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Luc scoffed. “Please! He’d served his sentence, they were just keeping him there. The warden admitted as much to me.”

I found this hard to believe. I wondered if he had used his special powers of convincing on the warden. Not that it mattered. I agreed with him. My father had served his time.

“While I was there, I asked him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“What? We still do that?” I asked surprised.

“We do where I come from,” Luc said.

“And what did he say?” I asked.

My dad grinned. “I asked him what sort of prospects he had. I was rather satisfied with his answer.”

“So you gave your blessing?”

He nodded with a grin. “I did indeed.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “To a vampire?”

He shrugged. “Seems like you can teach an old dog new tricks,” he said.

All of us had to laugh at that.

Chapter 30

Luc

Shortly before the wedding, I was called to the Capital by the new king, Vermont. I contemplated not going, but out of respect for his father, I made the trip to the Castle. He greeted me outside, waiting for me as I arrived.

It looked well on him, the new role. He was young and inexperienced, but there was a wary attitude about him that I liked. He was not naïve and he was not walking into the royal bedroom with stars in his eyes. He knew it would be a difficult job.

“Thanks for coming to see me,” he said.

“Your highness,” I bowed my head slightly.

He smiled. “Nah, we don’t have to do that.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Let’s walk,” he said and we took a tour of the gardens, which I had never fully seen in all my years of being at the Castle.

“I wanted to ask you to become my Special Advisor.”

I started shaking my head but he held up a hand.

“You know, my father spoke to me about a year ago. About succession. He said he was dying and he wanted me to be king. I said I didn’t want it, told him to offer it to Dano. He said the best leaders were those who didn’t want it. That is why they should do it. They understand what is involved. That it’s not about the power and the money.”

I nodded. Then he said, “He told me Taheera was sleeping with Matteo”

“So he knew all along, and you did too?”

He nodded. “He was worried about her. He thought she was the one poisoning him. Power hungry, already loving the status she had. She was alienating some of the families in her attempts to consolidate her power but she was so divisive. That is why they wouldn’t back us in the war,” he paused. “I know I must bring all of us together again. Unite us.”

He added, “But I need help. Your help.”

I shook my head.

“And I trust you,” he went on. “I don’t trust a lot of people here and I respect that you are starting a new life in the North but be a Special Advisor. Please. Every now and then, come walk with me, advise me.”