Queen of Myth and Monsters (Adrian X Isolde, #2)(22)

“Are your sisters and mother well, Vesna?”

“They are,” she said, though her voice trembled. She cleared her throat and added, “Just shaken.”

“I think we all are,” I said.

“Do you think it will happen again?” she asked.

“I cannot say,” I said. As badly as I wished to promise it would never happen again, I couldn’t. We did not know why the creatures had attacked anyway. Even in the night, we had never worried about an entire pack ravaging a village. In fact, it was far more usual for aufhockers to remain hidden, feasting on small prey unless a villager or two wandered into their territory.

But these had seemed possessed.

“A preference on dress?” Violeta asked.

I often let her choose my outfits, but today I intended to draw attention.

“I’d like to wear red,” I said, and after a short audit of my wardrobe, she chose a gown. The sleeves were long and loose but gathered at the wrist, and the skirt was layered and warm. The only embellishment was a long gold belt clasped at my waist, the remaining length left to hang down the front of my dress.

The color was stunning and ignited like fire against my brown skin and black hair, which was down, only parted to the side to better accommodate the gold crown Violeta brought to me. While there was nothing simple about its workmanship, it was not embellished with gems or pearls. Instead, the metal had been fashioned into a series of fleurs-de-lis and delicate filigree. The final touch was a set of simple, gold earrings.

When I finished dressing, I chose to look in the mirror, which I had taken to turning toward the wall given that Ravena used them to spy and travel. Despite this, I could not bring myself to destroy it or take it from my room. There was a part of me that wanted a way to communicate with her, as dangerous as it was. Adrian had not been pleased with my decision but had reluctantly agreed. We both knew I was the only potential link to finding her, and I knew eventually she would seek me out. When that time came, I needed a plan, so that I could find The Book of Dis.

There was movement in the mirror, and for a brief moment, I thought Ravena had returned, but it was only Vesna moving into the frame.

“You look beautiful, my queen,” she said.

I looked down at the dress, hoping it would serve the purpose I wished—to capture attention throughout High Council.

I had only attended once, and I had been unimpressed with Adrian’s chosen advisors—all men, save Ana. His men tended to ignore me whenever I was present, or perhaps they presumed as Gavriel had that we were one and the same. In some ways, I understood Adrian was their king and he had chosen them to serve him, but I was their queen, and I intended to be heard, separate from my husband.

I turned my back to the mirror.

“Will you not sit and eat, my queen?” Vesna asked.

“No,” I said. I still wished to find Ana before High Council, and in truth, I was not hungry, and everything she brought still smelled burnt. I did not know if it was grief or if the memory of being burned so long ago lived in the back of my throat.

Despite this, I took a piece of the bread she had sliced open.

“I will eat as I walk,” I said and dismissed them, leaving my room for the great hall, finding the foyer quiet and cold. The doors of the palace were open and overlooked a raging fire. For a moment, my stomach soured, thinking that perhaps they’d begun to burn bodies in the night, but there were no corpses in the flames.

As I entered the hall, I halted in my tracks, and my earlier relief about the fire evaporated. Nearly half of the wounded were gone. Those who remained appeared to be villagers who had only been scratched or hurt themselves fleeing the aufhockers.

“My queen,” said a voice, and I turned my head to find Isac standing nearby. He bowed and moved to stand beside me.

“So few are left,” I said.

“Many were bitten.”

I swallowed hard. I had been bitten too, and I was still alive though very much changed.

“Was there no hope for any of them?”

“Aufhocker bites infect fast,” he said. “There comes a point where there is no coming back. Perhaps if the battle had not lasted as long…”

His voice trailed away.

“Where are the bodies?”

“The last of them were just moved to the sanctuary,” he said.

“Is Lady Ana there?” I wondered how she was doing, knowing she had been the one to administer the poison that had taken their lives.

“I believe so,” he said. “She must prepare them for burial.”

I thought it was strange that Ana had the task, but perhaps she had insisted.

“Thank you, Isac,” I said.

He offered a small smile. “Of course, Your Majesty,” he said and bowed. “I am glad to see you are well.”

He had no idea how much guilt his words would create within me, but as I left for the sanctuary, it only grew.

The sanctuary was technically part of the castle, though only accessible from the outside. It was from Dragos’s reign, back when the old gods were worshipped, though it had been clear Asha was the center of worship within. Initially, I’d been surprised to learn that the space still existed within Adrian’s castle, given his contempt for the gods, even Dis, who created him, but Adrian had seen that no iconography dedicated to the goddess of life remained within the cavernous room. It was merely a quiet place to mourn the dead with no allegiance to any god.