“What happened to his last mistress?” She was afraid of the answer.
Asmodeus’s gaze turned pitying.
“He ... tired of her.”
Asmodeus rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and said nothing more, but she understood all the same.
“Oh,” she said, feeling small. She stood rapidly.
“I should be getting to bed now. It’s getting late,” she said. Her heart had begun to race, and she desperately needed space from the demons in the castle.
Asmodeus saluted her with his goblet of blood.
She made for the stairs and barely made it to the threshold of her bedroom before she closed the door and sank to the floor. She wondered why learning how seriously she was in danger disappointed her so much.
Chapter 27
Volantia
Caspian lifted his face from a skinned body, the muscles red and glistening in the moonlight. The lower half of his face was smeared in red, and his lips curved upwards into a smile that was evil incarnate. His canines were pointed, and his silver eyes were bright, like the eyes of a cat, glowing in the dark.
He stared at her unblinkingly and whispered, “You’re next,Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth jolted awake, drenched in sweat.
She lay in bed for a few moments, trying to convince her brain that it wasn’t real. It had just been a dream. She flipped her pillow over to the cool side and pressed her head against the silk, but it did little to reassure her. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she closed her eyes heavily.
Caspian had killed the last mistress that he had.
Even though Asmodeus had not said the words, she was sure of it.
Her eyes snapped open.
It was still dark—a glance at the windows revealed she had woken up in the middle of the night.
Deciding to take advantage of her early rise, she threw off the covers and quickly scrubbed her face. After donning her cloak and messily plaiting her hair, Elizabeth scrawled a quick note to Fiza, which she left on the writing desk, and swung a large bag over her shoulder.
The sound of her boots echoed across the flagstones as she made her way through the halls and slipped out of the castle. She passed a few servants in the halls, still awake at this hour, but none spoke to her, and none stopped her.
Elizabeth mounted Draugr and used her book of maps to guide them west, in the direction of Volantia, the largest city and capital of Arboras.
Volantia was where the King of Arboras and the kingdom’s richest nobles lived. She hoped that in Volantia, she would be able to sell a few of the ballgowns that the local dressmakers had been uninterested in purchasing here.
She thought it would take her only half a day of travel to get there, but due to the mountainous terrain, it proved to be a much more strenuous journey than she had anticipated. The path became too steep and treacherous for both horse and rider, and she was forced to dismount and walk Draugr several times. Thepathway wound through the mountains and grew narrow at several points, with steep cliffs. Even Draugr eyed the sharp drop off and behaved himself, following her in an uncharacteristically docile manner.
The forest air grew thick with the smell of mulch and pine, and cold enough to bite as they slowly ascended in elevation. The road west took them through a dense forest, high up in the mountains, the trees forming a thick wall on either side of the road once more.
Night came sooner than she had hoped, and she was forced to stop at a wayside inn, tucked deep in the forest-covered mountains.
At the inn, she kept her hood up the entire time, but she needn’t have, for no one bothered her there. There were only two other travellers, and they kept to themselves.
The next morning, she feasted on eggs and a crust of stale bread at the inn and found where she had left Draugr tethered outside.
She glanced northeast, towards where Caspian’s castle lay nestled in the mountains.
Guilt twisted her stomach into knots.
It was possible Caspian would be displeased with her for leaving for so long, but they didn’t have their night together for a few days yet. Plus, hehadsaid she could do as she pleased.
