Vampire Game, Volume 10

New enemies and new friends show up in the tenth volume of "Vampire Game," which wraps up the Zi Alda storyline about poisonings and vampires. But Judal throws some new twists into the second half of the manga, which hint at who the feisty princess might just end up with. Someone calls out that someone's about to poison Princess Ishtar, and only a cunning switch keeps Leene from getting in big trouble for attempted assasination. And when they return to Pheliosta, Leene sends Ishtar a love potion as an attempt to make amends -- and using the potion extracts an unexpected confession from Ishtar. Then Lady Sonia dies, and Yuujel brings up a bizarre (and seemingly untrue) claim -- that before marrying his father, she had gotten pregnant and left behind a secret son, who is none other than Darres! Some are outraged, some are shocked. But to become the heir to Zi Alda's throne, Darres must pass a test -- is he really a descendent of Saint Phelios, or not? A lot of the tenth volume is made up either of wrapping up previous plots, or starting up the seeds of new ones. But Judal does give readers some nice development when it comes to Darres and Ishtar -- everybody is now aware that she's in love with Darres, and Yuujel is willing to go the distance to get them together. Quite nice of him, considering that he also loves her. There's also a cute litle side story about who gets gifts for Valentine's day, and Duzell's first taste of chocolate. But Judal keeps in the essentials for the story -- Machievellian plotting, pretty jewelry, swirling clothes and hair, and a sinister glimpse at the shadowy enemy fortress. Not to mention some very funny dialogue ("Looking forward to working with you, Bats... but not as much as I'm looking forward to hearing that your services are no longer required"). Romantic realizations rule a lot of the characterizations in this volume, with Darres and Leene finding out who loves whom, and Leene realizing that her jealousy nearly got her hanged for treason. Lots of other minor characters make cameos, from all the subplots thus far -- although the revelation that Laphiji and Seilez are sleeping together is a bit icky. Sure, they're not biological brothers, but it's still odd. The tenth volume of "Vampire Game" successfully wraps up the Zi Alda storyline, and introduces a shocking new one, leaving us hanging for the answer about Darres' ancestry.