Endeavored Heart

By Emma Jean Hoffmann

Book 2 of the Poison Heart series.
Imogen leads a desperate quest to rescue the one man who can reunite the kingdom her selfish desire has divided. But to do so, she must face the Queen she has disposed, the vampire who will stop at nothing to enact her revenge...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Jean Hoffmann
• Release date: Nov 17, 2013

Book preview

Chapter 1

I have triumphed when I should have failed.

I have lived when I should have died.

I have found hope when I should have let despair claim me.

I have dared to dream when I should have succumbed to the nightmares of my past

I know now what it is to truly atone for my sins.

For everything I desired is lost, and I must live to bring everything I despise to live...

As we marched back to return Sir Jakob to his father, everything changed.

For the first time in longer than I cared to remember , I wanted to live. I wanted to be free of all of this, to proclaim I have paid for my sins in ful, and should be allowed to live free of responsibility and duty. To finally seize my fate from the Gods and make it my own. I didn't care how selfish that sounded, nor that it might be wrong, I just wanted it. I deserved it.

And I will not have it...

Nobody has said it, nor have I asked, it was just there as plain as a decree written in stone. And worse for me, I saw that awful truth in my true love's face.

Nothing was right between us though we pretended it was. Our relationship was like a musician playing a tune in the wrong key. You knew something was off and instead of the music lifting your feet and making you dance, you shuffled around on the dance floor in confusion unable to set your feet to the rhythm.

Even now as I laid in his embrace, unwilling to surrender him, I felt that cold, harsh truth slowly entrapping us like the cold, phantom tendrils of a deceiving mist. He was keeping some secret from me. True lovers never keep secrets from each other, and that had always been true of us. I did not know what secret he kept, but I knew he hid one, and it was not a truth we would not survive. It would steal away whatever time we had together and kill our love. I knew that, I could feel it, and it made my heart roil in barely livable anguish. He did not deceive me out of selfishness, but out of the true love of his protectiveness of me. But he wouldn't tell me what the nature of this secret was, and I couldn't pry.

It started when I recanted my conversation with Jakob, and how I must somehow assume this role at his army's heart, its true inspiration that was righteous in purpose. A role that was a cruel blasphemy of a joke. I asked Malachi if he saw where this would go after confiding in him that after destroying the vampires in their haven, I had the hope to be released to live with him, quietly in peace and hidden privacy. That a long life of happy ever after might just be possible for us.

I see nothing my Lady, only that you were right in accepting this role, that it is one of your last punishments for your sins. I do not see where it goes, or if success will greet us. Only that we must... His eyes went hard and secretive as he shut me out, refusing to say more. But I saw the truth in his eyes, that he was keeping something from me, something his visions had shown. A decision he had to make and in by doing so, he had sacrificed his own secret hope. That he had no real choice in it. It was either me, or giving up on me, us. Something he could never do. I could only wonder if it had shown him the end of us...our final fate...

Whatever secret he harbored, it had now become a ghost that haunted us, manifesting in our love making, giving it a desperate quality it has never before had. Like every kiss and embrace could be our last. I tried to pretend as he did, that everything was fine when it was not, but it preyed on my mind constantly, making me weep in the middle of the night when I hoped Malachi was asleep.

I can't bear to live like this.

I can't be with Malachi like I want more than anything.

I wish he would just tell me that awful truth.

I can survive if my foolish hope is dashed on the harsh rocks of reality.

I can accept that our time is shorter than we thought as long as we can wring all the love we can out of the remaining time we do have.

It is far better to know when it will end so we can just love each other completely and wholly with nothing between us to ruin it.

And that scared me more than anything because I knew Malachi felt the same as me. He would never hide a secret from me unless it was too horrid of a truth to share, The sort of truth that could destroy my fragile, mended heart, he, and only he, had labored to fix with his love...

Chapter 2

Bismark was now the capital of a divided Bavaria, but King Fredrick had vowed it was only a temporary division. He had planned many schemes to unite Bavaria again under the fist of his rule, and even now, when that unification seemed farther than ever from his grasp, he refused to accept it. And as if to reinforce that belief, a secretive visitor had come, bringing words only Fredrick would hear.

Sitting on his throne in the middle of his palace, as was only right, Fredrick was not a vampire, and he had never wanted that privilege. The now deposed Queen Katrina, the former head of all the vampire clans, had offered him, repeatedly, the chance to join her, to reap the rewards of immortal life, but he had always refused. Manipulating the perception of reality was enough for him. Fredrick believed in his heart a man's life should have a beginning and a natural end. His existence had grown tiring as had his talent. Even if he had taken Katrina's offer, he would never have been in the position he was now. Mist-manipulators were born to be ruled, not rule themselves, a fact he had learned far too well at Katrina's hands.

Fredrick often laughed at the irony of his talent. It was a wondrous talent to be able to change perceptions, but it brought such harsh punishment. Katrina and her ruling circle of vampires had never been able to understand that. For as much as he could manipulate the mist, the more the mist resisted and did what it wanted. It was only truly controlled by the Gods and hid what it wanted, blinding Fredrick and his fellow brethren to the desires of others. Such as failing to see what that Imogen girl, the weakest and most bumbling of slayers, intentions were in time to prevent them. Katrina would have had his head for failing to deduce them in time, but fortunately for him, she had to flee, completely undone by them.

In his perceived failure, had come the opportunity he had only dreamed of. To be his own man, free of the tyrannical rule of the vampires and the chance to rule the very kingdom they lusted after. After all, the vampires had left very few men alive powerful enough to seize the kingdom for themselves. His ability to manipulate the mist combined with these fickle humans' belief in a false God made him the perfect man in the right place at the right time.

A hooded figure appeared to him in the hallway of his sanctuary of power, a man who might be dangerous to trust, but one who had left him no choice, especially since this man was only a vision, a false image cast for only Fredrick to see. Trust was hard with Fredrick, but this man had served him well before, never leading him astray. Fredrick didn't know his true intentions, only that this man had no desire to grab the power residing in Fredrick's hands and take the kingdom himself.

A brown cloak whose bottom was covered with gray mud, stalked its way to Fredrick and stopped respectively ten feet away but did not kneel in respect. Fredrick would have demanded it in the presence of his subordinates, but they always met alone, allowing him to excuse this offense.

What news do you bring me? Fredrick had no need to flatter the man with celebratory greeting. His visitor favored plain talk, the kind that didn't waste his time.

She succeeded. She has killed the Queen, and almost exterminated the vampires, rescuing Jakob. They have just returned him to Northerland, the hooded man reported.

I do not wish the vampires ill fortune, but that news makes my heart glow, or it would if I didn't understand how it threatens me, Fredrick murmured. You bring good news with the bad. I suppose it is only a matter of time before Northerland marches against me?

Correct, my would be King. Jakob will lead the army to reclaim the kingdom.

Then I will meet this threat and destroy it, Fredrick slammed his hand down on the armrest of his throne decisively.

They will march first to Hanover and conquer it.

Than that is where I'll meet them.

Why do something so bold and stupid? What is Hanover to you?

Fredrick's face turned red, and he slammed his other hand down on the armrest of his throne. You have done my ears many favors, but now you have crossed the line. I control Hanover. They will not turn it against me.

Then you will lose, the hooded man told him. Hanover is nothing but a city easily recaptured when you have defeated her. And you will defeat Imogen and Northerland if you listen to me.

Fredrick rubbed his chin, contemplating those words and ignoring the biting sarcasm behind them. Losing a city faithful to my throne is something I take with serious concern.

You must sacrifice to win. Wesser is next, and you will lose that, though you will have to make a pretension of showing force. To win and unite the kingdom, you must give away those victories and make your enemy overly confident. Choose Rune as the place to defeat them.

And by allowing Northerland to destroy loyal armies to me in Hanover and Wesser, how will my remaining army match up to theirs?

They will out number you two to one, a serious threat, but you are on the defensive.

The odds are too close, I do not like it, Fredrick snarled quietly.

Three to one is the preferred guarantee for victory when you attack an army on the defensive, but I will aid you.

How so and what will I owe you? Fredrick's eyes narrowed in disbelief under his bushy eyebrows.

You will owe me nothing. I just seek to see this kingdom united and stable. As it must be, or it will not be long before Hanna visits your lands. Something I would think you don't wish to see any more than I.

Nor Astoria or Hundaria, though my advisers tell me they are too weak to take advantage of our situation.

Your advisers have it right. But to answer your question, I will provide you with an army that evens the odds and will allow you to meet Northerland in perfect confidence.

You will raise an army of orcs. Fredrick looked both pleased and slightly worried. He doubted this man even if he had so far proved trustworthy. What is in this for you?

That is not your worry, it is mine.

Those words do not allay my worry, they double them.

As they should. You should seek to uncover my secret intentions and weigh them against the truth. But I will tell you this: Bavaria needs to be united, not laying in ruinous division. That is what I seek, and while you may not be perfect as its ruler, you are my best hope.

Laughing, Fredrick looked over his visitor. That is either the truth or the most skillful lie these ears have ever heard.

Then you know what you must do.

I will do as you say, though, I will plan for you to disappoint me in your promises. I will conscript more men for my army. I will meet them at Rune. I will not underestimate this girl as the Queen did. I will send assassins to take care of her.

You will not. This girl is the key to reuniting Bavaria. While she leads an army to oppose you, she will be the one who unites it under your rule. You are right to fear her, but if you trust me, than you will believe this: I have control over her though she does not even suspect it of me. When the time comes, she will do our bidding, thinking she is serving Jakob and not understanding she will betray him in the end.

No one, not even the Queen, could control her before. What makes you think you can?

Because the fate of this world depends that I do...

Chapter 3

It was both a joyful and sorrowful reunion. After several weeks, we arrived in Northerland to reunite Jakob with his father. My spoiled past most likely colored my viewing of it as we were ushered into the palace. I was used to Bismark, a castle and courtyard that had spared no expense to impress our visitors with its finery. Northerland was in stark contrast, a sparse palace built to intimidate and depress with gray bricks that made it seem a warning to the sanity of the living. There were no intricate and ornate weaves of cloth hung on the walls to make a guest feel welcomed. No exquisitely carved throne to both humble and impress. Just a stark simplicity that reminded us this was a harsh kingdom built on the stones of sacrifice and humility.

The moment I saw Jakob's father, I saw another horrible truth, I had forgotten. This was a man barely living, seizing these last days with sheer will and the usage of that will had ironically conspired to end it that much sooner.

The Duke was overjoyed to see his son, but it was not so much out of love for him, but in thanks he had a heir to pass his mantle onto. They embraced joyfully, and then Jakob introduced all of us briefly before retiring to a private room with just his father. I did not have to imagine what was said between them, my heart felt the essence of it. His father had passed on the title to his son, relieved he could die shortly in the knowledge the two agreed on what course Northerland had to follow in these coming days.

When they finally returned, they beckoned Azekiel, Augustus, Saboul, Malachi, and I, to join them in private conference. We were seated at a banquet table that could accommodate fifty or so men comfortably. Its warm-brownish mahogany color belied the cold gray brick walls surrounding us. It was a feeble comfort for a woman who came of age in the grandiose halls of Bismark. We all sat at one end of the table so we could converse intimately, and I was ushered to sit closest to Jakob and his father.

The Duke held up his hand. I thank you all for returning my son. His absence has caused me much anguish, and I am forever in your debt for relieving it.

It is I, who caused his demise, so I owed you his return. You owe us nothing... I began before he interrupted me.

My Lady, don't belittle your actions. In these desperate times, men will follow their hearts to serve their selfish interests even it they are not what is best for the kingdom You are all noble in my eyes, risking death to return my son to me. I will not have you try to excuse that great kindness, the Duke stopped me, before continuing. He has told me of all that you have done and what needs to be done for this kingdom. I see your concerns and grant they are true. We are in desperate times and must act now to prevent the worse from happening. All of us here, have the best intentions for the kingdom, we love. I will release my armies to Jakob, to do what must be done for that purpose. Northerland does not wish a civil war, nor does it wish to claim the throne to increase our standing and power. We must do what is right for the people even in knowledge that our men will die in great numbers to return the kingdom to one that serves the people.

Jakob nodded solemnly, giving me a glance, asking me to hold my tongue.

And I did.

This is no easy endeavor, in fact, I see Northerland's possible destruction if we do not take the proper care. To be honest, the odds are even, and that is not in favor of our success. For despite our influence in the surrounding lands, our army will match the numbers of Bismark evenly, and that almost dooms us to failure, the Duke coughed into his hand, turning his face red and reminding us how fragile he was, how little time he had left. But still, Jakob has convinced me to try, and I will not die in cowardice of my duties. We have a plan drafted for this, one that has been revised many times. Jakob will follow this plan, and we will have to hope our strategy makes up for our lack of numbers.

We have an ally you have not counted on, one that can double your numbers, my Duke, Azekiel interrupted politely.

The Duke waived him to go on.

We can ally with Hundaria. Rundar, a duke of strong name, is now taking control of that kingdom, uniting it under his hand. After he takes the throne, he has pledged to help us, to send his new army.

You wish us to ally with barbarians? The Duke scoffed. They seek nothing but blood and are our true enemies.

"What you say was true in the past, but is no longer. Rundar wishes peace and an end to the cruelty. He owes us his aid and sees it as a chance to prove the