Queen of Myth and Monsters (Adrian X Isolde, #2)(33)

“So you tried,” I said.

Ana’s mouth hardened. “I feel as though I am being accused.”

“That’s not my intent—”

“What is your intent?”

I sighed, frustrated. “I don’t know,” I said. “I thought perhaps…I had told you more.”

“You never told me why you were writing it, only that it was for you.”

We were silent, and I was frustrated that I had no other lead. Why had I been so intent on writing The Book of Dis? Of creating a book I had to have known Ravena would eventually steal?

“I feel responsible for this,” I said. “For the damage Ravena has done and will do.”

“You cannot take on this burden, Isolde.”

“I can. I do. I had to have known,” I said.

As Yesenia, I had been a seer. I had known enough to predict my own death and leave behind a book of spells that could raise the dead.

Ana was shaking her head. “You once told me there were few truths in the world. I cannot pretend to know what you saw in the future, but I know what guided your decisions, and it was truth, Isolde. You should find Adrian. It is time for court.”

***

I found Adrian waiting for me in the great hall. The doors were still closed, and we were alone. He held out his hand when he saw me but frowned.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Of course,” I said and smiled, though I could tell by Adrian’s expression he did not believe me, so I let my eyes wander to our thrones. I had always assumed they were the same since they were equal in size and dark in color, but now I stared with a far more critical eye. Bones lined the base of his throne, the careful arrangement of ribs looking like intricate woodwork, lacquered in shining black. Longer bones lined the arm supports on either side, and each was topped with a skull.

“You see it now,” Adrian said.

“There are two skulls,” I said. “If one is Dragos, who is the other?”

Adrian’s fingers threaded through mine, and he spoke near my ear.

“His name was Branimir,” he said. “He was my commander.”

I did not remember him.

“Was he horrible to you?”

When he did not answer, I turned my head toward him. I could feel his breath on my cheek and his hand pressed against my stomach.

“Adrian?”

“No more than anyone else,” he said, his voice low, and I took deep and steady breaths as his lips trailed my neck, his hand moving from my stomach to the bodice of my dress.

“We have court,” I said, trying to turn toward him, but he held me in place. “Adrian,” I said, growing frustrated, and he chuckled against my skin.

“Yes, my queen?”

“Do not pretend you do not know what you are doing.”

“I’d rather you explain,” he said.

“That you are making me furious?”

He laughed again. “I like your fury,” he said, hand lifting to my neck. “Let me taste it.”

Just as his lips crashed against mine, someone cleared their throat, though Adrian was in no hurry to stop his assault on my mouth until I pushed against his chest.

Daroc stood at the door that led into Adrian’s study. His eyes were fierce, his face like stone. I thought of my conversation with Sorin and wondered if his frustration came from their fight or Adrian’s obsession with me.

“We’ll open the doors if you are ready, Your Majesties,” he said.

“Does it look like we are ready?” Adrian asked, annoyed.

“You cannot have me in the throne room before court, Adrian,” I said.

He raised a brow and I knew what he was going to say.

“That is not a challenge,” I said, stepping away from him and heading for my throne. “We are ready, General.”

Daroc nodded and closed the adjoining door.

As I turned to sit, I found Adrian still standing at the base of the dais staring at me.

“Yes?”

“Nothing, my sweet,” he said. “I am only imagining what it will be like when I fuck you on this throne before my court.”

I could not help the smile that tugged at my mouth. I straightened my back and crossed one leg over the other. I was not sure how I felt about performing in such a way, though I knew those who attended Adrian’s court had no qualms about having sex publicly.

“You would let your court look upon me?”

“Your body? No,” he said. “Your pleasure? Yes.”

He took the two steps to the dais and sat beside me just as the doors to the great hall opened. Adrian’s noblesse entered first and took their places near the dais. I avoided meeting their gazes, especially Razan, whose expression was strangely smug. The guards entered next, stationing themselves around the room, fencing in the large crowd of people who followed. Not everyone fit within the hall, though they tried, cramming into the doorway and spilling into the foyer and beyond, into the cold and snowy courtyard.

They all looked tired and withered, their faces red and raw from the cold.

Adrian gave no signal to begin, and yet a villager came forward anyway. His hair hung at his shoulders and half was pulled back, exposing a wide forehead. He had prominent brows and a mustache that hid his thin lips. He carried a weapon, a bow and arrow slung across his back, and while he wore gloves, they were fingerless, exposing cracked and bloodied knuckles.