‘You’re telling methisis our new queen?’
I cracked one eye open as a stranger’s harsh voice interrupted my dreams.
‘She is,’ said a second, equally unfamiliar, though somewhat softer voice. ‘Sorrow’s lovely though. I met her once when I visited Matthias. I was about seven or eight, but I remember how much I liked her.’
I burrowed my face into the soft pillow, groaning as the exhaustion from the trip clung to me like a vice. I surmised the softer voice belonged to Skye, my new sister-in-law. I raised my groggy head and shuffled up against the pillow, blinking away the damned spots to focus on the two figures at the end of my bed.
‘Your brother said he had no idea how she’d fought off the effects of the blight for so long.’
‘True.’
‘Strange. She’s quite clearly incredibly sick. Look at the state of her!’
‘Glesni!’ Skye cried, approaching my bed as I dragged my hand down my face, wondering if my ears were deceiving me. ‘She’s the queen. You can’t be rude.’
Glesni barked out a harsh laugh. ‘It’ll be a cold day among the flames of Vyrus when I do as I’m told, Skye Elmswood.’
I almost pinched myself. Surely I was still asleep? Matthias had warned me I’d meet my match with Glesni, but was I supposed to believe this squat lump hurling crude insults, before I’d even opened my mouth, was the best mentor on Eusis?
I rubbed sleep from my eyes as the two very differently shaped intruders came into focus. We’d arrived at the Palace of Solace in the early hours of the morning. Asher had led me to my chambers – mine and mine alone, I noted with a slight pang. Matthias already had a mountain of matters to attend to and, after I’d dismissed a rather petulant lady’s maid, I collapsed on the bed.
I recognised Ifan’s twin. As children they’d been almost identical. A weary smile lay on my lips as I recalled the countless tricks they’d played on me and Matthias. The slender figure twisting her fingers nervously seemed miles apart from her well-built, gruff brother.
‘It’s good to see you, Skye,’ I said, noting how her eyes twinkled more than when she’d been a child. Matthias was right. She was happier.
‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ said Skye, sitting on the edge of my bed and offering a scrap of bacon to Pablo. She straightened her emerald satin gown. It was the same perfect shade of deep green as hers and Matthias’s eyes. It wasn’t the only attribute they shared, I noted as I took in her golden tanned skin and lean, toned form. She bit the corner of her thumb, and Matthias’s words came back to me, her wish to gain a sister. I wondered what her first impression had been. Thequeenwho’d slept with a huge wolf and wore the same filthy tunic and wool leggings she’d been travelling in for four days.
‘Either it was come here or throw myself into the burning heart of Vyrus,’ I said, attempting to untangle my hair.
‘Pah.’
My gaze flicked onto the mentor.
‘You’ll wish you’d taken the first option if we don’t train that blight out of your system. I expect you in my training room in the next hour.’
I blinked at the tiny figure. The ancient woman, who’d be eye to eye with Pablo if he stood in front of her, glared at me from a set of twinkling dark eyes in a deeply lined, leathered face. I squinted at a ruddy rash spreading across her cheeks, reminiscent of a butterfly. She’d pulled her snowy hair into a messy knot on the top of her head, and a threadbare olive-green cardigan was wrapped across her ample chest, a brown belt cinched at her waist. It all seemed at odds with her commanding voice.
‘My apologies,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘But I won’t be able to make it. I need to get to the library and start my research.’
‘Vyrus’s hairy arse you do.’
‘Pardon?’ I was suddenly wide awake as the hunched-over figure limped back to the door.
‘You heard. What’s your wolf called?’
‘He is notmywolf. Pablo. His name’s Pablo.’
She grunted, wincing as she opened the door to my chamber. ‘Well then, Pablo?’ The wolf raised his head from the comfort of the bed and stared right at her. ‘After she’s washed and dressed, follow my scent and bring her to me. Understand?’
With a little sneeze, Pablo settled his chin down on the bed.
‘You can talk to animals?’ That would explain why Matthias wanted her to train me.
‘Don’t be stupid, child. That’syourgift from what I hear. I can, however, recognise an intelligent creature when I see one.’
It was hard to tell, but it looked as though the old woman peered at me from the doorway.
‘And once I leave, he’ll be the only one left in this room.’
