“Perhaps he enjoys her youth,” Thea posited. “He’s taken her with him to Limanos, after all.”
It was an easy piece of information to cede. Demos had sent a messenger wyvern to Ioni when their party reached Limanos, which she’d received the day she’d arrived. The small, winged beasts could fly with astonishing speed, sending word from south or north in only a day or two.
Ophelia traced the edge of her crown absentmindedly. “Yes, he has.” The queen’s agents had certainly sent their own wyverns with letters detailing what they’d found in the court, including any observations around the king’s new fledgling. “Tell me, Amalthea. If you won’t guess at what your king sees in her, give me your impression. You say you’ve spent little time with her, but I know you better than that. What do you make of his new heir?”
What did Thea think of Samara? The truth was, she hadn’t expected to actuallylikeher.
It had complicated everything. Now she was torn between the king she’d sworn her loyalty to and the necromancer who could wreak untold havoc on the world. With that power, Samara could wreck the entire order of Eastern Eurobis.
So many bodies . . .
What could she give that didn’t truly give away anything? “She’s smart,” Thea said. “Lady Samara has a passion for tinkering.” More than once, Thea had seen her after sparring practice trying to puzzle out the mechanisms of the more complicated weapons, constantly trying to understand how the pieces fit together and if they should be fit together in a different way. “She’s kind and courageous.” She was afraid, more like. So often afraid, but that was where the courage came from. Thea had watched her stand up for the seamstress, and even for Thea herself. Even now, convinced Raphael would kill her, Samaraworked to harness her powers not for her own survival but to protect all of witchkind.
“Courageous,” the queen repeated. “It sounds as though you admire her.”
“I suppose,” Thea said noncommittally.
Ophelia raised a brow, changing tacks. “Interesting that he keeps her so close. Does he drink his fill from her?”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t presume to know.”
The queen sighed. “Truly, Amalthea. I’m asking forscraps. I wasn’t even invited to the debut.”
The last thing Sam needed was to meet the ice queen. “I’m afraid it was a private affair. The king invited no one. If you venture to the Skyflame Celebration, you could meet her this very day.” The transport card to get there would be extraordinarily costly and difficult to procure, but the queen certainly had one.
But that wasn’t why the queen wouldn’t go. They both knew it.
Ophelia narrowed her gaze. “Careful, child.” She might indulge Thea because Raphael favored her, but impudence wouldn’t be well received.
“Apologies, Your Majesty.”
The queen jerked her chin up. “When do you return to the mountains?”
Finally the conversation had moved away from Samara. “With your blessing, I thought I might linger. My visits have been brief, but I was considering spending some extra time here on this trip. There are certain charms to the north I’ve never . . .appreciatedbefore.”
The queen arched a white brow at the oracle. “Do thosecharmshave a name?”
Amalthea grinned, the same grin she gave the ladies in the garden. “I couldn’t say. But Lady Kayara would be a lovely guide, should she be available in the coming days.”
Ophelia’s nod was knowing. “That can be arranged, if she’s amenable.”
Amenable was the mildest way the young vampiress could be described, but Thea nodded as if this were a gift instead of what she’d been maneuvering for over several days. “Your generosity is a kindness, as is your discretion.”
Thea didn’t truly care for the young vampiress, but it secured her a reason to linger in the territory that wouldn’t raise suspicion. Any guilt Thea might have felt had been dulled by the constant barrage of corpses that filled her vision now. Her gaze didn’t waver from the queen’s face; her conviction didn’t waver over any betrayal.
There was no room for guilt.
She’d secured an excuse to explore the area.Gifts,Lady Essa had said. The entire reason Thea had orchestrated the need for a diplomatic visit to the north.
Most witches relied solely on their innate magic. A few rare lines had grimoires to support their casting through generations.
But the necromancer . . . it wasn’t written anywhere, but there had been whispers among the eldest vampires that the necromancer had more relics, indestructible enchanted objects that would let her unlock her powers, scattered through the continent.
Thea suspected one of them was hidden in the frost-filled kingdom.
And if she was going to have any chance at halting the corpse-filled future, she had to find it soon.
Chapter Thirty-Four
