"I will not accept them if they are filthy and smell." Those were the first words the guest had spoken as they passed cage after cage.

"Then perhaps these," the Pelipu walked to the last cage. Inside it was a group of three men and one woman, all fairly clean—they'd been snatched from the market only that morning.

"Bring out two of the men," the guest ordered. The Pelipu snapped his fingers at the dungeon guard, who brought the keys. Another guard had to be brought forward to help pull two unwilling male prisoners from the cell.

"Oh, never fear, your turn will come to feed the god," Alvoritt crooned to the two remaining inside the cell as the guard locked the door behind him.

"Where would you like to do this?" The Pelipu's voice was tinged with the slightest bit of mockery—he imagined his guards might be forced to assist their guest.

"Here will be fine," the guest replied, immediately transforming into the largest serpent the Pelipu had ever thought to see. At least forty feet of gleaming, coppery scales now stood before the Pelipu, with a head crowned with spikes and a multitude of sharp, needle-like teeth inside the gaping mouth. The two prisoners disappeared down the serpent's wide throat in seconds. The Pelipu only had a moment or two to marvel at what he'd invited into his temple before he followed the two prisoners into the belly of the monster.

The monster transformed back to a humanoid appearance, only now he held the Pelipu's face and form. The dungeon guards, just before they died, wept and begged for their lives.

"Please, come in. We were hoping someone would come."

"I recognize this one." There were six inside the rock-walled room. All six were vampire; Gavin knew by their scent. But for one of them recognize Lynx, well, he hadn't expected that.

"And I recognize you," Lynx nodded to the vampire, who stepped forward to study his three visitors—Ibbitt had been led aside and settled onto a chair against a wall. "It has been two thousand years or so, I believe?"

"That is so," the vampire nodded. "Are we in danger again, my friend?"

"Not from those—not here," Lynx replied. "Although there are rogues out there who may cause problems before this is over."

"Perhaps you should introduce us to your friends," the vampire said.

"Very well," Lynx grinned. "This is Gavin, and this is Anthony," he pointed out his companions. "These," he said, indicating the six vampires, "are the Rith Naeri—the Order of the Night Flower on Hraede."

"You are all former Kings of Hraede?" Tony stared at the one who'd known Lynx—his name was Rigovarnus, but Lynx called him Rigo.

"Yes. I was the first King to be made vampire. My heir was set to mismanage my kingdom. My sire had no desire to see Hraede suffer, so he turned me as I lay dying. I supervised my heir through his entire reign, and then the next six kings and queens as well, until Halimel came along. That is when I began the tradition of marking my subsequent vampire children with this." He tapped the side of his neck, where a tattoo of the Hraedan night flower lay. The actual flower was such a deep purple as to appear black, and hung on a delicate stem, nearly upside down. Only the flower itself, with its petals fully open with tips curling upward, was depicted.

"We attempted the turn with two queens, but I'm sure I don’t have to tell you how unsuccessful that was," Halimel added. "Then came Rondival, Alrenardo, Brinelodus and Yandiveri. Only we call each other Hal, Ron, Alren, Brin and Yan. It's a lot easier than those stupid proper names we were saddled with," Rigo almost smiled.

"But you arranged this?" Gavin was trying to sort out why they were there.

"We were hoping someone would come," Rigo agreed, nodding. "And we worried for your Queen. We wished to learn how well she was protected, and if we might send a spy inside the Queen's city. We knew Ibbitt was much too old to go himself, so we watched the one he sent. Paulin is not particularly talented in espionage, and he managed to breach the walls. You have weakness there, my friends. Your Queen must be protected better than this. Those poisonous seeds Paulin held weren't really poison. He was led to believe they were, to impress upon him the potential danger of his mission. We wanted him to be caught and followed, to test the strength of the Queen's protection. No good vampire would allow a clumsy humanoid to get past them, if they truly wish to keep the Queen alive."

"What interest do you have in the Queen?" Gavin's eyes darkened.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's one of the Queen's mates," Lynx laid a calming hand on Gavin's shoulder. "As is the other one," Lynx jerked his head in Tony's direction.

"We wish to help guard her," Rigo said. "We have heard rumors and there is no denying the price that has been placed upon her head. Although we all wish to come, Rondival and Alrenardo have agreed to stay behind and keep up our long work."

"Why did you not apply for citizenship?" Gavin growled.

"Because none know we exist," Rigo sighed. "We are hidden. We control the crown, if it becomes necessary. We have done this for thousands of years. Hraede is stable, because of this. If there are those who seek to overthrow the current regime for their own gain, we mobilize and take down their armies. Other vampires are here who are registered and live beside Hraede's humanoid citizens. These vampires serve as our army, at times. For obvious reasons, we must remain as we are, hidden from all."

"These six helped me when I came here two thousand years ago to deal with the Ra'Ak," Lynx said. "Without their help, Hraede would have been overrun with spawn."

"So, no royal turns since then?" Tony was curious.

"None worthy," Rigo snorted. "Yan was turned three thousand years ago. We've had self-serving monarchs since then, except for three very good queens. We did not attempt the turn with them, for obvious reasons."

"And if we allow you to come to Le-Ath Veronis?" Gavin still wasn't sure.

"Bring us before your Queen and allow her to decide. We have watched her in her Council meetings—she seems adept at weeding out undesirables. We will submit to her scrutiny."

"I'll vouch for Rigo," Lynx said. "And I'll fold all of us to Le-Ath Veronis, if you want further proof."

Lissa, where are you? Mindspeech from Gavin was as scarce as grasshoppers with guitars, as my mother used to say.

Honey, are you all right? I miss you. I'm in bed, right now.

I miss you, too. Will you meet us in your study in a few moments? We will be folding in with guests.

Okay. I slid off the bed and went to get dressed again. At least Shadow had made sure I got plenty of sleep earlier.

"Lissa will be here in a moment." Gavin said, after Lynx folded all seven of them to Lissa's study at Gavin's direction. Four trunks were lined up against the wall, too—the four members of Rith Naeri had been prepared to travel at a moment's notice.

Rigo, as any proper vampire who was nearly eleven thousand years of age would, calmed his excitement. From the moment he'd seen the vids of the Vampire Queen, he’d wanted to meet her. And if he were honest with himself, he wanted more than that. He knew that would likely never be, and steeled himself when he heard the quiet footsteps outside the door.

Of the seven people inside my study, only one of them wasn't vampire. That one was Lynx, one of Conner’s mates. He grinned at me as I turned a puzzled gaze to him. Surely, he'd been the one to fold everyone here from wherever they'd been. Saa Thalarr didn't fold anybody anywhere—unless they were completely trustworthy.

"Lissa, allow me to introduce four of the six members of Rith Naeri, the Order of the Night Flower from Hraede," Lynx's grin widened.

"Little Queen," the oldest of the four bowed slightly to me. The other three bowed a little deeper.

"Please don't bow, I don't expect it," I said.

"This is Rigo," Lynx introduced me to the oldest. "And Hal," Lynx said. Hal was the second oldest. I took their hands and they bent over mine and kissed it lightly, as if they'd been trained at court. Brin came next, followed by the youngest—Yan—who was three thousand. These were some old vampires.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

"We wish to protect you," Rigo said. "We have become worried over the lack of protection and the price on our Queen's head."

"You are Queen to all vampires, whether they reside here or not," Hal said. His statement made my eyebrows lift in surprise.

"That's nice of you to say, but I think that would be a bit egotistical on my part," I said.

"We have a network of information; you would not believe the vampires who have chosen to stay upon their home worlds and still regard you as their Queen," Yan replied. "Some are very old and do not wish to start over elsewhere, especially as they are accepted on the Alliance worlds where they reside. Were it not so, they would have come long ago."

"Ah," I said. I could understand that.

"Why are we only now hearing that you're back?" Drake and Drew walked in, pounding Tony on the back. He grinned at the twins. They knew not to manhandle Gavin, though.

We introduced the four vampires to them. "They'll be on the payroll, looks like," I said. "Why don't you two show them to the guest quarters for tonight, and we'll see about something else tomorrow. Are you hungry?" I asked them. "We have blood substitute in the kitchen."

We ended up in the kitchen; the four new ones were quite pleased with the blood substitute. I watched them—Rigo especially. He had hair as black as Merrill's and his eyes were as black as Wlodek's. He looked weathered by time, though. Hal was the handsomest of the lot, with dark-blond hair down to his shoulders and green eyes. Brin and Yan could have been brothers—both had brown hair and brown eyes, with square jaws and strong chins. Brin had a bit of a dimple in his chin, but some people might find that attractive. Rigo was the tallest, at six-two. Yan was the shortest at five-eleven, so not much difference in height.