Trinity Blood Volume 8 by Sunao Yoshida and Kiyo Kyujyo

Learning of a plot to kill the Methuselah Emperor, Ion Fortuna and Sister Esther Blanchett have gone to the Memorial for the fallen vampires of the Empire. But a glimpse of Ion's former best friend, Radu Barvon, has Ion stopping in shock, for Radu should be dead. Long dead, in Carthage. So how can he be here and walking at the side of the Emperor?

Ion tries to warn the Emperor, but he is blocked by Radu and accused of being part of a plot to kill the Emperor, and is stopped by Baibars, one of the lords of the Emperor and head of security. Esther attempts to come to his aid and is attacked by Baibars, while Radu goes after Ion. But the Emperor stops him, and says that Ion is still necessary to her, therefore he must live for now. Radu accedes to her wishes, and Ion and Esther are taken back to the Palace and imprisoned.

Meanwhile, Astharoshe Asran, another Methuselah Lord, and Father Abel Nightroad, go to the Earl of Tigris for his help, but he turns out to be a willing participant and perhaps even the mastermind behind the plot. He attacks them, and they fight back but are being overwhelmed when Abel decides to grab the Duchess and jump out the window, which sends them off the cliff and into the bay. Durng the fight, the Duke reveals that he both loves the Emperor and hates her at the same time, but that Asthe would not understand why he is rebelling against her, as she is too young.

Meanwhile, Ion and Esther are imprisoned, and the plot goes forward, kiling the Emperor. Back in the Palace, the Duke of Tigris decides to become Emperor himself, but that will lead to war with the humans, which he doesn't mind at all. However, for this to happen, everyone who knows the truth, including Ion, Esther, Astharoshe and Father Abel, must die. For Ion and Esther, imprisoned in the Palace, this will be easy, and even Ashtarothe and Father Abel will not be too difficult.

Radu Barvon goes to the cells to kill Ion and Esther, but reveals that he isn't actually Radu Barvon. The real Radu is dead, and Dietrich Lohengrin is merely animating his body, controlling it like a puppet to bring about the end of the Emperor. But it seems that some part of Radu still exists, for he pleads with Ion to kill him before Lohengrin regains control. He shoots Ion, causing him to lose a lot of blood, then uses the blood-seeking impulse of the Methuselah, which will have Ion attacking, and killing Esther for her blood. He also leaves her a silver sword, which she can kill Ion with. Ion pleads with Esther to kill him: he doesn't want to be responsible for killing her. But can Esther come up with a different solution?

And Father Abel and Asthe are fighting their way to the palace to stop the Lord of Tigris to prevent him from becoming Emperor, but being blamed for the attack on the Emperor, it will be no easy task to get there. Can they prevent the Earl of Tigris from completing his plans and becoming Emperor?

This was a thrilling and exciting novel, and it ended on a sad, but triumphant note. Full of tension, each of the main characters struggles to prevent the coup from occurring, and then struggles to prevent the Earl of Tigris from taking the throne. From this novel, we learn some rather interesting and shocking things, such as that the Earl rebelled because the Emperor was not a normal vampire, which apparently turned him against her. In fact, based on how you parse what he said, she may not even be a vampire at all.

The revelation of who the Emperor actually *was* would have been shocking, had I not been spoiled for it through the Wikipedia article on Trinity Blood. In the end, it almost comes out of left field, and the very unreality of it will leave readers asking lots of questions. I can't say any more without spoiling the story myself for anyone who is going to read it, but rest assured, you *will* have questions after reading this volume.

And yet, I still enjoyed the story, which gripped me intensely. The art continues to remain sharp-edged and wonderful, and the characterizations are very human-seeming and the interactions among the characters are wonderful to read.I not only liked this book, but I will continue to read this series. I am very much looking forward to the next volume.