The Chronicle is one of our most important windows into the history of our land. When Thyra read its pages, the illustrations came alive for her, imparting secrets only she could see.
I doubt Hadrian knows about that, but he must want unfettered access to the Chronicle’s stories.
Victor continues. “Emiliana is my purpose.”
I’m quiet as I take in his meaning. “My battle is not yours.”
Damn. I wanted him by my side.
I mentally rage that he didn’t stand at my right hand during my reign. He would have been a formidable general in my army. I should have defied Galla’s power and struck at the status quo long before Thyra challenged me to do so. I should have shattered the paths of least resistance that I’d settled into.
Too late for that now. My focus can only be on the future.
“Do not allow the woman you love to become collateral in this war, Victor,” I say. “Free Emiliana and go to the mountains on the eastern border. Find Cassia. Tell her what’s happened—if she doesn’t already know. Above all, promise me you’ll stay alive.”
“I will.” He grips me for another moment, refusing to release me from his gaze. “Don’t underestimate Hadrian. His ambition stretches far beyond the Iron Kingdom’s borders. He wants to be able to deploy iron dust against all of his enemies.”
My focus flickers to the sketches on thewall behind Victor.
“Weapons,” Victor confirms. “I took a grave risk and ensured they each have a flaw. They won’t cause the level of devastation Hadrian wants. But hear me, brother: these weapons will still kill.”
I take in the designs. The canisters. The mechanisms. “He wants to use these against Frost and Ember, doesn’t he?”
“He’s planning a test, but I don’t know when, and I don’t know which kingdom he’ll strike first. He’s paranoid about spies and is deliberately spreading incorrect information to deflect from his true intentions. I couldn’t tell you what’s true and what isn’t.”
Thyra is in Frost.
My mother is in Ember.
But which will Hadrian strike first?
Aside from that fear, I wish I could tell Victor that my mother’s alive. He’d welcome that news. He loved Aeliana. Cassia did, too. My mother was kind to both of them. But that knowledge could get Victor killed.
A commotion outside his workroom warns me we’re out of time.
“This way.” Victor hurries through the adjoining door into his library, where he scoops up a satchel and shoves multiple books into it.
I don’t follow him right away, stopping to peel off the protective suit and snatch up the ruby circlet from the floor. I won’t leave it behind for Hadrian to try to use again. I can’t be sure if his power over the circlet was only temporary while I was dead. If, somehow, we can both control the circlets now, I’m not about to leave this one here.
When I step through the adjoining door, my focus is arrested by the full suit of black steel armor positioned against the wall. Victor always had backup armor waiting for me.
He glances up from his hurried retrieval of books. “I made some improvements. The helmet has multiple moveable plates around your mouth and jaw.” He gives me another uncharacteristically vicious grin. “In case you want to use your fangs.”
My only hesitation is time, but I’m ripping off the leather protective suit and reaching for my armor before I know it. I won’t be able to hide in the shadows in this armor, but Hadrian will know I’m alive the minute he finds Victor gone.
I turn away from Victor before I pull on the chest plates so he won’t see the unhealed wound across my heart.
The rest of the armor fits seamlessly to my body, the heaviness of the metal quickly settling around me, a welcome weight.
I can’t stop my smile as I slide on the helmet and rapidly test the segments Victor described that will allow me to expose and use my fangs. “Perfection.”
Victor stands tall opposite me, but there’s no time for him to bask in the praise he deserves.
“Hadrian will have guards at the back exit,” he says, setting off for the door at the other end of the library while I stay close on his heels. “I couldn’t try escaping before now because the guards would trigger the circlet and take off my head.”
Quickly, we exit the library and enter an unlit corridor. When I first brought Thyra through here, I told her this door gave Victor the illusion he could leave at any time.
Now, he can.
