“I will be back,” he promised. “With news. And a ring.”
I shouldn’t have smiled. Now was not the time for a smile. But the irony of Caspian running off to find a ring so I could marry him so I could save the realm was... totally ridiculous. And somehow funny.
Or maybe I was already slipping into the magical madness.
Katrinka filled his place, and we continued on our path to the war room. I had never been to this part of the castle before. It had been for grown-ups when I was a child, and since I’d been back, until today, it had been Tyrn’s domain. And it showed.
The halls were draped in dark cloths, covering windows. Lit sconces dotted the corridors, but it was like walking through a forest at night. Or a network of tunnels beneath the earth. It was meant to be black as an abyss. Black as the hopeless hole Tyrn had fallen into.
When at long last, Curtis led us into the war room, I heaved a sigh at the large paned window letting moonlight flood the space. But the room revealed more of Tyrn’s madness. It was decorated with equal parts fierce masculinity and crazed lunatic.
There were weapons displayed on every surface. On three of the walls, they were hung as decorations. On the fourth, someone had drawn a bull’s-eye on the paneled wood with paint, and Tyrn seemed to have used it for target practice. Axes and daggers and swords were plunged into the splintered wood at varying places on the large set of circles. In other places were gaping holes exposing the stone foundation of the castle.
Piles of books were scattered around the room, reminding me of Ravanna’s library but even more chaotic. On a desk in the corner were a set of open books. I perused the pages, hoping they would tell me about warfare and what to do next. But only found titles on poisons and paragraphs on their effects. Tyrn had made notes in the margins and circled words that he seemed to identify as part of his illness.
On one very old book, a word was circled in black ink on its thin, yellowed pages: The Slow Death. I quickly scanned the text and found a rare plant used to make a paste that would kill a person so slowly they did not even suspect they were ill until the very last days. Depending on how little or much of the paste was used would depend on how quickly the victim succumbed. From a year to several decades, it seemed.
Mynot had died the same way, but perhaps quicker than Tyrn, I realized. Ravanna had been using poisons on those closest to her for decades.
Symptoms of the poison included controlled delusions, walking nightmares, and extreme paranoia. Many recipients of the poison had been known to kill themselves when the madness grew too extreme.
Others wasted away until their bodies finally gave out.
What kind of sister poisoned her own brother?
What kind of sister used her brother’s madness to make him kill her other sister?
“I love you,” I told Katrinka rather out of the blue. She blinked at me, looking as though she was struggling to understand. “I don’t think I’ve said it to you since you’ve been back. But I do, Katrinka. I love you. I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know how I would handle any of this without you by my side.”
Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “I l-love you too, Tessa.”
“Are you okay?”
She collapsed into a fur-lined chair that was covered in scrolls and maps. Most of them scattered on the floor as her body displaced them, but she hardly noticed. “No.” Her fearful gaze met mine. “Are you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“What are you going to do?” Her voice was so small, but her question loomed large.
“Get the Crown back. Kill Ravanna. Unite the kingdoms again. Avenge our family. Avenge Heprin. Maybe bring magic back to the realm. I have not fully decided on that yet. And marry Caspian. Tonight.” I cleared my throat, trying not to keel over from apoplexy at the task list ahead of me. “Oh, and learn to be queen.”
Her lips tilted in a crooked smile, and she pushed her spectacles farther up her nose. “Is that it?”
I shrugged. “Well, it’s a start, at least.”
We were silent for a few minutes, and then she suddenly giggled. “Are you really marrying Caspian tonight?”
The affirmation stuck in my throat. More terrifying than the war ahead of me was the idea of marriage. Specifically marriage to Caspian, who was as ruthless as he was somehow thoughtful. And as dangerous as he was apparently loyal.
The war room doors swung open, and Curtis, Dover, and Finch walked inside. It was like watching stone stand and move. They were as formidable as I’d ever seen them. As I’d ever needed them to be.
Curtis immediately dropped to his knee, and the other two followed suit. “Your Majesty, I must apologize for our lack of action. Your life was in danger, and we did nothing to save you. We accept your punishment however you—”
“Please.” I laughed, although the sound was bitter... brittle. “Spare me your apologies and penance. I don’t think anyone in the realm could have guessed we would go to war with an army of birds. Least of all me. We were caught by surprise, and that is not your fault. We have one enemy today, and you would do better to blame her than heap guilt upon yourselves. Now, please stand. I have a real need of protection, and I would prefer it if it was you doing the protecting.”
They stood at once. I held Curtis’s eyes, showing him the seriousness of my word. He nodded humbly. But took his place at the door. Dover mimicked his moves exactly.
“Finch,” I called before he could leave. “I need to get a message to Taelon.”
