Thalia’s cheeks heated with embarrassment, but she pushed it aside. “And what of your own escapades with your adviser?”
The queen waved a hand. “Please, don’t be a child.”
Thalia stiffened but bit her tongue to keep her retort in.
The queen looked at her again. “Well? Get on with it. What causes the sickness you’ve been so eager to avoid discussing?”
Thalia’s fingernails pierced her palms. “A creature.”
The queen froze, her eyes slowly sliding to her daughter’s. “A creature?” Thalia nodded. “What sort of creature?”
“One that dwells in Chaménos, the forest bordering our realms. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. It’s nothing like anything in this world. They say it was made.”
Something flashed in the queen’s eyes, but it was gone in an instance. “Made?”
Thalia nodded once more, and something tugged in the center of her chest. A strange pull she couldn’t place.
“Something created it. The Mages—” She faltered, then pushed ahead. The Mages weren’t a secret, not one whose existence would be threatened, anyway. “They said that this creature was made by magic, that some Mage must have turned to darkness to create it.”
Thalia paused, watching her mother. The queen had just sunk against the couch, eyes contemplative.
That tugging was insistent now, as if a string were tied around Thalia’s breastbone.
“You don’t seem shocked,” Thalia got out.
The queen flicked her attention back to her daughter. “The Mages are of no concern to me.”
“You know about them?”
“Everyone from Vaccarium knows about them.”
Everyone from …
Thalia sucked in a sharp breath, the tug intensifying so hard she could barely think. Maybe that was why her mother’s words weren’t making sense. “What?”
The queen stood, pacing slightly, then she turned suddenly. “And this creature, what does it look like?” Thalia shook her head, mumbling off the description. “And the prince?”
Thalia’s head spun. “What about him?”
“You say he’s often away from court? That you haven’t seen him?”
Thalia shook her head. “No. No there’s always an excuse as to why he’s gone—”
The queen let out a laugh and clapped her hands, a smile breaking across her face. “How excellent.”
“What are you talking about?”
The queen crossed the floor, and Thalia didn’t know how to react as her mother gripped her hands, nearly giddy with joy. “You have done very well, Thalia.” The queen smiled brighter than the sun. “Very well indeed.”
“I don’t understand.”
The queen shook her head, her hand cupping Thalia’s face. “Never mind that. The prince is gone. For good. The courts will soon fall if they aren’t already in chaos, based on what you’ve told me. The creature’s poison will spread, especially once I’ve captured more Vampyrs and turned them thanks to the bitten under the chapel. We’ve done it, Thalia. We’ve destroyed them.”
Thalia’s stomach knotted like a noose. “You mean to send an army of bitten Vampyrs into Vaccarium?”
The queen stepped back, making her way to the window. “I thought that once the prince had been cursed, the lack of rule would lead to a civil war. But I suppose I should have realized that there needed to be more. Then Reina captured that Vampyr, one who seemed … different than the rest. I knew it wasn’t well; I’ve been having Marcus look into the old trenches to see if we might continue to push through under the forest.”
Thalia had gone cold, her fingertips numb. “There are children there.”
