Fine. Despite wanting to cool off with a ride on Feryena, maybe she could find more answers in the library without Camilla watching her like a hawk, now that the council was distracted.
Thalia didn’t run into any other Vampyr as she hurried through the castle, passing the strange armor and bare walls.
She needed to do two things when she got to the library. The first was researching sickness. Cassius had said the Vampyr who’d nearly killed her was sick, but she’d never seen such a sickness before. Not to mention Julian and Francesca had said they were holding out for a cure.
The second was to pen another letter to her mother. Thalia silently cursed; she should have ensured that Cassius had sent out the first one and not assumed he would. She pushed the thought to the side. For now, she made a mental note to get a map of Irenbis and Vaccarium. At least that would help her figure out where exactly the other Houses were.
Thalia slowed when she reached the wing of the palace that led to the library. But instead of taking the right hall, her feet turned left, venturing to a part she’d yet to explore.
The hallway stretched with blood-red carpets, and sconces on the walls cast eerie shadows. But walking had helped clear her head.
Thalia slowed again as she came to a set of double doors.
She frowned. She knew the library wasn’t behind it, but without thinking, she pushed open the door.
She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness of the room.
The bedchamber she’d entered was empty, and Thalia flicked on the lights. The ore in the glass lamps flickered, and Thalia’s eyes widened.
The bedchamber was massive, at least twice the size of hers, though the red wallpaper was similar to the damask wall coverings of her own room. The bed was a behemoth made of black onyx, with sheets the color of dying rose petals.
“What the hell?” Thalia whispered, journeying farther into the room. She moved to the drapes, tugging them aside to allow more light to filter in. Dust motes hung in the air before floating like snowflakes to the ground.
Thalia frowned as she took in the items of the room. There was a sitting area to her right, same as in her room, but larger. No adornments sat atop the marble fireplace mantel, although the fireplace itself was large enough she could crawl inside it.
She moved to the dresser. A thin layer of dust covered a bottle of cologne and a jeweled box carelessly arranged on the top. She opened the drawers, rifling around the pressed silk shirts and trousers.
Thalia’s stomach clenched as she glanced at the bed. Given the size of it along with the ornateness of the room, she had a sinking feeling she knew exactly whose room she was snooping in.
Without making a sound, she hurried to a door that opened into a study. The space was just as ostentatious as the bedroom, with a dark desk taking up the middle of the room. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases lined the back wall, and an arched window allowed the strangely overcast sky’s light to filter in.
Well, at least she had a map.
A map of all of Vaccarium stretched over the desk’s dark surface. Thalia took it all in.
It seemed that each capital city was marked by its House’s symbol. House Lorenzia, indicated by the raven with three eyes, presided over the territory on the east side of the continent, just north of the forest that separated Agripa from Vaccarium. To the west of House Lorenzia was House Avanerius, with its ram’s head with four horns; north of that was House Santorien and its ampithere. At the tip of the continent was a fox with multiple teeth, identifying Perden, the capital of House Olvectus, along with the mountain it resided by. Finally, above House Lorenzia was House Gallinus, marked by the stag with eight legs. Its capital city, Cupisco, was situated deep in the heart of a dense forest—
I’m going to marry into the House that’s near the forest!
The breath knocked out of her, and she caught herself, spilling a pot of ink that bled all over the desk.
The black ink spread, blotting out House Gallinus in the process.
It—it couldn’t be possible. She would have connected the dots sooner. Oh gods, House Gallinus exported timber because of their woods—
Thalia took a sharp inhale through her nose, trying to calm her racing heart. There was … there was no way that House Gallinus was the House her sister had been engaged to.
Her mind whirled, trying to remember that night her sister had been murdered. Trying to recall the details of the Vampyrs who came—
Thalia squeezed her eyes so tight that spots danced. All she saw was Ariadna’s unseeing eyes; her neck, jagged and ripped open like an unstuffed doll.
Sweat beaded along her brow, and she pushed aside the bile gathering in her throat as the memory of that night hit her in full force.
“No, no, no,” Thalia screamed. Her hands were slick with her sister’s blood. It gushed over her fingers, making them slippery as she tried to reattach Ariadna’s head. Her beautiful golden hair, which had been braided with flowers, was soaked in viscous fluid.
“Get the queen out!” someone else screamed—maybe her father.
Too much was happening. The throne room erupted in chaos. Guards were trying to fight off the Vampyrs—the ones who’d fully given over to their bloodlust and were preying on the courtiers gathered for the wedding.
