Page 43 of His Realm

“Well, I believe that because you are young—by human as well as vampyr standards—your power would skew to those of your same age and younger.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t take up my every waking moment, you understand, but in the library of the hypogeum, there are many answers about matans, and others have experienced your barrier, as well as the calming of tempers.”

“These are things written in Latin and Old Norse, aren’t they?” I muttered. Isabella had been translating for me at the time, and Varic had read up on matans as well, but until I had time to learn a new language, I myself was in the dark.

“And Homeric Greek, or Epic Greek, yes. If you want to read them, you will need to either study or take someone down there with you.”

“Or I could find someone who reads and writes ancient languages and have all the old scrolls and whatever else is down there about matans, and anything else that looks interesting, translated,” I said absently.

“Yes, of course.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

“That’s something I could have just had done?”

“I feel as though you forget, often, that you are the prince’s consort. Do you? Is your mind afflicted?”

“I—no,” I snapped at him.

He huffed out an annoyed breath. “You do realize that if you decided you wanted the entire entryway of the palace redone in pink marble, that would happen.”

“Is there even such a thing as pink⁠—”

“If you wanted everyone who visited the palace to have to wear green from head to toe to be received, that would be a new requirement.”

“Why would you think green would be⁠—”

“So certainly, if you wanted crumbling old scrolls to be translated before they turn to dust, I would think that would be directly at the top of your list.”

“Really?”

“Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t have that work started the moment you learned there was information about you in the archives.”

“I had no idea I could give a command and that would be it. Done. No questions asked.”

“I’m sure Varic would have ordered it for you, but he’s been busy.”

Understatement of the year.

“But honestly, Jason, you can do whatever you want. You’re the prince’s consort, and as such, I bet Varic thought you already had someone working on that.”

He probably did. “I need to find someone capable of⁠—”

“You need a team. Perhaps start by asking Althea and Eyphah, Lady Eudora’s children. They are both scholars and archaeologists and have recently returned from a dig in Spain. I know both crave entry into the hypogeum, but as the children of a courtesan, they’re not allowed entrance.”

I scowled at him.

“What?”

“You should be cadeyrn, for fuck’s sake. You know everyone, your memory is scary, and you’ve been alive for—doesn’t matter. The king should have named you.”

“Yes. He should have.” He glanced over at the king. “But he didn’t trust me, and then it turned out that I was right and Gideon was everything I said he was, beginning with a traitor. Now the king can’t look me in the eye.”

“But—”