Vapula had stepped away before he spoke, putting distance between us until I could no longer smell his secrets. Now that he was gone, and my access to Sitri’s gifts along with him, all that remained were my unanswered questions. He had to have had a reason for telling me. Something he’d wanted to achieve. It would be unlike him to offer that information otherwise.
“His President painted the future for him. Those paintings must show something horrific if they made him act like that,” I said. “He was a predator, but he wasn’t stupid—he was threatened. And whatever threatened him is still out there.”
“That is what I would be inclined to believe as well.”
“How do we find it, then? Before it finds us?”
Silence stagnated in the room, then Sitri heaved a sigh. “We don’t, darling, at least not yet. You have just inherited one of Hell’s most powerful kingdoms, and all of its horrors. You will need training first. Lots of it.”
“Right.”
Though his words disappointed me, they also carried truth. I could barely ride a horse. My combat skills were rudimentary at best, and I didn’t know a thing about running a settlement, let alone a whole kingdom.
Besides, I had the sinking feeling I’d have to slay the monsters hiding at home before I could go hunting. If Vapula’s military utilizedamalgamate beasts, souls bound over and over until they lost themselves in their agony, then what other nightmares would surface during my reign?
Sitri set down the envelope he was holding, and his brow furrowed. He brushed aside a few parcels and letters, unearthing a large, rectangular package. I drew a sharp breath at the sight of it. Standing from the edge of the bed, I made my way over to the desk, passing Zaleos’ letter back to my Prince as I squinted to make out the messy handwriting on the label.
To: Lillia, Honored Duchess of Scholars and Savants.
From: Marbus, President of Plague and Prescience.
My heart sank as I took in the simple address. President Marbus. The seer who had painted fate for Vapula.
“He… called me by name?”
“He is the only noble to have done so, darling. Fourteen greetings thus far, and all the others are addressed to the Duchess Vapula.”
The confusion on Sitri’s face mirrored my own. He handed the package over. My fingers shook as I undid the ties that held the cloth and pulled it away to reveal a painting.
Not just any painting, either.
He’d paintedme,shackled and dressed in bloodstained rags, impaled on Vapula’s blade. The Duke lay helpless at my feet, waiting for me to smash his skull in with a heavy iron chain. And then there was Sitri, hand outstretched, face twisted in a desperate plea to stop before I crossed a line I’d never walk back from.
It was the moment I’d been crowned as Duchess, rendered with rough brushstrokes and in vivid hues—beautiful, haunting, and raw.
“An omen,” Sitri whispered. “One he failed to deliver to his master. A bid for your favor, by the looks of it.” He glanced from the painting back to me. “And also, a suggestion that you’ve decided to keep your name. Not much for tradition, it seems?”
I bit my lip. In truth, I hadn’t—not yet.But seeing my human name written on that package, when the rest bore the name of the demon who’d exploited me, it felt…right.I smiled, embracing that rightness. “I think I’ll keep it for now.”
“Duchess Lillia Sparre, the one and only.” Sitri gave a grin of his own and caressed my cheek. I leaned into his gentle touch. “What a statement you will make, darling. Haagenti will adore you. Zaleos may well loathe you, and I wish for nothing less.”
I planted my lips on his, curling my arm around my Prince’s waist and pulling him into a kiss, which Sitri readily returned. Our mouths melded, tongues dancing, breaking away only once our breath was spent.
“Then I look forward to making a strong first impression. On Haagenti, at least.”
Sitri laughed. “Before you begin ruffling feathers, there are others you should speak with. Our legates are waiting, and we mustn’t be too late.”
My smile faded. “Vapula’s surviving chosen, preparing to stab me in the back, I’d bet.”
“Come, it won’t be so bad. They are as uncertain of your mercy as you are. Besides, Apollo and I will be there. They would be fools to try today.”
He offered me his hand. I took it in a heartbeat. We exchanged reassuring squeezes, then my Prince led me out of the bedroom and into the palace’s halls.
