Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
The chapel was empty. No braziers were lit, nor was there any other indication that her mother was anywhere in the room.
She avoided looking toward the altar where she and Cassius had stood, their hands bound.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
Thalia moved deeper, trying to figure out where her mother could be. Had Reina lied to her? The thought sent a sour tang through her mouth.
She pushed it aside, heading to a door near the back of the space. She knew it opened to a small corridor that led to the priest’s rooms along with a few areas to pray.
But Thalia didn’t pray to anyone’s long-dead gods. She shoved the door open, stepping into the cold hallway.
The priest’s bedchamber was closed, but there was a smaller door at the end of the hall that stood ajar.
Thalia walked toward it without a thought, opening it to a small prayer room.
Her heart picked up at the sight of a door in the ground.
It probably led to the wine cellar, and Thalia eased it open, pushing aside the memory of the last time she’d ventured down into an unknown space.
Lucarius was dead. And no Vampyrs would be in this room.
None would be foolish enough to venture this far into Agripa.
She eased down the steps, and faint murmuring drifted up toward her. Thalia stopped at the base of the stairs, light bleeding into the small space.
It was indeed a wine cellar, containing barrels crusted with dust and cobwebs. But in the middle of the stone room stood the queen.
“This won’t do, Marcus.” The queen’s voice wove its way to Thalia, causing her spine to lock up. “I asked specifically which trenches are still usable.”
Thalia pressed against the wall, her heart rate starting to rise.
“I’ve tried, Your Majesty.” Marcus’s tired words echoed. He sat on a wooden chair, piles of books around him. “But our maps are old—outdated. Perhaps we could ask Thalia? She’s traveled all over Agripa; maybe she knows—”
“No.” The queen’s harsh words had Marcus faltering. “She does not need to get involved.”
Marcus sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. At least he’d taken Thalia’s advice and rested; his face was freshly shaven. “I’ll keep searching, then.”
The queen nodded. “And the other thing I asked you?”
Marcus shook his head. “It would be helpful to know exactly what you were searching for and how it pertains to this.”
Thalia stifled her gasp as Marcus shifted.
She hadn’t noticed the iron cage behind him, hidden in shadow. The light from the braziers landed on the person held within.
Not a person—a Vampyr.
She was chained against the stone wall, a mask of iron wrapped around her skull and over her mouth. Her hair was unkempt, her clothing torn and dirty.
But it was her eyes, dull and glassy, the saliva dripping through the corners of the mask and landing in a puddle on the ground, that had Thalia’s heart rate spiking.
“This creature is sick,” the queen said, a frown pulling on her elegant brow.
“So you’re wanting to find a cure?” Marcus asked, his head lifting. The Vampyr tried to surge forward, but given the tight space and her restraints, the chains only rattled.
The queen sighed. “I thought that as head librarian, you would be smarter than this.” She stepped nearer to the cage, and the Vampyr jerked. “This Vampyr is sick. And you know what happens with sickness?”
Marcus made a face. “It spreads?”
“Precisely. The question is, how fast can it spread?”
Thalia’s stomach dropped. She didn’t realize she’d stepped into the room until she blurted out, “You can’t.”
The queen whirled, and Marcus stared at her wide-eyed. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Thalia could have sworn her mother had aged at least ten years. “Thalia,” she said, displeasure morphing her features. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
“And you shouldn’t have her.” Thalia pointed a shaking finger.
The Vampyr lifted her matted head, dried blood crusted around the mask, the clamps squeezing her brain to the point of bursting.
“This creature was captured in Agripa,” the queen got out. “As such, it is mine to do with as I wish.”
Thalia shook her head, forcing the bile from her throat. “You don’t—you don’t understand. She has—she has—”
“A sickness?” The queen stepped toward her, and Thalia froze. “What do you know about it?”
“I—” Thalia faltered.
The queen’s eyes narrowed. “Thalia, what have you discovered in Vaccarium?”
Thalia shook her head, cursing herself. She should have brought Cassius. Should be better at lying—“Nothing.”
The queen paused, tilting her head, the motion making Thalia sick. “Marcus, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d like a moment alone with my daughter.”
Marcus glanced at Thalia, his hesitancy palpable. But it was clear he had no idea what was going on or what her mother was trying to do. Thalia dipped her chin and Marcus rose, gathering his books before he left up the stairs.
They stared at each other. Mother and daughter. Two halves of a tarnished mirror, reflecting the cracks and flaws in each other’s facades.
The queen finally sank onto the seat Marcus had vacated as if it were a throne. The bitten Vampyr behind her shrank back. “Shall we discuss it, then?”
“Discuss what?” Thalia bit out.
“The fact you’ve discovered a way to destroy our greatest enemy, yet you haven’t lifted a finger?”
Thalia forced her trembling hands behind her back. “I haven’t had the chance to meet the prince. He’s often away from his court.”
“Ah yes, how convenient for you.”
“I’ve tried,” Thalia said, her heart rate rising further. But her stomach twisted at the halfhearted answer. Because, deep down, she knew she could have done more. “I’ve tried to find a weakness amongst the courts. Have tried to find out when he might return so I can kill him as you asked.”
“But have you?” her mother countered.
“Have I what?”
The queen shook her head, features twisting. “Don’t play dumb with me.”
Thalia waited, willing the claws wrapping around her throat to leave.
The queen’s piercing gaze lifted to hers. “What have you done in Vaccarium to try and save us from this blight? What have you done to ensure that what happened to your father, your sister, never happens again?”
Thalia’s jaw ached from how tightly she clenched her teeth. “The courts do not like the prince.”
The queen raised a well-groomed brow. “Yes, your quaint little letters informed me as much.” So she had received her daughter’s intel and truly hadn’t bothered to see how she fared.
Thalia’s heart stuttered. “And did you try stirring up more discord amongst them? You say the prince is away; surely a lack of leadership would be easy to twist and spread?”
“It’s not that simple.” Her mind flashed to Lord Adrian and the burning castle at Irenbis.
The queen rose, and Thalia refused to shrink as she stopped in front of her. “I’m disappointed in you, Thalia.”
Thalia didn’t want to admit how those words sank into her chest, how they started to rip at her already-torn heart. “You don’t know what it’s like,” Thalia got out, ignoring the rattling chains in the cage. “What I’ve had to deal with, what I’ve fought—”
“What exactly have you had to deal with?” The queen’s words sharpened like a blade.
Thalia swallowed, her eyes darting around. “I—”
Fast as a snake, the queen grabbed her. Surprise flashed through Thalia at the strength she possessed. Her spine locked up as her mother dragged her to the caged Vampyr. “Have you had to deal with this?”
Thalia’s feet refused to move as she was shoved toward the cage. Her whole body froze as she met the bitten’s eyes. The Vampyr’s nostrils flared behind the mask, and she lunged as far as she could with the chains.
Thalia tried to jerk away, but her mother’s grip was viselike, pressing her against the cage. “Have you faced this?” the queen hissed, her fingers tightening enough to bruise.
Thalia shook her head, her body trembling.
“Shall I bring Cassius down here? Shall I introduce him to this creature? Perhaps they know each other. Perhaps he’d be more willing to talk than my own daughter.”
Thalia’s cheeks burned with tears. “Please. Don’t—”
“Don’t what, Thalia? It’s clear from your hesitancy that they’ve wormed their way inside your head. Perhaps I was foolish in thinking you wouldn’t succumb to their ways. That your deep-rooted hatred for him would have stopped you from falling under his guiles once more. I was wrong.”
“No—” Thalia shook her head, willing her mouth to stop speaking. Willing her body to stop acting like a coward.
“No, what?” The queen finally released her, stepping back.
Thalia slumped against the cage, unable to rise, unable to stop the words poised on her lips like a damned confession. “There’s a sickness,” she finally rasped.
“And?”
Thalia couldn’t look at her mother. She stared at the puddle of saliva below the Vampyr’s limbs. “It causes madness.”
The queen shifted. “How does it spread?”
“Though their bites.” Thalia’s stomach rolled, but she couldn’t take the words back. Couldn’t erase the knowledge she’d just handed over to her mother on a silver platter.
“Where did this sickness come from?”
Thalia shook her head, eyes welling, but she pushed the acid aside. “I don’t know.”
The best lies are the ones with truth weaved into it. Cassius’s words rumbled low in her ear. Thalia was going to be sick.
“Is there a cure for this sickness?”
Thalia forced the bile from her throat. She wished she had a blade.
Wished she had something so she could slice off her traitorous tongue.
She should have just sent the damn letter about the sickness, if only so she wouldn’t have to now confess before her mother, who stood above her like a wrathful god. “I don’t know.”
Thalia finally looked up, finding the queen above her, imperious and cold, nothing like the woman who’d first tasked her with her mission. The woman who’d seemed almost sorry for sending her daughter away like a lamb to the slaughter.
She wished the ground would open and swallow her whole. Wished her mother would just shove her into the cage with the Vampyr, if only so it would save her from the roaring in her head—in her heart.
Icy fingers gripped her chin, and Thalia flinched as her mother lifted her face. “You have done well, my daughter.” Thalia trembled as the queen cupped her cheek. “Perhaps I was wrong. You have served Agripa. Far more than I thought.”
The queen released her, and Thalia slumped.
“Given this information, I do believe that our enemy is one step closer to their demise.” The queen moved to the stairs, her gown rippling behind her.
She stopped before she disappeared under the shadowed archway. The queen looked over her shoulder, and Thalia forced herself to meet her mother’s stare. To look at the woman she’d become, who’d poisoned her as thoroughly as a Vampyr bite.
“Agripa will remember your role in this, Thalia. I shall remember.”
Then she was gone, leaving Thalia to tremble in her own puddle of bitter regret.