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“Where is Jasper?” I asked. He was the last piece of the puzzle. I cursed myself now for compelling him, but if I could remove the order, he could remind me when the time came.
“He has retired to his rooms.” She bowed her head, her grey hair matching her wrinkled face.
“Bring him to me.”
“I am sorry, princess. The ceremony begins now.” Though her demeaner was calm, I caught the twitch of her hand. She dared to challenge me, though I could see in her placid smile that she knew what was at stake.
“No.” I shook my head, straightening myself to my full height. I stared down the woman who was thwarting what could be my only chance of finding answers should the notes be discovered. “I refuse to follow unless he is with me.”
“Then you shall not ascend at all.”
I hesitated, glaring at her. She held my gaze, her expression steady and calm. If she was used to serving the Grandmothers, then my demands would go unheeded.
I made her wait as I wrote him a message, trying to convey the importance of my memories without revealing too much. Jasper and I had a code to ensure our letters were genuine. But I did not hand it to the maid. There was no way for me to trust she would deliver it. And so I created two, the second folded up and placed inside my dress while I hid my body from her.
I handed her the decoy.She was unimpressed by my attempt to contact him. I knew there was no way to trust anyone in the palace apart from Jasper, but I had to at least try.
I did not care. As long as I could remember my wolves, my ascension would have true meaning.
“It is time.” She bowed to me again.
I nodded, following her from the room, desperately praying I would somehow find these notes after the ceremony.
I stood before the grand doors again. The first time I had entered them, the smell of wolf had drowned out everything else. Only now I noticed that the red and gold painted wood carried the scent of vampire blood, as if the Grandmothers had killed our own kind just to decorate their palace.
The maid adjusted the ivory silks that covered my arms and fell around my legs, perfecting me for the ceremony. Heavy silver ringed my wrists and throat, a pearl crown adorning my head.
I touched my chest, feeling the pendant through the dress, asking for strength. I nodded to the guards and the doors swung open.
My chin lifted as I was met with the sight of the Grandmothers. They stood around a wide black marble basin in the centre of the room, the bubbling white liquid dancing, calling, asking me to forget.
Before I could move, I heard it. A howl in the distance, tearing through me, echoing the agony that beat in my heart, that devoured my soul. I gasped, freezing at the threshold of my goal.
“Princess?” a guard said, stepping forward, bringing me back to the reality where I had already made my choice.
I shook my head, signalling that I would continue.
I stepped through the doors, my vision clear, determination settled in my heart.
All my striving, the pain, the struggle against my father and my fight to resist my wolves; I would not let it be for naught.
Be it months or years, I would return to them. No matter how long it took, my mates and I would be united again.
