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“Because…Lucy, you know how I was raised. Vampires killed my mother. I thought they’d killed you, and now I’ve been taken from my home against my will. Why would I ever…” Even as she spoke the words Mina knew they were losing their weight by the second. She’d indeed been raised to hate vampires, but the vampires her father had taught her to fear, and hate were not the ones she’d encountered at court. Their description certainly didn’t fit Vlad.
“All I ask,” Lucy said, appearing out of the closet with an outfit draped over her arm, “is that you keep an open mind.”
“I’ll try,” Mina agreed, giving her a small smile.
“Everything here should be the right size, if not, we can have them tailored,” she said, running her fingers over the fabric of a bright blue and gold jacket she had laid out with the black pants, and white shirt. The outfit wasn’t much different from hers, but instead of closing the jacket was made to hang loose on her, and open like a cape.
“Would you like your leather corset or a new one? I wasn’t sure.”
Mina brushed her fingers over the fabric of the jacket. It was a beautiful color that reminded her of Vlad’s eyes. “Did Vlad pick these out?”
“Vlad? Is that what you’ve been calling him?” Lucy chuckled. “I’m sure helovesthat.”
Mina frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You know his full name right?” She asked, wandering back towards the closet. “King Erik Vladislav Dracul.”
“Of course,” Mina said. “It’s one of the first things I was taught about the vampires. I’d be a poor princess if Ididn’tknow.”
“Do you know what that name means?” She asked as she disappeared inside the closet.
“No? Is there a special meaning to it?” Mina’s frown deepened as she dropped her sheet to start dressing.
“It means King Erik of the Vampires in Old Nilumarian,” she said. “Erik’s birth name was Erik Tepes.”
“So, Vladislav Dracul. Means King of the Vampires?” Mina frowned, slipping the shirt Lucy had picked out over her head.
“Yes. And you calling him Vlad means…”
A shock went through Mina’s mind and her cheeks burned for the hundredth time since she’d arrived. “I’ve been calling him King. This whole time.”
Lucy came out of the closet holding a corset, looking sheepish. “So, it would seem.”
“I didn’t know.”
“There’s no reason why you would’ve known,” she said, coming around behind her and wrapping the leather around her chest.
Mina held her breasts in place until the ties were tight enough and then scrubbed her hands over her face. She’d kill him for letting her call him that. She’d called him that while they were having sex. “Do you know where he is this morning?”
“Ummm, I believe he said he had a meeting with the trading guild when I passed him in the hall on my return from breakfast.”
Mina grunted as Lucy pulled the ties of her corset tight. “And where would that be taking place?”
“Why?” She asked. “What do you have in mind?”
“He let me call him king last night, and never said a word. King or not, I think he should be punished for that, don’t you?” Mina chuckled.
“Punished how?” Lucy asked, picking up the blue jacket. “Is this plan of yours going to get us into trouble?”
“Only the best kind of trouble,” she said, slipping her arms into the warm sleeves.
“Well, if the plan is mischief, then we’ll need to make you look as divine as we can. Men always forgive beautiful women. Especially ones they lust after.”
Mina laughed, and after another hour of Lucy combing, and twisting her hair into loose waves that framed her face like a lion’s mane, the two of them marched down the halls of the palace arm in arm. Mina had never felt so comfortable or confident in her life. Every person they passed watched in wonder, their curiosity almost palpable in the air.
They reached the library where Lucy said the king had his guild meetings and the guards at the door crossed their spears.
“What’s this now?” Mina asked, squaring her shoulders, letting go of Lucy’s arm.
