“The treatment Brian found blocks Lord Stephen’s hold on your mind. The pain as well?”
Alanna flushed, her knuckles pressing hard into the cold flagstone. “Yes. I am too weak to bear the pain he inflicts on me when the blocker is not present. It blinds me to his location. I apologize for my failure.”
“You are apologizing that your will is not strong enough to overcome your Master’s?”
Alanna shook her head. “Forgive me, my lady. It’s clear I am not worthy of my training. I await your judgment.”
Please, just get it over with. Let this end.
Instead, she stiffened as a male hand closed on her elbow.
“You will permit Jacob to assist you.”
She couldn’t refuse the queen’s order, but her shame was nigh unbearable as Jacob lifted her into the empty chair. She’d become stiff, sitting on her knees. He put a woman’s cloak over her shoulders, a ruby-colored thick fabric that smelled like cloves. Had it come from Lady Lyssa’s chair? It had retained some of the body heat of the previous occupant, so it could be no other’s.
Pushed into a paradigm she couldn’t comprehend, she looked up at Jacob blankly.
“You’re shivering,” he said. “Your skin is ice-cold.”
Why would that matter? Staring at him, she registered he was handsome, not unusual for a servant, but there was a directness to his midnight blue eyes, the way he touched a woman, that suggested a knight of medieval times. It gave him a unique appeal, but what made him truly exceptional was how he used that quality to serve his lady. The relationship between him and Lady Lyssa, the last Queen of the Far East Clan, was barely whispered about even among servants—because of how forbidden it was.
He’d declared his love for her, but a servant was permitted to have that level of feeling for his Mistress. Alanna had never felt love toward Stephen, but dedication, loyalty and devotion were what he demanded. No, what was shocking was that Lady Lyssa had reciprocated Jacob’s feelings. Not just in private, where such a thing might rarely happen, and, if it did, a wise servant never spoke of it. The Queen had declared it before the whole Council.
A vampire falling in love with his or her servant was almost as taboo as revealing the existence of vampires to the human world. Vampires were superior beings, regarding their servants at best as treasured pets, but pets all the same. Love suggested some type of . . . equal footing, at least on an emotional level. Unthinkable.
Even so, Alanna suspected Lady Lyssa’s idea of love was still a different concept than Jacob’s. However, the queen had delayed the business which had brought Alanna before her, allowing her servant the time to lift her from the floor, get her settled and comfortable, even speak to her. When he left Alanna’s side, moving to stand behind his lady’s chair again, Alanna dared a quick glance. Lady Lyssa showed no disapproval. Nor did she seem less queenlike for it.
“Lord Brian has told me that if a more powerful vampire than Lord Stephen third-marks you, there is a possibility we can override Lord Stephen’s hold and track him. He also feels that would permanently break your mind. Though it was not his intent that you overhear that information, my understanding is that you did, and immediately volunteered to submit to such treatment.”