Chapter 20 #2
She nodded, showing one of her fangs in a half smile. “You’re sly, Ilya. I knew you’d be a great ally. Well, I’ll leave you to get ready. See you soon,” she said, exiting my quarters.
The three of us sagged as soon as the door closed behind her and Finn flipped the lock.
“I hate how we’re seen in vampire society. As if we’re expendable because we’re men,” Zane said to Finn. He signed as he spoke, and mostly accurately. Finn nodded while also showing him the correct sign for “expendable.”
We A-L-W-A-Y-S will be. Might as well get used to it, Finn replied.
“No. We’re going to change it,” I said, also signing. “When I’m queen…”
I thought the idea was that by the time you are queen, all Sanguine vampires will be… Instead of signing dead, Finn drew a bladed hand over his throat and sagged to the side, tongue lolling.
I giggled despite myself. “Extinction is a form of change, Finn.”
My gaze caught on the pair of letters waiting for me on the cushion of one of the armchairs. I took them and unsheathed the dagger hidden in my skirts to open the envelopes. The motion of their hands drew my attention.
Is she okay? Finn asked.
Really stressed, I think, Zane signed back.
The understatement of this millennia, eh?
Zane tilted his head, a line appearing between his brows. He probably didn’t understand half of that comment. Finn repeated it out loud in a whisper, signing slower and more deliberately to teach the hand motions to Zane.
Why so much food? I signed, looking at the mound of cheese, meats, and vegetables.
Perk of being a soon-to-be-devotee. He crunched into a carrot with clear satisfaction.
Glad to see real food, I took a plate of food and had a seat in the armchair, angling my body away and nibbling as I read the letters. The first one was to the point.
Lady Ilyana,
It would be my pleasure to host you for tea sometime while we enjoy some peace between trials. Perhaps after the half-moon sets?
Your Humble Ally,
Razira
I set it aside, meaning to pen a quick reply.
It was quickly forgotten when I unfolded the second letter and gasped in surprise at the mess of lines and holes in the parchment.
Whoever had written this had done so furiously, stabbing the paper with a quill and, by the smears of ink, shoved it into an envelope.
Dearest Ilyana,
I am very cross with you!!! How dare you not write to me! Why did I have to get news of the trial EVERYTHING from one of the human couriers!
You passed the first trial? Didn’t tell your sister.
You were taken in front of the Flask of Dominion! Didn’t tell your sister!
And you’re mating with a stable boy??? Didn’t tell your sister!!! Why do that?
Even the strongest queens let their families know that they were alive and safe! You can too!!! If I don’t hear from you tonight, I’m coming there and knocking some sense into you! You’re not a queen yet!
Love,
Tahlia
I flushed hot and cold as I read it over twice more. Tahlia was writing to a ghost…and I had overlooked that Ilyana still had someone who cared for her.
My head spun. The very last thing I needed was for Tahlia to come here personally. She’d be the most likely vampiress to see through my disguise. I clutched at my hair, breath coming in quick hitches as panic seized my chest in a vice.
I thought I’d made an airtight plan. But people and fine details kept seeping through invisible cracks. Razira. Finn. And now Tahlia. Who else would pull the rug from under my feet before this was all over?
Though the matter of an angry letter was a small problem, its featherlight weight fell on top of everything else on my shoulders. All my woes wobbled, threatening to come down on my head.
I had a mission to advance. A kill list. And, at the same time, a time limit set by Ilyana’s decaying body. The Flask of Dominion, on its own fickle whims, could decide to turn me to ashes at any time. The fragility of my position was a sheet of ice over a vast river of dangers.
Even the most reliable experiments could end in disaster if an unforeseen element was added. My plan was the same way. If any variable acted out of turn and I was caught unawares, then I would take Zane and Finn to the execution block with me.
Solitude was not preferable to a life without them. But they were my responsibility now, and I could no longer put a single toe out of line. The stakes were too high.
“She cannot come here,” I muttered, mostly to myself. Whatever I wrote to her had to convince her of that.
The warmth of a comforting hand landed on my shoulder. It was Finn, worry tugging at his face as he reached for the letters resting in my lap. I handed them to him with a sigh.
“I may be a little over my head,” I admitted, reluctant to frame the truth of my faults in words. But it was the first step to fixing my plan before its cracks became fault lines.
Zane came over to hold my other shoulder. His touch was grounding, a promise of shared burden. “As long as you’re not drowning. And you won’t, not with our help.”
“Wow,” Finn blurted aloud, flapping Tahlia’s letter. “She didn’t proofread this at all!”
In the hour I had before the evening’s event, we brainstormed together and crafted the best possible response to Tahlia. Finn left to ensure it was delivered to her before the sun rose. I nourished a small seedling of gratitude for their help within me, fed with water and a ration bar.
Zane escorted me to the next event. He’d changed into a suit, and I was on his arm. My heart beat at a staccato rhythm as I guided Zane toward our destination. His nose wrinkled at all the attention our pairing gathered, heads turning around every corner.
Servants and guards pointed us in the right direction at intervals, but as always, it was unnecessary. I’d spent the better part of my childhood scrubbing away dried bloodstains from this particular room.
A vampire in full livery bowed when we turned a corner, reaching for the door.
“Good evening, King Zane and Lady Ilyana,” he said smoothly.
I was a little impressed. Most of the servants were fumbling when they saw us together, unsure who to address first. “Attendance is limited to just the queen candidates tonight, I’m afraid. Lord Regent’s orders.”
Zane smiled tightly at the attendant. “I’m just escorting my Beloved to her seat.”
“Very good,” he answered with practiced blandness as he held the door open for us. “The show will begin shortly.”
A looming chandelier, dripping wax from innumerable tiny candles, illuminated the banquet hall.
Flickering light cast dancing shadows on the wallpaper.
Three of the walls were covered with a recent redesign, depicting orderly rows of roses in full bloom.
My lip curled. Of course Nemea chose to decorate with more roses.
The last wall was painted a flat black to match the dark boards of the stage. A set of velvet curtains dyed a royal purple were closed over its center.
We walked in, and the air shifted as several predatory gazes turned our way nearly as one. Four circular tables awaited, each ringed by four chairs. Most were already occupied, and beckoning hands rose from the one closest to the stage. I wasn’t surprised Felicity had picked the best spot.
The polite whispers and titters of gossip flowed in behind us as Zane walked me to my seat. He pulled from my hold once I stood by the last empty chair, between Razira and Emmeline.
“I’ll see you soon, love,” he purred, taking my hand to kiss the back of it. The bold glide of his lips and his adoring gaze on mine drew a few louder whispers.
“Goodbye for now, King Zane,” I simpered, blowing him a kiss as he left. I took my seat and let the hot jealousy of some of the other candidates flow off my back. It was on my bed where he rested his head.
The clusters of gossip quieted slowly, ringing hollow in the room's acoustics.
“I received your note,” Razira said to me in an undertone. “I’m looking forward to our meeting tomorrow.”
“Me too.” I turned to her, wondering again why she wanted to speak to me privately, but she remained inscrutable.
A strain of music cut through any lingering conversations. The curtains parted a few feet, revealing Mathias dressed in one of his signature high-necked coats. This one was sky blue, setting his outline apart from the dark wall behind him.
“Welcome, ladies.” His voice projected perfectly from the stage. “I’ve arranged an evening of entertainment for the twelve of you to celebrate your success in the Trial of the Labyrinth.”
Shock jolted me upright. There are only twelve survivors? I’d been the last candidate to enter the room. Here I’d been expecting more vampiresses to file in and fill the empty seats, but some of them remained only for any lingering ghosts.
“Signal to one of the servants during the show if you would like more than the provided dinner. We have blood wine and finger foods for you to enjoy.” Mathias paused as a few candidates did so immediately. I kept my hands laced in my lap.
“Tonight, you will watch one of my favorite plays, about a pair of star-crossed lovers,” he narrated over the sounds of pouring wine and clinking glasses.
For some unknown reason, his maroon eyes fixed on me as he spoke.
I’d barely been listening to him, but now that I had his attention, I gazed back at him with the same unblinking intensity.
“But first, a moment of business before you feast. Our rivals to the west, the House of Whispers, will be the target of your next trial.”
The rustling that’d followed him naming the House of Whispers settled to heavy silence. All dozen of us seemed to hold our breath, waiting for his next words.