Chapter 12
Beatryce stood waiting while Merylynn lifted the heavy griffin’s head doorknocker and rapped it against the metal plate.
Enough time went by for Beatryce to frown before an ancient man in livery answered it. “May I help you?”
Beatryce cleared her throat and stepped further into the light so he could see the circlet she wore, something he’d obviously missed.
Merylynn quickly spoke up. “Her majesty Queen Beatryce is here for an audience with Vespera Sablewood.”
The old man stared at Beatryce for a second, then his eyes went wide. He performed a creaky bow. “Your highness. Forgive me, I did not realize…please, come in. I will let my mistress know of your request.”
Bea and Merylynn went inside. He closed the door after them, then rushed off. Bea looked around. The house was beautifully decorated, if not up to date. It was easy to see there had been no shortage of funds when it was built.
“Lovely,” Merylynn whispered. “But a bit like a museum,”
Bea nodded. It was an accurate assessment.
After some time, the man returned. “Mistress Sablewood is honored to welcome you to her sitting room. Right this way, your highness.”
They followed him down a hall to a room that was graciously decorated but as outdated as everything else they’d seen. A tiny, frail woman stood with a walking stick gripped in one bejeweled hand. Her gown was black silk, beaded heavily, and the height of fashion nearly a century ago.
Vespera curtseyed as Bea entered. “Your highness. What an unexpected surprise.”
“Please, sit,” Bea said. She was afraid the old woman might collapse otherwise.
Vespera sank back into the nearest chair, which was probably the one she’d just been seated in. It was near the fireplace, which crackled with life and helped take the dampness from the room.
Bea sat across from her.
“Would you like something to drink, your highness? Tea? A little brandy, perhaps?”
“No, thank you. But my attendant might.” Bea gave Merylynn a look and jerked her chin at the door.
Thankfully, Merylynn understood that Bea wanted to speak to Vespera alone. “I’ll find my way to the kitchen.”
“Gershmin will take you,” Vespera said.
Merylynn left with Vespera’s butler, closing the doors on her way out. Bea edged closer to Vespera. “I understand you were a lady’s maid for my grandmother, Arylias Leda Blackbryar.”
Vespera gasped. “You’re Leda’s granddaughter? But of course you are. Oh, my child.” She reached out one withered hand. “She dreamed of you.”
Now it was Bea’s turn to gasp. “She did?”
“Oh, I remember it well. She had three dreams three nights in a row. They inspired her so much that she was determined to leave you a legacy that might help you once you became queen.”
Bea’s excitement ticked up. “She did. But I don’t think she was able to complete it.
I received one box from her that contained a few things, including a letter in her own hand that mentioned there were more boxes.
” She paused. “I believe she was poisoned before she could complete the rest of them.”
Vespera’s rheumy eyes watered even more.
“Terrible day, that was. Terrible.” She sniffed and brought a black lace handkerchief to her nose.
“I thought the kingdom was done for, I truly did. But your mother, young as she was, she made her way. She has your grandmother’s backbone, she does.
Perhaps not her same gifts, but she’s done all right. ”
“You mean my grandmother’s abilities with the dark arts.”
Vespera narrowed her gaze. “Never supposed to talk about that, but I imagine it’s all right, what with her gone and all. Yes, your grandmother had a knack for such things. It was almost like she’d been born with a little darkness already in her.”
“How would that have happened?”
Vespera shook her head. “Perhaps her mother did some sort of incantation over herself when your grandmother was within her? I was never much of a student of such things.”
None of that really mattered, so Bea moved on. “Do you have any idea what she planned on putting in those other boxes?”
“I’m sorry, your highness, I don’t.” Her eyes narrowed, her gaze clouded with age. “It’s been many years since…”
She went silent and stayed that way for so long that Bea began to wonder if the old woman had drifted off with her eyes open.
Bea sighed in frustration. This wasn’t turning out the way she’d hoped. She waved her hand in front of the old woman’s face.
Nothing.
“Vespera.” She raised her voice. “Vespera.”
The old woman startled and came back to life. “Oh, hello there, dear. Who are you, now?”
Bea frowned. “Queen Beatryce Blackbryar. Leda Blackbryar’s granddaughter.”
Vespera gasped. “You’re Leda’s granddaughter? But of course you are. Oh, my child.” She reached out one withered hand. “She dreamed of you.”
“Yes,” Bea said. “We’ve been through that.
I had asked if you knew anything of the boxes my grandmother planned to leave me.
She left me one and I believe she was poisoned before she could complete the rest. Did she ever speak to you about them?
Do have any idea what she might have been planning to put in them? ”
Vespera sniffed. “Terrible day, that was. Terrible.”
Bea only barely managed not to roll her eyes. She was getting nowhere. This trip had been a waste. Good thing they hadn’t had to come far. Vespera probably wouldn’t even remember that they’d been here.
That made Bea sit back and think harder. If that was true, which she could only speculate about, why not ask some more detailed questions? Why not show the old woman something that might ignite her memory?
Her grandmother had said not to share them with anyone, but did Vespera really count? Who would she tell, if she remembered? Her butler, who seemed somehow older than Vespera?
Bea leaned forward. “In the box my grandmother left me, there was a letter from her. She mentioned she had secrets to tell me. Do you know anything about those secrets? What she might be referring to?”
Vespera blinked slowly. “Your grandmother was full of secrets and mysteries. She wore them like a veil. But she never shared them. Not with me, anyway.”
As much as Bea felt like she ought to be angry, she wasn’t.
The old woman couldn’t help it that Leda hadn’t shared things with her.
With a deep sigh, Bea sat back. Was there any point in showing Vespera the things from the box?
Probably not. “Is there anything you think I should know about my grandmother?”
Vespera twisted her gnarled fingers together in her lap. “She was a cunning woman. Her mind worked in ways few of us could fathom. I suppose your mother must be something like her, hmm?”
“I would say that’s a fair assessment.”
“Your grandmother hated the Radiant. She blamed them for the curse, you know. Well, we all did. After all, it was their fault, wasn’t it?”
Bea nodded. “Anything else about her you think I should know?”
“She would be proud of you, I know that much.”
“Thank you.” Disappointment filled Bea. She’d placed too much on this visit. She’d thought it would give her the information she needed. “You don’t know anything about the dark arts, do you? How Leda became so skilled?”
Vespera’s brows bent. “I don’t know much about such things, I’m sorry.
But I can tell you that your grandmother practiced constantly.
She had a library of grimoires. She studied the lives of the great wizards.
Tried to emulate them, in some regards. She even went to Tenebrae once, to visit Lady Cynzia. ”
Bea blinked. “She did?”
“Oh, yes. It was a secret trip. I was the only one who went with her. Nasty place, that island. It was her and me and a pair of guards she swore to secrecy.”
Bea realized Vespera knew more than she’d thought. “Did she actually meet Lady Cynzia?”
Vespera got that faraway look again. “Lady who?”
“Lady Cynzia. You said my grandmother went to see her in Tenebrae.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. She did. I went with her. And two royal guards that she swore to secrecy.”
“And did Leda actually meet Lady Cynzia?”
Vespera’s eyes gleamed. She leaned forward, her tone turning conspiratorial.
“She did meet her. Leda smuggled in a few things for Lady Cynzia. Tools. Ingredients. A dagger or two. In exchange, Lady Cynzia gave Leda a book of spells. Not a true grimoire, just a few things she’d written up while incarcerated, pages bound together with a bit of twine.
But your grandmother treasured it like it was the finest gold. ”
Bea’s mouth was open, but she had no desire to close it. “My grandmother helped Lady Cynzia escape Tenebrae?”
Vespera nodded with the energy of a schoolgirl. “She was a naughty one, your grandmother.” She giggled. “Wicked as the day is long.”
Bea let out a soft curse. She could only imagine what Anyka would think of this news.
And of the information that some of Lady Cynzia’s writings existed in Castle Hayze.
Unless Leda had gotten rid of them. But that didn’t seem like something Leda would do, not after what she’d gone through to get them.
Bea took a breath. What if those writings were what Leda had meant to leave for her in one of the other boxes?
And what if one of those writings contained something that might help Bea save her mother? Some dark incantation to pull her back from the edge of the Beyond? She might not need Nazyr after all.
“What did she do with those writings?” Bea asked. “Think hard, please. I’m sure my grandmother would want me to have them.”
Vespera stared at Bea, the light in her eyes gone. “Want you to have what, dear?”
Bea groaned. Her impatience was getting the best of her. “Lady Cynzia’s writings. Please, try to focus. Where might they be in the castle?”
“Lady Cynzia was in Tenebrae,” Vespera said. “Your grandmother went to see her. She took me with—”
“I know,” Bea said more sharply than she meant to. She quickly smiled, trying to soften the words. “Do you remember the writings Cynzia gave Leda? Do you have any idea where Leda might have put them?”
Something flickered in Vespera’s gaze. “Leda put them away for safe-keeping. She put all her best things away for safe-keeping.”
Bea nodded. “Very good. Where was that place? Think, Vespera. You were her lady’s maid. Her trusted friend.” Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but Bea wasn’t worried about veracity in the moment. “You would have known where such things were, wouldn’t you?”
Slowly, Vespera began to nod. “Oh, yes, I knew.”
A breath caught in Bea’s throat. She forced herself to swallow it and remain calm. “That’s wonderful. Where was that place?”
“In…” Vespera tilted her head, gaze watering as she thought. “She had a vault.”
Again, Bea did her best to stay calm. “A vault. That makes perfect sense. Where was the vault? In her apartment?”
Vespera frowned. “I can’t tell you such things.”
“Of course you can. I’m Leda’s granddaughter. She would want me to know.”
Vespera nodded. “I think so, too, but I can’t tell you because I don’t know. No one did.”
Bea sank back into her seat, deflated. She’d come so far. She huffed out a breath. It was time to go home.
She was about to get up when she decided to try one last thing. She dug into the pouch at her belt and pulled out the ring Leda had left for her. She showed it to Vespera. “Do you know what this is?”
Vespera peered into Bea’s palm. “That’s a portal ring.”
Bea frowned. “Do you know where it goes?”
“I suppose anywhere that has a portal.”
So much for that. Bea stuck the ring back in the pouch and tried again with the key. “Do you know what this is?”
“Of course. That’s a key.”
“And do you know what it might be for?”
Vespera laughed, the gleam in her eyes returning. “Yes, but you’re not supposed to have that.”
“I’m not? Why?”
“Because,” Vespera said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “That’s the key to Leda’s vault.”