Chương 16: A Princess on Her Knees

My usual place was on the second floor, seated above the gaming floor, where every guest could feel my presence whether they looked up or not. Distance had nothing to do with it. I could hear every whispered insult, every shuffled card, and every heartbeat stuttering beneath a silk waistcoat from anywhere in the building. However, people behaved differently when they knew someone was watching from above, especially when that someone was me.

The enormous chair Celeste had commissioned merely made the arrangement more dramatic. It was large, luxurious, and deeply unnecessary, with black carved wood, violet velvet, silver trim, a high back, and armrests shaped like curling vines. It was unmistakably a throne, although Celeste insisted it was "only a chair." Naturally, she had commissioned a matching one beside it. During business hours, Celeste rarely strayed far from my side.

She was my smiling, talkative, ledger-carrying shadow, armed with excellent taste and an infuriating ability to recognize my poor decisions before I had fully committed to them. Once the casino closed, however, most of her attention returned to Adrian. To be clear, he claimed her attention romantically. The family registry had already created complications when it came to our personal relationships. Unfortunately, a vampire's heightened senses made certain aspects of their marriage impossible to ignore.

Exceptional hearing could be a weapon, an early warning, or evidence that the gods possessed a particularly cruel sense of humor. After the third time I overheard something from across our living quarters that no mother should ever hear from two people who insisted upon calling her "Mother," I ordered their bedchamber moved to the farthest wing of the estate. I also had the walls reinforced, the doors thickened, and Celeste cover the entire room in layers of silence magic.

She laughed throughout the process, and Adrian didn't apologize. That was marriage, apparently. He got all the fun from being with Celeste, and I got her everything else. How lucky… A tiny and deeply unpleasant part of me envied them. I envied their certainty, the ease with which Celeste's hand found his, and the way Adrian watched her without ever seeming possessive. Eighty years had passed, yet they still looked at one another as though death had only made their love more stubborn.

Then I remembered Lord Silas Vane, my father, my mother, Elias, and the word"wife" spoken like the terms of a sale contract. The feeling usually passed. Below us, the casino floor glowed beneath violet chandeliers. Music drifted through the hall, quiet enough not to disturb the games yet rich enough to make the wealthy feel elegant while they lost their fortunes. Cards snapped against tables, dice rolled across polished wood, and coins clinked into growing piles.

Servants moved between the guests with trays of wine, blood-warm meats, sugared fruits, and enough smiling patience to deserve sainthood. Celeste sat in the chair beside mine with a ledger open across her lap. She was pretending to review the accounts, which meant she was also listening to six conversations at once, tracking three nobles with outstanding debts, and preparing to tell me something she knew I would find annoying. I could feel it coming.

"Mother." There it was.

"No."

"You don't even know what I'm about to say."

"You used that tone." Celeste looked at me with exaggerated innocence.

"What tone?"

"The one you use whenever you're attempting to introduce another person into my life." Her smile widened.

"That is remarkably specific."

"It happens often enough to require specificity." She leaned closer until her shoulder nearly brushed mine. Below us, Adrian stood beside the lower railing with two members of his security team, keeping watch over the gaming floor where threats could be noticed and mistakes stopped before they became disasters. He was rarely at my side during business hours, and whenever he joined us, he naturally settled on Celeste's other side, as though the universe had assigned him that place long ago.

Celeste lifted her chin toward the eastern gaming tables.

"Do you see the young woman wearing the veil?" she asked.

"The one with brunette hair pinned into a bun at the back of her head?"

"I see several veiled women. Most of them are hiding debts, lovers, or bruises."

"This one is hiding a crown." That captured slightly more of my attention, only slightly…

"That's Princess Vera Stonehaven," Celeste revealed, clearly pleased with herself.

"She's the second princess of the kingdom." I hummed. It was a remarkably useful sound, capable of conveying interest, annoyance, agreement, dismissal, or simply that I had heard her and chosen not to reward the effort with words. Celeste understood every possible meaning and ignored them all.

"I've spoken with her several times," she explained.

"She has quite the head on her shoulders."

"A tragic burden for a royal."

"She's not like her siblings."

"That's what people say whenever they want me to tolerate someone's existence." Celeste released a patient sigh.

"Mother."

"You know what friends lead to."

"Yes. Attachment, grief, excuses, awkward disappearances, and eventually pretending you misplaced someone for thirty years because they noticed you don't age." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Her lips twitched.

"I'm aware."

"Then why are we discussing a princess?"

"Because she is clever, lonely, and far kinder than this court deserves." Celeste paused before adding, "I also believe she has something in common with you." That earned her my full gaze. Celeste smiled, naturally.

"Oh?" Her lips parted, but before she could answer, one of Adrian's men raised his hand below. My attention immediately shifted toward him. The guard was stationed near table seven. He didn't shout or make a scene. Adrian had trained his people better than that. Instead, he raised two fingers, turned his wrist once, and indicated a young man seated at the table with the barest motion. Adrian noticed the signal as well. His eyes shifted toward the table.

Celeste was still speaking, but her words slid into the background. That happened often when she talked for too long. I loved Celeste. I truly did, in my own refined and emotionally constipated fashion, but she possessed a talent for turning a simple observation into a parade complete with banners. This time, however, I wasn't ignoring her out of habit. I had seen something. A hand moved with a speed and smoothness that was almost beautiful.

The young man seated at table seven had red hair that was as wild as fire and twice as poorly behaved. He wore clean but inexpensive commoner's clothing and sat among men who possessed more money than sense. His fingers passed near the deck in a motion so subtle that most humans would never have noticed it. A card shifted. Adrian's guard had seen the movement. That was truly impressive. The guard was human. He was trained, certainly, but still human.

For him to catch sleight of hand that quick, he was either exceptionally skilled or remarkably fortunate. I made a mental note to increase his wages, provided the situation didn't become irritating. Then I noticed the marked card, and whatever interest I had felt vanished beneath a sudden chill. Celeste fell silent as I rose from my chair.

"Mother?" I stepped onto the railing. The musicians faltered first, followed by the dealers and then the guests. Silence spread across the casino as I dropped from the second floor and landed lightly upon the polished stone below. No one dared breathe too loudly. I crossed the gaming floor toward table seven. The young man looked up only once before immediately lowering his eyes. His heartbeat thundered inside his chest. There was fear in it, which was sensible.

Any creature with even a modest desire to live should've feared me. Beneath that fear, however, was something else. It wasn't guilt, but concern. The question was, concern for whom? Adrian reached the table from the opposite side, his expression as calm and cold as winter. The guard who had signaled him stood nearby, his face pale but his posture steady. Celeste followed from above and landed with far more grace than I cared to compliment.

Her skirts settled around her as though gravity had made special arrangements on her behalf. The red-haired man slowly rose from his chair. At least, he attempted to. Two of Adrian's guards had already taken their places behind him.

"What is your name?" I questioned. He swallowed before answering.

"Malcolm."

"Just Malcolm?" His jaw tightened.

"Yes."

"How humble." His eyes flicked toward someone behind me. I turned my head just far enough to see the veiled princess sitting rigidly at a nearby table, her hands clenched together in her lap. The situation had progressed from interesting to extremely interesting. I returned my attention to Malcolm and lifted the marked card between two fingers.

"Do you know what happens to cheaters in my casino, Just Malcolm?"

"I didn't cheat."

"They all say that."

"I know." That answer nearly saved him from my temper…

"You were seen touching the deck."

"I was reaching for my wager."

"Do you expect me to believe the marked card appeared through divine intervention?"

"No." His voice tightened.

"I expect you to believe someone placed it there." A ripple of murmurs moved through the surrounding guests. I smiled, although there was no kindness in it.

"You've chosen to accuse my establishment now? You're a bold little man." His face paled, but this time his gaze didn't fall.

"Not your establishment." He blurted out. Adrian's eyes sharpened. Celeste stood close beside me.

"Someone at the table," Malcolm clarified in a lower voice. One of the noblemen seated nearby laughed far too loudly.

"That's absurd. The boy was caught." One glance silenced him. A proper investigation could've followed, and eventually it would. A false accusation inside my casino was more than a crime. It was an insult wrapped in stupidity. Unfortunately, anger had already taken hold. Before Malcolm could react, I crossed the distance between us and seized him by the throat. Gasps scattered across the room. I lifted him effortlessly until his boots left the floor.

His hands clamped around my wrist while his pulse hammered beneath my palm. Air struggled through his tightening throat in a thin, broken rasp.

"You dare bring cheating into my house." His face reddened before slowly beginning to pale, yet his gaze still drifted past me. He ignored the doors and the guards entirely, fixing his attention instead upon the veiled girl.

"Don't," he choked. A chair scraped sharply against the floor behind me.

"Wait!" The voice cracked through the room like glass striking marble. The veiled young woman rose so quickly that her chair nearly toppled behind her. Her veil slipped loose, falling away from her face and drifting toward the floor. Her brown hair was pinned into a careful bun. Her frightened eyes were wide, and her lovely face had gone pale with terror. The room recognized her before I cared to. Whispers erupted throughout the casino.

"Princess Vera?"

"The second princess?"

"What's she doing here?" Malcolm's fingers tightened weakly around my wrist.

"Vera... no..." Foolish boy. Nothing encouraged a woman to speak faster than the man she loved begging her to remain silent. The princess stepped forward and then, to the horror of every noble in the room, lowered herself to her knees.

"I'm Vera Stonehaven," she declared, her voice trembling but clear.

"I'm the second princess of this kingdom, and I ask House Vaust to release him." The entire room fell silent. Even the dice seemed to stop rolling in other people's hands. I looked down at her.

"A princess kneeling inside my casino for someone far below her station. How wonderfully scandalous."

"I will pay for anything he's accused of taking," Vera offered quickly.

"Any debt, insult, or loss. Please release him." Malcolm struggled to form another warning.

"Don't... do this..." Vera's eyes shone, but she refused to look away from me.

"He didn't cheat."

"You seem remarkably certain."

"I am."

"Love makes people stupid."

"Then I would rather be stupid than silent." It was a decent answer. Celeste stepped closer. She didn't move in front of me because she knew better. Instead, she remained at my side, close enough to keep her voice soft.

"Mother." I didn't look toward her. Malcolm's pulse was weakening beneath my fingers.

"Mother," Celeste repeated more quietly.

"Release him for now, please. This should be discussed in private." Over the years, my heart had softened toward her a little. It was only a fraction, but still a humiliating amount that I would deny before any court, church, god, monster, or tax official. I released Malcolm. He crashed onto the floor, coughing violently as one hand clutched his throat. Vera surged toward him before remembering herself and stopping halfway, trapped between royal dignity and raw panic. Adrian moved first. He didn't strike Malcolm.

Instead, he crouched, caught him by the arm, and hauled him upright with controlled strength.

"Breathe slowly," Adrian instructed. Malcolm glared at him through watering eyes. The corner of Adrian's mouth twitched.

"Or do not. Passing out will work too." Vera looked toward Celeste, and there was recognition in her expression.

"Lady Celeste," Vera whispered. Celeste offered her a small, reassuring nod.

"Princess." I narrowed my eyes at them.

"You two know each other." Celeste folded her hands neatly in front of herself.

"I did mention that before you stopped listening."

"I was occupied with preventing a crime."

"You were choking a man."

"Efficiently." Adrian looked toward the marked card still held between my fingers.

"We should clear the room." I turned toward the crowd. Every noble, merchant, officer, gambler, servant, and parasite in the hall abruptly found the floor fascinating.

"Continue playing." No one moved. My smile sharpened.

"That wasn't a suggestion." The casino sprang back to life at once. Cards resumed moving across the tables, dice began rolling, and the musicians restarted with frantic enthusiasm. Conversations returned in strained whispers, while every person present pretended not to watch as we escorted a half-choked man and the second princess of Stonehaven toward the private rooms. Celeste walked beside Vera, close enough to steady her without making the gesture obvious.

Adrian kept Malcolm at his side while I walked ahead of them. Apparently, my evening had decided to become interesting.