Lord of Embers(The Demon Queen Trials #2)(7)

Loneliness cloaked the mosaic floor of blue and gold and the murals on the walls. Sadness tightened my chest, and I found myself hurrying up the creaking stairs.

When I reached the third floor, I walked slowly through the halls, stopping to peer into a bedroom with deep green paint, chipped by the passage of years, and a canopy bed of faded red material that smelled musty and stale. Moonlight streamed through an enormous pair of balcony doors.

My eye caught something I hadn’t seen before—a portrait hanging on the wall. I’d never seen the face in the painting, but recognition hit me like a fist. I hurried inside, transfixed by the image, the likeness of a man with high cheekbones, dark eyes, and shocking red hair, nearly unnatural in its color. Red hair the same shade as mine, blending to blond at the tips, curling down around his chin. The image in the frame filled in all the missing pieces, the differences between mom and me.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was my father. I felt a lump in my throat as I read the name below the portrait: Duke Moloch.

Orion thought Moloch had been burned just outside.

I ran my fingertips over the name engraved on the gold frame, wishing I could have met him just once.

And as I touched his name, my mind ticked over the words in the nursery rhyme that I’d found here last week.

T h e Maere of N igh t

gave girls a frigh t,

bu t on e qu een loved h im w ell.

He lost th e th ron e,

bu t seed s w ere sow n

in th e gard en of A d ele.

Was this about Orion?

Whoever had written that poem had intentionally cloaked the real meaning. Why had this poem popped into my mind just now? I stared up at my father. As the words played in my mind again and again, a thought took root.

This was a poem about a Lilu male—a Maere of Night. My father had been one, of course.

My gaze lingered over his fiery hair, and I wondered if I’d gotten my fire magic from him.

He lost th e th ron e…

My father was the true son of the mad king Azriel from the old days. He could have been the heir, but he lost out to Nergal.

Seed s w ere sow n in th e gard en of A d ele…

Adele was King Cambriel’s mother—Nergal’s wife. And the seeds?

Okay, I did

want to think about my newly discovered father’s n ot

semen, but I’m guessing those were the seeds.

I shuddered, thinking of King Cambriel’s cold beauty, his long, pale hair, his high cheekbones…

Like my dad’s.

Dark eyes like ours. If you took Duke Moloch here, gave him blond hair…

Yeah, he’d look a lot like King Cambriel.

Had my dad knocked up Cambriel’s mom?

I started pacing the room, and the old floorboards creaked beneath my feet.

If all that was correct, then Cambriel wasn’t the true king at all. He was my half brother. My lip curled. Had he realized that when he’d leered at me?

He was someone with a rare fire power, like mine. Someone who could have lit Moloch on fire. Someone who could have burned Mom to death for knowing his secret.

I swallowed hard, my heart rate speeding up. Orion also had fire power. Please tell me he’s not also a relation.

I sucked in a deep breath. Turning, I began to pace again, my hands shoved deep into the pockets of my damp sweatpants.

Orion had the mark of Lucifer. Unlike Cambriel, he was destined to rule—and only someone like that could murder a king.

The wind howled through the cracks in the old windows, and I pivoted again. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to slide together in my mind.

Orion had wanted me to identify Cambriel’s magical protection, the thing keeping him alive. But a true king wouldn’t need that. A true, destined king could only be killed by an heir.

That was Orion’s plan, wasn’t it? Orion had said he’d been blackmailing Cambriel. Now I knew why. He knew the king was no king at all.

Orion knew that

possessed the mark of Lucifer.

h e

And as soon as he figured out what kept the king alive, he would kill him and take the throne for himself.

I crossed my arms as I paced and tried to remember the rest of the nursery rhyme. I had a photo of it in my phone, but the battery was still dead, so I closed my eyes, seeing the words in my mind’s eye.

A Sw in d ler kin g,

a gold en rin g

to keep h is h eart alive.

T ake th e rin g,

fell th e kin g.

T h e city yet w ill th rive.

My eyes snapped open. That was pretty clear, wasn’t it? A golden ring.

I ran the words over and over in my head, certain that my parents had given me the secret to killing the king.

If the king took his rings off, he could be killed.

I bit my lip, wondering if this was why my parents had died.

They’d known how to end Cambriel.





C H A P T E R 5 — R O W A N

I left the green chamber and went into the room with the portrait of my mom. Moonlight spilled through tall windows, bathing everything in a ghostly silver. I was still wearing damp, bloodstained clothes. Going to an enormous wardrobe on one side of her bed, I opened the doors and stared at her dresses. They were a little threadbare but mostly preserved by time, silk dresses with puffed sleeves, some with beautiful lace, others with ruffled collars. None of them looked comfortable. My gaze went to a short white gown with full sleeves and a rounded collar. It must be a slip, or maybe a smock, with delicately embroidered trim.