Kira: A King's Assistance

1

I tapped the gold pen on my forehead, bored out of my mind while William worked. He had only been back a couple days and hadn't once mentioned Nicolae or bringing vampires into the public eye or turning me. Nothing. He hardly spoke to me aside from greetings. His only request was that I sit with him in his downstairs office while he worked.

"Is there a reason you have me sit here?" I asked.

He glanced up at me for a moment before signing something.

"Do you have somewhere else to be?"

"No," I mumbled. "What are you signing?"

"Building permits and real estate purchase agreements."

"What are you buying?"

"Are you always this inquisitive?"

I sat back in my seat across his desk. "Are you always this dismissive?"

His eyes finally met mine for a moment. "Right now, I'm mostly buying land outside of large cities."

"Is that why you went to Munich?"

"No."

I loved and hated how blunt he was. There was no question about his stance, but I hadn't been able to get him to elaborate on anything.

"So," I trailed. "Where's Nicolae?"

"Hunting down Cedric," he said absently. "Avina," he called out.

In an instant, his secretary poked her blonde head through the office door. If I didn't know she was a killing machine, I would have thought she was the cutest damn thing on the planet. Her cheeks were perfectly round and her eyes were big and wide and that shocking shade of violet. She looked just like a perfect little porcelain doll.

"Have Henry meet us here in an hour."

"Yes, William," she complied with the world's most adoring smile.

It was clear as day Avina was head over heels for William. Whether he saw it and ignored it was beyond me. I knew he still felt things. It wasn't like he was completely shut down though he was close. It seemed like such a shame that he was so closed off.

"How long has she worked for you?" I asked as the door clicked shut.

He thought for a moment. "About three centuries. Alexandru was French nobility and Avina and her brother Adrian grew up on his land."

"Interesting."

"How so?"

I shrugged. "Nobility turning commoners before the French Revolution seems unorthodox."

He set his pen down and folded his hands on his desk, giving me his full attention.

"It was. After Alexandru was turned, he continued to look after his lands. Unfortunately for him, he held true to his catholic beliefs in an era that started to reject the church. He was outed as a practitioner of the religion and a mob went to murder his entire household."

"Over a religion?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. They murdered his wife and children, forced him to watch. Avina and Adrian were able to get free, caused a distraction to get Alexandru free, and saved his life. He rewarded them with immortality."

"And you're not afraid of something like that happening when we go public?"

"Did you know that vampires were public centuries ago?"

I shook my head.

"I estimate I was about twenty-five when I was turned. I was wounded in battle and I was going to die. My father found what we called a," he trailed as he seemed to search for the right words. "I do not know the English word. Witch-healer is close enough. She was a vampire and for a hefty price, she saved lives."