Page 6 of Blood Curse

She almost smiled. “I can walk.”

“Then walk. I’ll be here if your legs reconsider.”

Lenora offered her forearm on the other side. “The King’s rooms are closest. We need better light and clean water.”

Bryony looked between us. “You’re both going to hover, aren’t you?”

“I’m supporting,” I said.

“I’m assessing,” Lenora said.

“Hovering with job titles.”

She took Lenora’s arm anyway. I loosened my hold enough to let Bryony choose the first step.

Her boot moved forwards. Then the other.

The Crown stayed dark. The chains didn’t return.

I kept expecting pale links to appear around my wrists, but the revocation ended the command. Nothing followed us except the sound of our breathing and the faint echo of opened locks.

Bryony’s weight settled more evenly with each step. She kept one hand on me and one on Lenora, setting a pace that would be painfully slow for anyone who mattered less.

“Tell me if the Crown gives another order,” Lenora said.

“I will.”

“Before you act on it.”

“That would be the useful time.”

“You have a gift for making agreement sound argumentative.”

“A century of practice.”

Bryony squeezed my side. “Can we get to the room before you two begin enjoying this?”

“I’m not enjoying it,” Lenora said.

“She is,” I told Bryony. “This is her happy voice.”

Lenora opened the side door and left that unanswered, which proved my point.

The corridor lamps flared as Bryony passed. Harrowmere still knew her. Every door stood open, but the house felt alert now, as if it had heard footsteps on a road none of us could see.

We passed the turning that led towards the Night Hall. Cold air moved out of the dark passage, carrying dust and the faint metallic scent of old blood.

Bryony stopped.

“Do you feel anyone in there?” I asked.

“No. It feels empty.” She looked towards the darkness. “But awake.”

“What was it?”

“The part of Harrowmere that belonged to the court rather than the king. Oaths were sworn there. Complaints were shouted there. Half the furniture was replaced every winter because vampires become destructive when politics bores them.”

“So it was dignified.”