After sundown,I flew down and found Lilia inside the castle, sitting before the hearth. The flames cast light and shadow on her face, showing the worry there.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
She pulled her gaze to me and forced a small smile. “Just thinking about my family. Hoping my brother’s okay.”
“He looked healthy the last time I was here.” I nodded, not sure what else to say. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, Little Thistle.”
She slanted her head. “I have a name, you know.”
“Oh, do you?” The sardonic tone returned before I could stop it.
“Yes. It’s Lilia.”
I exhaled through my teeth. “Fine—Lilia.”The words came out rough. “What do you need for us to try again at the wards?” I tried to school my tone to steer away from sarcasm and failed. “More herbs?”
She glared at me, then looked away. “I don’t have my books. I’d left them all at home.” She snorted. “I didn’t think I was leaving my cottage for a permanent departure.”
Right. I bit my tongue to keep from snapping. But I couldn’t have let her leave with what she knew of the wards. Then again, she’d mentioned being squeezed by the queen. Surely that meant she wouldn’t collude with the queen and betray me, right?
No, now was not the time to question that. We were here now and stuck together on a mission that would no doubt fail.
Don’t think that way. That’s exactly what she called you out on last night.
I hesitated. Perhaps I might have some resources that would help, but they were tucked away where no one but me could access them. No one else had entered that room for years. It was the one space in the castle I protected above all else because it held the secret of my doomed fate.
But what did I have to lose by letting her search for options? I was running out of time, and standing in front of the hearth bickering with a woman who smelled of damn herbs and flowers wasn’t going to help.
“Come with me,” I said.
She cocked her head. “Where?”
“Gods of Stone, you are exasperating, woman!”
“Because I asked a simple question?”
I motioned with my hand. “Come with me.” I didn’t wait for her and strode down the stone hallway, adding, “Before I change my mind.”
CHAPTER 12
LILIA
Hadrien led me through the Great Hall and down a corridor, stopping before an iron-banded door. He hesitated, not moving with his characteristic stillness, and I turned to glance at him just as he pushed the door open.
“Wow,” I whispered in awe. I’d thought the rest of the castle was vast and impressive, but my mouth dropped at the sight.
A library, vast and magnificent, rolled out like a mirage. Moonlight peered in from tall arched windows and cast a warm glow from floor to ceiling that spread in a curve across the walls. Countless leather-bound books filled the shelves that loomed above dark-wood cabinets. A rolltop desk was tucked against one wall, a fireplace nestled in another, and a couple of large chairs with small tables and reading lights were arranged across from each other.
“Magnificent,” I uttered and stepped forward as if in a dream. I coasted my fingertips over the spines of old books,brushing over the worn leather with gold lettering, and breathed in the scent of leather and parchment.
I read as I went. Histories, star charts, agricultural ledgers going back centuries. And then—my pulse jumped—a thick book on botany.
“Can I?” I asked, turning to him.
He gestured with an open hand. “Be my guest.”
This was my kind of section. I pulled out more books and gaped at the covers: medical compendiums, books on magic and spells. I tucked them against my chest and carried them over to a massive, gargoyle-sized chair where I stacked my pile on a small table.
“We might find something in one of these,” I said.
