JEREMIAH

I was looking forward to all this buzz dying down. The palace had become noisy. All our staff were twice as busy getting ready for the welcome banquette. Mother was pulling me around helping her pick out foods and colors for fabrics of dresses to make for her. I knew Mother was going overboard because she never had a girl herself, but this was ridiculous. Between her and my usual classes I had no time to spend reading or to hang out with Kenneth. My friend was working so many hours. His father was the head cook and since he was getting old, Kenneth was responsible for a lot more than he used to be.

“Jer, which would you like better?” Mother asked. They were holding up swatches of fabric for the welcome banners that would be hung up tomorrow.

“I don’t know,” I said as I looked at the two pieces being shoved at me. The two seamstresses looked tired. One held up a blue silky fabric and the other held up a soft green linen. “I like blue better.”

“Fine, blue it is.” Mother waved them away and started to rush towards the meeting hall. I bowed in thanks as the two seamstresses turned to start on the banners. “We need to make sure everyone will be at the palace at the right time for when she comes as well. Your cousins are even down,” she muttered. I frowned deeply at the thought of my cousins visiting. She turned to me once again before she slipped through the threshold. “Ah, Jer, speaking of your cousins, please go tell Lunette that she cannot display any problematic behavior to scare the princess. She can be so unruly at times.”

I let my arms drop in disappointment. “I don’t want to go see Lunette, she’s mean to me,” I complained.

“That’s why you need to keep her in check. If she’s mean to you, she won’t be mean to the princess.” Mother gave me a cruel smile and laughed as she shut the heavy door behind her.

“I’m sure Elisif can keep her in line,” I grumbled under my breath. I crossed my arms and ignored my mother’s request. Instead I slipped away to the library. If I could get away just for a little bit it could tide me over for the rest of the week.

I rushed over to one of the shelves and started to browse. Some books were newly bound and some had old cracked spines. I personally liked the old ones the best. They were harder to understand at times, but often offered the most rich information. And no matter what language they were in I could read them with ease. I was really thankful for my blessing when I discovered how much I loved reading.

I tucked a few dusty old tombs under my arm and headed to the very back of the library. Usually only the scribes would work back here, but I figured it would take my family longer to find me that way. Especially if I hid behind this shelf.

I smiled at my excellent hiding spot as I plopped down in a very secluded corner. I leaned up against the cool stone behind me and cracked open a particularly thick leather-bound book. I had picked out quite a few books about dragons. I really wanted to try and hatch the egg. I would do my research and then lift the egg back from Malachi. He wasn’t very creative with hiding spots. I could picture right now where he was trying to hide it. I shook my head, laughing to myself, and got to reading.

I was barely a page in when talking drew my attention off the page. I was mildly annoyed but I couldn’t help but listen. The whispers sounded urgent and purposeful, making ignoring them impossible.

“The princess is on her way as we speak. We’ll need to see about her second blessing,” one man whispered to another.

“And you’re sure she has two blessings,” another voice whispered back. “One that can rid us of-“

“Two blessings?” I gasped. Both men stopped when they heard something. I clasped my hand over my mouth and peaked through the books on the shelf. One man was rushing out of view and the other was one I recognized immediately.

Master Ivar. He was a very angled man, all sharp points and no round edges. His ears were exceptionally long and pointed, more pointed than even an elf’s. His eyes were beady and unsettling. He was the master scribe and a very informed historian. He gave me lessons every Monday and Thursday. He was looking around to try and find where my gasp had come from. If he didn’t find me though, there was no need to expose myself. I had the idea that I heard something I wasn’t supposed to. I was scared looking at him now. If he found me, he would do worse than scold me, I was sure of it.

I would definitely have to ask Malachi about this later though. If the princess really did have two blessings, it would mean a lot. To have a ruling human queen was insulting to a lot of vampires. If they found out the gods blessed her twice, maybe everything would be better for them.