Catalyst Page 0,75

of guards after them."

"So," Sophia said, speaking like they were toddlers incapable of understanding her, "where are they?"

The guard's looked at each other for a split second, and then lowered their gazes to the ground. "On the grounds, My Queen." One of them said at last. "We had to stay with Regent Reginald. They were charged with capturing the girl and bringing her back."

The Queen listened, tapping her ruby red nails together, which made an annoying clicking sound. A gust of wind howled and she stopped. It yanked her dark hair hard, pulling the curls loose. Sophia felt her hairstyle unraveling, but she didn't move. She didn't touch. Staring at the two guards, she hissed, "Find them. Now."

The two guards turned to scurry off, but stopped in their tracks. The front door to the palace was thrown open and light cut across the dark snow, cutting a wedge of light on the sparkling lawn. Sophia's lips parted, before curling at the corners. "How sweet. My husband has returned."

"I don't think he's bringing you presents, sister," Reggie said after stopping next to Sophia, and leaning to her ear. "He tried to drain her, you know. Bit her neck, and nearly lopped Kahli's head off. Somehow I doubt it was because he was bottling her blood for you..." Reggie trailed off as he saw the massive vampire appear in the threshold and follow the King onto the lawn.

Sophia remained relaxed. Her dark hair blew in the frigid wind as she watched her husband walk confidently toward her. The King stopped a few paces from his wife. "Sophia," he said once, but didn't incline his head as was the custom. Slipping his hands into his pockets, the King stood there, looking dashing as tiny flakes of snow whipped around him.

"Jared," Sophia replied, using his name, rather than title, to show she was through with him. In all the years they were together, she tolerated much, but this was the last straw. Sophia sauntered to him, swaying her slender hips as she went. "It's been drawn to my attention that you tried to drain my prized possession."

The King laughed like it was funny, "Prized possession? I hardly think she was your prized possession. That would be your mirror, but things have changed, haven't they Sophia?" He smiled with his lips closed, intending to appear smug. Celticad's shadow stretched out across the ground behind him. Everyone was in place, except the girl. Where was she?

Sophia's lips curled back into a vicious smile, revealing her pointed fangs. She licked them with her tongue, a slow stroke, the way she did when she was younger, when they met. "They certainly have."

The King's eyebrows lifted as his lips pulled into a small smile, still careful not to reveal his fangs, "Well, this makes things more interesting, does it not?" He looked at Reggie who had drawn back when the King strode across the lawn. The vampire was standing in a patch of moonlight that doused his dark hair, forming a halo. Jared laughed. "The old ways are returning, and with the old ways, old times, eh, Reggie?"

Reggie inclined his head, his full lips twisting into a smirk, "So it would seem."

Sophia's eyes darted between the two and for the first time in a century, she wasn't certain she knew everything. They were referring to something, something from their past. But their lives didn't intersect. They never had. Sophia's gaze narrowed, "Enough of this. If you are here to take what is mine, do not dishonor me with such idle chatter. Jared, the butcher's child, son of a peasant - I gave you this life and I can end it."

The King remained calm, "Then you better do so, my dear, because I've had enough of you to last a lifetime or two."

The Queen sprang on him, moving faster than the eye could see. The King shouldn't have seen it, he shouldn't have had time to react, but he did. Stepping to the side, the Queen flew by, comically streaking through the air like a kite. Landing hard on her feet, Sophia screamed and rounded on Jared. "You drank her blood," she accused.

The King shrugged, "It was there and I had nothing better to do, since you removed all my previous pastimes."

"Human relationships are off limits," she hissed, baring her fangs.

"I never kept them around long enough to have a relationship, my dear. In the olden days, I simply used them to my liking and drained them. But since you