By the time Ileus finished, Brantley had come with food. Dawn devoured it. The fact that these two were not letting her eat any other food except the ones they brought left her famished.

The men excused themselves because they knew that Dawn needed all the rest she could get. She was too tired. She lay in the bed and didn't know when sleep took over. The basilisk with its fangs appeared in her dreams. She clutched the sheet when she saw that instead of Erdaaz, Jocrut was coiling around her. The clouds opened up with a crackling boom and she saw the lightning fell on the basilisk.

​​

Dawn got up with a jerk. She heard a distant explosion. Was she dreaming? Her body was covered with sweat and she panted like she had run through the mountains. After dragging herself out of the bed, she drank a glass of water and hoped for the night to come faster. She walked outside the tent and noticed that the sun was setting down Ixoviya coloring its sky with the orange of a winter's hearth. The last of the rays were about to melt as twilight summoned the stars. She took a deep breath remembering that in an hour or two she would be with Daryn, and this time she wouldn't have to steal her way to go to him, but she would go with dignity. Her lips curled up in a smile to show the thoughts that she was enjoying.

"Enjoy all you can!" a shrill voice from behind broke her reverie.

A muscle in her jaw feathered. She didn't acknowledge Pia. Dawn crossed her hands across the chest. She had no interest in talking with this female.

"Tomorrow you will be killed, Dawn," Pia sneered. "And I will do that with my own hands. I am going to punish you for banning me from the tribe."

Dawn yawned, showing how boring she sounded.

Pia got all the more agitated. She said in a jarring voice, "You think you have an edge Dawn, but I pity you for being so confident. You don't even know what Sedora has planned for you. She never liked you. Why couldn't you simply leave the Silver Mansion and never return? Huh? Instead you chose to cross your path with Sedora—the queen of sorcerers? You are nothing but a speck of dust in front of her. She is going to crush you and I am going to see how she crushes you. I am going to punish you for messing with me and with my family. Today you can go and enjoy him but after that… in front of you I will claim Daryn, my true love!"

Dawn slowly turned towards her, as her chest filled with rage and jealousy. Her claws straightened and her fangs started to sharpen. This woman in front of her was never happy with what she had. She always wanted more than she could digest or deserved. Dawn's face twisted in an attempt to subdue her anger. "Your true love is Daryn?" Dawn frowned. "You are so pathetic, such a parasite; I truly sympathize with you." She walked to her and circled her. "Daryn is my mate and I have shown you your place a number of times; still you bounce back to square one." Dawn chuckled.

Circling. Circling.

"I have a suggestion for you—just get lost because this is getting old and boring."

"You—" Pia blurted, but Dawn had walked away from there waving her fingers in a goodbye.

"Save your energy for tomorrow!" Dawn lifted the flap of her tent and stepped in. She walked to her bed and sagged in. She found her body trembling with anger. The pest called Pia was getting under her skin. She had to eliminate her soon…

When the stars shone in the sky, she pushed the uneasy thoughts out of her mind and looked forward to the evening. Fondly, she pulled out a red negligee from the bag. As she held it in front of her, she knew that this piece of cloth would put Victoria's Secret to a shame. The racy negligée was made from sheer stretch mesh lace. Embroidered on the sides were gold floral patterns. A deep V plunging in the front and one at the back left little for imagination. It fell till her hips. The matching thong would send his pulse racing. She giggled feeling heat in her cheeks.

Dawn washed her face, applied a light red lip-gloss and shimmied in the thongs. As she was tying a satin bow in between the breasts of the negligée, Emma walked inside the tent.

Dawn stiffened seeing the vampire. She looked as if she had been just blooded and her eyes were redder than usual. Her skin was pale earlier but it now glowed with all the blood she must have had. Dawn turned to her bed and picked the silk overcoat. She wore it and while tying its belt asked, "What are you here for?" She could sense Emma's gaze boring into her skin.

Emma walked inside and made herself comfortable by sitting on the chair by the desk. "I see you are very excited to meet Daryn," she said as she tapped her long claws on the table. The vampire oozed power.

"Yes, I am getting ready to meet my husband," she replied with weariness. The vampire had attempted to kill her once.

"I have come here to take you there," said Emma and pulled out a gold blindfold from her black leather pants. "You have to wear this before entering the palace."

"Why?" Dawn frowned. Her nervousness returned.

"This is for your safety unless you want to be a victim of the queen's illusions."

"Okay…" Dawn muttered and pursed her lips.

Emma got up and blindfolded her. "Relax, I won't be hurting you now. Too much is at stake." She held her hands lightly avoiding grazing her with her claws and guided her out of the tent. They crossed the enclosure and Emma carefully directed her towards the Norhall Castle. Dawn could smell fire in the javelins. There must be at least two guards with Emma.

On an impulse Dawn asked her, "What is a vampire like you doing in this dimension?" But she regretted it immediately, because she knew that the vampire would never reply to her.

They walked in silence for the next five minutes, their boots clicking on the cobblestone of the streets.

"My husband was the Lord of the Vampires—King Lorza. Sedora killed him for his necklace. She seized the necklace from him and buried his body in an altar—the one that you saw outside Ixoviya. That altar is the portal to this plane. Now that she has the necklace, I am bound to bow to her and do as she commands."

Shocked as hell, Dawn's mind stuttered. She felt she could puke. Bile rose in her throat and she stopped for a moment to digest the information she was given.

"Don't pity me Dawn. We are the creatures of Lore," said Emma as she held Dawn steadily. "Do you know why Sedora sent these guards with me?"

Dawn started walking but didn't say a word.

"So that I don't kill you, because that is something she wants to do," Emma chuckled. "But I am dying to taste you. I have already tasted a neotide and whenever I am craving for a special delicacy, I suck from him. It's heady and it's exquisite."