“You… this is new.” I clenched my fists at my side and my wings twitched behind me as I fought the urge to shadow out of this space.
Acting rashly would just invite the queen’s wrath, which was the last thing I needed right now.
“Is it?” She raised a brow. “I must have forgotten to mention it.”
Forgotten.
As if a Binding was something one could forget.
My mind stuttered. I couldn’t think properly. “But Mother,” I protested, “a Binding Ceremony?”
“Yes, my son,” she said dryly. “I’m sure you are aware that the Binding Ceremony is a sacred event that brings two souls together beneath Isvana’s touch.”
“I know what a Binding is,” I growled. “This type of commitment can’t be broken! It’s…”
My voice trailed off as I remembered who I was speaking with, but the word echoed in my mind.
Eternal.
Vampires didn’t have mating bonds like elves or fae, but Binding Ceremonies were about as close as we could get.
Queen Marguerite raised a manicured brow and pinned me with her steely gaze. Her heavy satin gown—a study in black, like her soul—was an elaborately made garment that probably cost the kingdom thousands of coins. There were humans starving to death in the northern villages, and yet she was dressing like Eleyta didn’t have any monetary issues.
If she was anyone else, I would have said something. But she was the queen. Since I valued keeping my head on my shoulders, I swallowed my words.
Gritting my teeth, I stared at the enormous red ruby encased in gold hanging around Mother’s pale neck. I had never seen her without it.
“Do you have a better idea, son of my blood?” Her voice was infuriatingly calm as she reclined on the sofa, and it did nothing to calm the frustration roiling through my veins.
I wished she would fight with me. Right now, her indifference made it seem as though my anger was ridiculous, as though I should have no qualms about Binding myself to a human.
The only ridiculous thing here was the notion that I would accept this Binding without fighting back. I had so many misgivings, I could fill an entire book with them. This was absolutely notwhat I signed up for.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I opened my mouth and hoped for words of inspiration to strike me.
I waited.
And waited.
My wings twitched, but the words never came.
“Well, Sebastian?” Mother asked.
The problem was, there wasn’t any way for me to argue with her. Not really. She could force me to do this, and I knew from first-hand experience that those methods were both extremely unpleasant and undesirable.
I drew in a breath, shaking my head. “No, Your Majesty. I don’t have a better idea.”
She smirked. “That’s what I thought. Besides,”—she leaned in, winking as though we were simply sharing a secret between friends and she wasn’t ordering me to tie my eternal life to that of a human I had never officially met—“we both know you have a reputation with the females.”
Ignoring that comment—my so-called reputation was part of my carefully crafted exterior created to ensure that everyone feared the Prince of Darkness—I groaned. “The marriage isn’t a problem, Mother.”
“But the Binding is?” she asked, raising a brow.
“It is,” I replied.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew they were the wrong ones to say. Mother’s dark eyes flashed, and my spine tingled.
A dozen curses flew through my mind. She pushed herself to her feet, crossing her arms over her chest as her black gown spread out around her.