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 amverycross with you!!! Howdareyou not write to me!Why did I have to get news ofthe trialEVERYTHING 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 youtonight, 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 decideto 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 gratitudefor 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.”
