I check on her every day, bring her food, maybe drag her home to sleep for a few hours and change her clothes. But I know that till Selene is sure Daciana will be fine, she won’t think about anything else. She nearly killed her closest friend—the woman who saved her—and she can’t forgive herself.
I also have things to deal with, however, so that’s where I put my focus. It is dim in Lucian’s study, the fire throwing dull light across the walls. Leon is standing near the window, arms folded. Kieran sits a little apart in the high-backed chair opposite the hearth, elbows on his knees, the worn lines of his face catching the glow. His eyes are sharp despite the exhaustion.
Lucian paces, his mood as heavy as the silence engulfing the room.
Kieran is the one who finally breaks it. His voice is low, steady. “Zane had been dead for a long time.”
“How long?” Lucian asks.
“At least a year,” Kieran says. “Maybe closer to five.” He exhales slowly, the sound jagged. “I checked what remained of the anchor traces. They were old. Reinforced again and again. Whoever maintained him knew how to feed a corpse without losing control.”
Leon grimaces. “Five years? That’s impossible.”
“Not impossible,” Kieran says, eyes fixed on the fire. “Justhorrifying.”
I lean forward in my chair at the table. “If he’s been dead that long, then this didn’t start recently.”
“No.” Kieran’s tone is grim. “This was methodical. Someone raised him, kept him stable, waited for the right time.”
My throat tightens. “Three years ago, the Radrick patriarch died. Then the heirs started dying. One after another. All clean deaths, all unsolved.”
Leon looks over. “You think that’s connected?”
“I know it is.” My tone is flat. “Whoever the necromancer is, they cleared the bloodline. Zane was next in line for the title. They wanted him there as their puppet.”
Lucian’s jaw flexes. “The whole plan seemed to be to get to Astra. But since she only arrived here relatively recently, and is only seven weeks pregnant now, they must have had another plan before. One they decided not to carry out.”
Kieran nods once. “The red powder you showed me was blood dust. It is shed from an undead.”
Leon mutters, “Word’s spreading. They’re saying Zane tried to attack the Queen. That he kidnapped Her Majesty, and you killed him.”
Lucian doesn’t flinch. “Better they think that than the truth.”
“How’s the Council taking it?” I ask.
“They’re quiet,” Leon says. “Too quiet. They’re watching to see how this shakes the court. They’ll move when they can twist it to their advantage.”
Kieran rubs his temples, weariness in every motion. “The necromancer should be scared of trying again. For now. But don’t fool yourselves. They’ll come back around—if not with another undead, then with something worse.”
Lucian’s voice hardens. “You’re saying they’ll come for Astra again?”
“I’m saying,” Kieran replies evenly, “they’ll come for the Queen and her child again. And this time, they’ll aim to separate her from her protectors before they strike.” His eyes lift to Lucian’s. “You need to be ready.”
Lucian meets the warning without blinking. “I will be.”
The room goes still for a moment. Only the flames in the hearth move.
Leon shifts his weight. “And Selene? How is she?”
The question grinds through me like gravel. “She’s okay,” I say. “Still with Daciana. But she’s going to be fine. She blames herself.”
“Why?” Lucian frowns.
“She nearly killed her friend,” I say quietly. “You can’t talk guilt like that away. She says she felt the magic inside her lash out. She saw the damage she did. It doesn’t matter that she didn’t mean it.”
Leon looks at Kieran. “I heard you visited Daciana the other day.”
Kieran makes a noncommittal sound. I’m watching him when he says, “I’d like to stay a few more months than planned.”
