Mark of Betrayal by A. M. Hudson Page A

catching the slight hint of my vanilla honey hand cream as I did. “We’ll get started freeing them after dinner.”
    “ So soon?”
    “ Yes. Why wait?”
    “ Because you haven’t thought this through.”
    My mouth popped open. “What would you know about what I have and have not thought through! I have thought about this—for a long time, Arthur. And I—”
    “ Amara, the prisoners held here are the most vile creatures—locked away for their inhumane behaviour. These are the worst kinds of vampires.”
    I softened. “What did they do?”
    “ Mostly, they are ones who massacred humans without need, disgracefully disposed of them or tortured them. Some of them are rapists, some, worse than that.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yes, did you think we allowed vampires to violate basic human rights?”
    “ Yes.”
    He shook his head. “We had laws, Amara. We had respect among our community—honour, principles—brutal crimes were punished.”
    “ But, when Jason kidnapped me, at the Masquerade, he said he was allowed to mutilate his kill any way he saw fit.”
    Arthur smiled. “He was just trying to frighten you.”
    “ So, you aren’t allowed to mutilate us?”
    “ In some ways, we are, but there are limits. You see, fear makes the blood warmer, so scaring a human a little is deemed acceptable, but, in the cases we store below, what they did went beyond a little fear.”
    “ And Jason kidnapping me didn’t?”
    Arthur swallowed. “Not according to our standards.”
    “ What about your own, personal standards?”
    “ My dear, it is purely because you are a friend and I care for you that I see what my nephew did as unacceptable. Had he raped you, I would have skinned him alive, whether you were a friend or not, but, other than that…I’m sorry, he did not hurt you enough to justify imprisonment. And don’t look at me that way—I had to see the same look on David’s face the day Drake made that ruling.”
    I looked down at my feet.
    “ Amara?” He took my hand, his tone commanding I look at him; it was hard to see now with only a dim light on the distant horizon, while pale lamps stepped in where the sun failed. “Jason never had any intentions of—” He inched closer, swallowing. “He was never going to rape you. He—”
    “ Yes. I know.”
    There was a shift then, in energy; I felt it. “ How did you know?”
    “ He told me.”
    “ When?”
    “ The night of Karnivale.”
    “ You talked that night?”
    “ Mm-hm.” I nodded, realising I’d probably said too much. I just assumed he already knew. I could almost hear Morgaine’s disapproval.
    Arthur remained silent.
    “ Arthur, you okay?”
    His eyes narrowed, his brows pinching in the middle. “I’m glad he had the chance to tell you that—before he died.”
    “ Me too.” My lip quivered. I thrust my shoulders back slightly and sat taller, swallowing the gut wrench Jason’s death brought. “But, back to the issue at hand. The prisoners.”
    “ They should not be freed.”
    “ Says you. I’ve been told Drake’s methods were harsh and that he was unfair.”
    “ Then perhaps you have been misinformed,” Arthur added crossly. “Drake ruled our nation for many centuries with an iron fist, and with good reason. Vampires misbehaving draws attention, spreads unrest, and, like a plague , encourages others to do the same. The only way to control them is to own their fears—to be the very nightmare they run from in their sleep.”
    “ You sound pretty passionate about this?”
    “ I have served beside the king for my entire vampire life, Amara. We have fought for our freedom, our concealment and our community. To see a young girl become queen and make changes to all that we have spent centuries developing—” He sat forward and looked at the ground between his legs, breathing out heavily. “It’s just difficult. I can see you making the very same mistakes Drake made in the beginning.”
    “ Like what?”
    “ He made friends of