince of Wales safe.”
    “But the prince died at
Tewkesbury.”
    “I know. The other lords blamed
Christian for it. Called him a traitor. They thought he’d made a deal with the
Red Rose.”
    “Had he?”
    “No, Christian