Camilla stiffened, sliding her gaze to hers. “Yes, he was up north, but he moved east. Another storm came in.”
Thalia forced her face to remain neutral, even though her heart pounded in her throat. Camilla had just lied to her face. Something else was going on with the prince. Thalia set her goblet down on one of the banquet tables. “Does any of this have to do with what’s going on?”
Camilla glanced at her cautiously. “What do you mean?”
Thalia looked around the room. The courts were quiet, and she hadn’t spotted Cassius the whole evening. In fact, he’d been missing the entire day. “About the barrier?”
Camilla stared at her a moment longer. Her eyes shifted. “You’ll have to ask Cassius.”
The prince wasn’t dealing with a storm, that much was certain. But Thalia let it go, tucking the information away just as a Vampyr with a blue ampithere stitched on his chest walked past.
“Lord Amadeus,” Thalia said, and the lord of House Santorien faltered. He turned on his heel to face her, a silver goblet in hand.
“Princess.” The Vampyr inclined his dark head. “You summoned court.” It wasn’t really a question.
Thalia forced a smile. “In Agripa, my mother holds court weekly. I thought it would be a nice way to show the merging of our kingdoms, especially with the prince still away.”
Lord Amadeus seemed to wince at the thought. “Indeed.”
But the Vampyr wasn’t running away, and Camilla had been pulled into a conversation with a servant asking where to put the roasted boar, so Thalia took a step nearer to him. “I do hope your concerns were eased about the forest.”
Lord Amadeus’s golden eyes flashed. “Has a solution been achieved, then?”
Thalia’s heart hammered in her throat. She willed her nerves to calm, to slow her heartbeat so the Vampyr wouldn’t suspect anything. “The rivers would have reached your springs by now; there is no need to worry about the forest dying.”
“Oh … yes, that matter.” Lord Amadeus shifted, eyes glancing around the room.
“Is there something else that’s wrong with the forest?” Thalia pushed. But his attention wasn’t on her; it was on Lord Adrian staring at them from across the hall. “Lord Amadeus?”
Lord Amadeus jerked his attention back to hers. “Forgive me.” Then he bowed and walked away.
“What was that?” Camilla’s voice sounded loudly behind her.
Thalia shrugged, taking a sip of her goblet only so her hands wouldn’t shake. “Nothing. Just reassuring him that Agripa released the waters for the forest.”
Camilla gave her an odd look, but before the shifter could question her, Thalia nodded to where Lord Adrian had been pulled into a conversation with Julian and a female with red eyes and long dark hair. “Who’s that?”
Camilla followed her eyeline. “Francesca. She’s from House Avanerius. Julian’s lover.”
Julian, who was hiding something in that house in Irenbis.
The green-eyed Vampyr caught her stare. His brows narrowed at her attention, his jaw clenching. They hadn’t spoken since her introduction to the courts. Given the death glare he cast at her, she didn’t think they’d be speaking anytime soon. But he was hiding something. They all were—something suspicious enough that her mother would probably kill to find out what.
And Thalia was tired of not knowing what they were keeping from her. She winced suddenly, pressing a hand to her temple.
“Are you all right?” Camilla asked, brows knotting.
Thalia shook her head. “If you’ll excuse me, I-I seem to have a headache. I think I’ll lie down for a bit.”
Camilla frowned, but nodded her acknowledgment as Thalia slipped from the great hall. But instead of aiming toward her room, Thalia went in search of the stables.
Chapter Fourteen
Thalia crept through the quiet city of Irenbis, the hood of her cloak drawn up to mask her features.
Cassius had lied about its citizens coming out after dark. Because it was just as dead quiet in the moonlight as when she’d gone in the afternoon.
Another lie to add to her ever-growing list.
