“So, what, Vampirie just came in and kicked Drake out?”

“Yes. Then rounded up a number of vampires—any who had committed offences in the past—and handed them over to Lilith. She kept these vampires as food for the next few years—ridding the world, once again, of around three quarters of the population of vampires.”

“Wow, and…where did Drake go?”

“He and Anandene disappeared for a while.”

“And then what? How did he come to kill Lilith?”

“Some years later, Drake returned to Loslilian and reunited with his sister. The family feud had healed and all was well, for a while. But Anandene was a well-known, very powerful witch, and when she learned of the Stone’s powers, sought to use it to cast a great spell.”

“What kind of spell?”

“I don't know. I only know that Lilith warned her this spell would bring a curse down on the lands.”

“Why?”

“Because it was black magic—used for personal gain, not for good.”

“And the Stone doesn’t condone that?”

“No.” He laughed. “It doesn't.”

“So, what happened then?”

Arthur looked at his watch. “Anandene went behind Lilith’s back. She used the Stone and, sure enough, a plague hit. Many people died. In a desperate attempt to right the wrong, Lilith went to her father. He told her the life that cast the curse must be given back to the Stone.”

“Anandene?”

“Yes.”

“Lilith had to kill her?”

“On the Stone. Yes.”

“Did she?”

Arthur hesitated. “This story, my dear, is not the one you will read in books—nor is it the one you will be told, should you ask Morgaine. And I do hope this will stay between us.”

I nodded. “But, why doesn't anyone know this story?”

“They know what Drake wanted them to know. All this I have learned over the centuries by doing some digging—drawing conclusions. I may have some of the story wrong. But it has been kept a secret, for reasons unknown to me, and I intend to do the same—until I piece everything together.”

“Okay. I won't tell anyone.”

“Be sure you don't.”

“So…did she do it? Did Lilith kill Drake’s wife?”

“To begin with, Drake actually offered his life in place of Anandene.”

“And Lilith agreed?”

Arthur nodded. “But when he went to the forest to die, Lilith had him captured—locked away under hold of Created Lilithian venom. When he woke from a nightmare, hearing his beloved scream, he was released to a healed world—the curse lifted, Anandene cold in the ground.”

I covered my mouth. “So, he wanted Lilith dead because she killed Anandene?”

“Yes.”

I let out the breath I’d kept inside for too long. “Wow, well, that’s a different spin on the story to what Morg gave me.”

“I know. Try not to listen too closely to what she says. She…Drake gives titbits of information he wants you to have for some greater purpose of his own. She believes he let slip the story about the coming of a Pure Blood and a prophecy, but I don't believe he is that careless.”

“So, you think he wanted her to set up a knighthood—set up hope for the Lilithians?”

“I cannot even begin to understand his strategy, and I have exhausted myself trying. All I can do now, Princess, is try to stop him.”

I laughed inside that he called me Princess. “So, did the other Set leaders know about Anandene?”

“For some reason, no. When I approached even the World Council leaders, they knew nothing of her death.”

“How can that be? Weren’t you all some kind of brotherhood?”

“Yes.”

“So, how can you know, but they didn't?”

“These proceedings occurred here in the United States, and the world was a much bigger place then, Amara, gossip did not travel the way it does today. Our only method of communication was via letters.”

“So, they just never got on the grapevine?”

“Grapevine?”

I laughed. “It’s my dad’s term—for being in the loop.”

His eyes narrowed. “Hm.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I sat back a bit then and rubbed open palms over my cold thighs. “I don't understand how Drake kept it a secret all this time—to the point were Miss Nosey herself doesn't even know.”

“Miss nosey?”

“Morgaine.”

Arthur laughed. “Well, there was no one left to tell the story. Morgaine lived in Paris at that time and, within a month of Anandene’s death, any who knew she passed were dead.”

“Vampires too?”

“Yes.”

“How? If Drake killed Lilith, how did he kill the vampires without her venom?”

“He used the only remaining stores we had.”

“Oh.” I looked down at my sandy feet. “So, he obviously went to great lengths to keep this a secret?”

“Yes.”

“So, Morgaine doesn't know any of this—at all—not even one bit?”

“No. Even Lilith kept what Anandene did and what she did to Anandene a secret from the greater population in the weeks before Drake came for her.”

“And, what about Walter? And Margret. They were on Lilith’s Council then? Do they know?”

“No. That is why they’re still alive. They were living human lives at the time and hadn’t seen Lilith for some years.”

“Hang on. So that’s why Drake stormed Loslilian and killed everyone—because they all knew Lilith killed Anandene?”

Arthur sat back a little. “For the most part, I believe so.”

I sat back too, feeling a bit more alert, a bit more awake now. “Wow. Devious little bugger, isn't he?”

“My dear, there is so much deception going on around here, I'm beginning to think myself an illusion.”

I laughed. “Maybe you are.”

“Well, one cannot be an illusion and a traitor,” he said mockingly.

“You’re not a traitor.” I bumped him softly with my shoulder. “But I think you have some grand plan—some reason you’re here that you’re not telling me.”

“Perhaps. But until I figure out what everyone else’s plans are—and where, in the midst of it all, you sit, I will keep those plans to myself.”

“I'm queen. I sit on the top,” I said proudly, and Arthur smiled.

“Amara, the queen very rarely sits on top. You have all the power, but you will come to find that, essentially, you make very few of the decisions.”

“So I'm a puppet?”

He cupped my hand in both of his. “But you are not alone. I will not see them control you.”

“I didn't realise they were.” I frowned at the distant cliffs.

“I know. And this is why I watch from the sidelines, rather than to step in and make my point known. Very few people notice a pawn while the Bishops are rallying around the queen.”

“And very few ever worry about the king, either, do they?”

“No. And I imagine, if David were here right now, he would be operating things from behind the scenes somewhere—unnoticed.”

“You think?”

“I know.” Arthur nodded. “He always knew how to play a hand, make you think you’d won until he blew you out of the water. He was under Drake’s rule long enough to pick up some clever strategies.”

I smiled. “Yeah. When he died, I found myself waiting for him to come back—hoping it was just some kind of ploy, you know, that maybe he found out about immunity before I did and was just faking his death.”

Arthur gently rubbed his hand against his heart. “When I first discovered immunity, I had hoped the same thing.”

“Did you ever go back?” I asked delicately. “To the chamber. Did you ever go see his remains?”

He shook his head. “I wanted to. I wanted to sweep them from the fireplace and set them free on the wind, but I couldn’t bring myself to open that door.” His eyes pooled with the agony of that memory. “That was once a room of gathering where, when I was a child, my father and mother would invite our guests to dine and dance. To reach that door and find myself unable to enter was the final straw for me. I left the castle and haven’t returned.”

“I'm so sorry, Arthur.”

His mouth moved as if he was going to say something, but he didn't.

“Hey, maybe when we get rid of Drake, you can refurbish it and make it grand again,” I suggested.

“It will not change the fact that I've seen so many die there—many of those being people I loved.”

I couldn’t help but to smile then, thinking about what Arthur said before. “You must have known him pretty well—like, better than he knew himself.”

“Who?”

“David. To know he’d be working in the background, using his queen as a pawn—a distraction from what he was really doing.” I shook my head, dusting some sand off my leg. “If he was alive, that’s exactly what he’d do.”

Arthur reached across and, using his thumb, swept a piece of dried seaweed away from my ankle. “I know. And I like that you knew him well enough to know that, too. I'm glad he found you.”

“Me too.” I thought back to the school football field—David's secret smile, his hair with the gold tones in the summer sun and the vibrant green of his eyes that turned blue when we made love. “Hey, Arthur?”

“Yes, my dear.”

“If Peter loved Lilith enough to marry her, why did he betray her?”

“Power,” he said simply. “Drake was well-known for his significant, paranormal skills, and Peter wanted something.”

“So he sold the information?”

“Something like that.”

“What did he ask for?”

“The power to transform into any creature he desired, so he could stalk the homes of men, feed from them, unnoticed.”

“Really? For blood? That's it?”

“Yes.” Arthur scratched the base of his ear and took a breath. “You have to understand, he was a vampire, his heart was not changed by the love of a human—still driven by the raw, voracious blood-obsession.”

“And what did Drake do—did he give him the power?”

“Yes. He did. And after Lilith’s death, Peter disappeared.”

“Where did he go?”

“No one knows. Some have whispered that he’s the white dog we call Petey, but it’s all speculation—no way to be certain.”

“Wow. Petey? A vampire?”

“Like I said, it’s a rumour—a very old one. One I personally do not believe.” Arthur brought his arms forward and dusted the sand off his hands.

“So, how did Peter actually discover Lilith could die? Like, what brought him to discover her head could be chopped off?”

“They had a certain amount of abhorrence between them.” He coughed into his hand. “It was a love of raw passion, filled with neurotic hate.”

“So, what? He just chopped off her head one day?”

“Well, he had no reason to believe it would come off. He was merely trying to cut her—”

“Ew. That's so awful.”

Arthur smiled and nodded.

“Well, I bet he regrets that decision now,” I said.

“I imagine he would, if he is, in fact, alive—perhaps a dog.”

“Oh, he’s a dog,” I said. “Maybe not Petey, but he’s a dog all right—a dirty, mangy mutt.”

“Be mindful not to judge, Amara. Until you have endured the path of those you scorn, your opinion should remain unvoiced.”

“Hmpf!” I scoffed. “Don’t you ever get exhausted being so fanatical about this judge not stuff?

“Yes.” Arthur laughed warmly. “I actually do.”

After a deep, calm breath, I looked up at the darkening sky. I felt better now—lighter, not so clouded. “Thank you, Arthur. I really needed to talk to someone.”

“Well, Prin—my queen.” He chuckled then and took my fingers in his. “Anytime you need a sympathetic ear, I will drop whatever I am doing and come to your aid—you need only look at me with those pretty eyes, and I'm all yours.”

“Thanks.”

“Like I said, anytime.”

“Hey, Arthur?”

“Yes, my dear.”

“If I can get Mike to agree, would you be on my Private Council?”

He smiled widely. “Oh, my dear, it would be a great privilege, and it is an honour that you even asked, but…I must decline.”

“Why?”

“Because I believe I am of more use to you by being a friend.”

“That doesn't make sense.”

“Perhaps not to you, but—” he paused for a long time, his eyes shifting with what I thought were several different directions of conversation. “I care for you, and I am here to see you become a great queen. Despite that…I’ve been forced to keep some secrets, Amara, and I know you will trust me when I say this is for your own good. However, if I were on your Private Council, I would be obligated to tell you such things.”

“Like what?”

He smirked. “You’re missing the point of the word secret.”