Done with my work, I headed back to the dormitory. The letter was stuffed in my pocket, and I planned to burn it at the first opportunity. It wouldn’t do to have someone find it and go thinking there was something between that creature and me.
Vinna was the only one still soaking in the pool of hot spring water when I got there. I disrobed quietly and stepped in with her, leaving enough distance between us. At first, she ignored me, the same way she’d been ignoring me since the day I fought Alben.
I craved for her friendship but understood her reasons for shunning me. It was something I should get used to as I would only make more enemies as time went by.
Sinking deep into the pool to wet my hair, I let the water bubble around me, relishing its heat on all the battered corners of my body. Lungs burning, I came up for air and was surprised to find Vinna had moved closer.
My heart gave a jolt and beat frantically against my chest. Swallowing, I scooted away, putting some distance between us. That had been stupid of me, diving into a pool like that where I could be easily held down and drowned.
Vinna narrowed her eyes, then widened them in understanding as she read my scared expression.
“I wasn’t going to hurt yeh,” she said.
I nodded and gave her a “sure you weren’t” smile.
“I just wanted to tell yeh that...” her eyes darted toward the door to ensure no one was coming, “I know.” She said the last two words in a whisper that sent a cold shiver up my spine despite the pool’s warmth.
I know. I know. I know.
The words repeated themselves inside my head like hammer blows. How had she found out? Was she planning to sell me out to the Queen, condemning me to become a blood slave forever? To fulfill a cruel destiny as a Trove?
“How... how did you find out?” I managed, as I tried to think of a way to escape.
She looked at me as if I were dense. “Alben told me.”
But... how had Alben found out I was a Trove? Had he...?
Wait. She wasn’t referring to me being a Trove. She was talking about my arranged fight.
“He shouldn’t have told you,” I said, wiping water droplets from my face as I exhaled in relief.
“I saw him yesterday,” she said.
Of course. It made sense that Vinna and Alben would still try to see each other. I was glad for it.
We’d had an afternoon off yesterday, and Vinna had gone down to the city, while I stayed here, unable to muster the energy to wander the streets of Acedrex by myself. I had enough bloodshade, so I hadn’t even needed to visit the apothecary.
“He didn’t want me to be mad at yeh,” Vinna continued. “He told me to tell yeh he’s happy and he doesn’t regret anything. He wants yeh to think of him as a friend.”
A knot formed in my throat. I’d feared he’d come to dislike me for what I’d done, and learning that this wasn’t the case gave me great relief.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said, averting my eyes.
The water whirled as she moved, shifting positions. “Since yeh came here I thought yeh were... spoiled. I mean, yeh grew up rich, never going missing anything, I reckon.”
The words hurt the most because they were true. It didn’t matter that Alben had asked her to be my friend, she had decided I wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t say I blamed her.
“It makes sense that yeh would think Chekes are the answer to all yehr woes,” she said with a shrug that I perceived out of the corner of my eye.
“Maybe I thought that once, but not anymore,” I said, not really expecting her to believe me.
“Is that right?” she asked skeptically.
I cleared my throat. “It makes no difference now. I gave it all to Alben anyway. That was all Papa had saved for me.” I met Vinna’s gaze, lifting my chin. I wasn’t the same person I’d been when I first came here. I’d changed. Maybe not entirely, but I had nothing to be ashamed of.
Her eyes widened as my words sunk it. “All of it?” she asked incredulously.
I gave one curt nod.
“Are yeh crazy? Why would yeh do that? Yeh gave him so much! I thought that meant yeh had more.”
“I don’t. I just have whatever we got paid yesterday.”
Vinna shook her head and scratched her cropped hair. “What makes no sense to me is why yeh came here if yeh had that kind of money. Most of us have no other choice. Yeh could’ve lived on yehr own.”
“I have my reasons,” I said.
I hadn’t told anyone how Papa had died, how the Black King had taken everything from me. If I did, they might figure out my plan to become the White Queen. I was a female, which made me a real contender. No man could ever occupy the throne in the White Court. Queen Lovina had nothing to worry about when it came to the male members of her Board.
Females, on the other hand...
Maybe it was ridiculous of me to fear stating my plan. It was implied that everyone who joined the Board did so with the purpose of moving up the ranks. So my intentions should be no surprise to anyone. If anything, they would be a joke.
Regardless, secrecy seemed to be the best bet. There was too much intrigue and backstabbing here to be so open. No one declared their intentions in a game of chess, after all.
Everyone was a player, and no one could be trusted.
“I understand your reasons for disliking me,” I said, grabbing a bar of soap and setting to the task of ridding myself of all the day’s sweat and grime.
Vinna paused and regarded me as I lathered myself. After a moment, she said, “Nah, I don’t dislike yeh. Even if yehr still a bit spoiled, yeh have a good heart.”
I stopped. My hand froze, and as I squeezed the bar of soap too hard, it slipped from my hand, lobbed through the air, and sank into the pool with a splosh.
Vinna and I exchanged a glance, then laughed.
My heart lightened as if a weight had fallen off of it.
It seemed I had a friend, after all.
CHAPTER 10
After bathing, Vinna and I walked together to the dining hall. I felt fresh and renewed, and it wasn’t only because of the bath. I even found myself smiling widely, which I hadn’t done in so long that it felt foreign to my face.
A thought occurred to me that made the smile disappear.
“Will the others suspect anything if they see us talking again?” I asked.
“Nah,” Vinna said. “They’ll probably think I’m planning some nasty deed against yeh. Revenge or something.”
“And are you?” I felt very naive since this hadn’t occurred to me.
She shrugged and waggled an eyebrow.
“That’s not funny, Vinna,” I complained.
“Who said it was a joke?”
My shoulders slumped. I stared at the ground pensively, worry gnawing at my chest. Maybe she thought I would go after her next.
“I won’t challenge you,” I said.
She stopped and turned to look at me. We were halfway through the path that led to the dining hall. The sun had gone down well past the walls that surrounded the compound. The days were getting shorter, and the lamps hadn’t been lit yet, so shadows fell across her face.
“Are yeh saying yeh’ll be content being Fourth Pawn?” The way she asked the question made me realize this hadn’t been her expectation.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” I kept walking, but Vinna halted me by placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Yeh’re going to challenge Breen. Yeh’re going for First Pawn right away, aren’t yeh?”
My answer was a sigh. I wasn’t being very smart confiding in Vinna. All along, this might have been her reason for approaching me.
She shook her head. “Don’t be stupid, Bianca. Breen’ll wipe the floor of the Challenge Hall with yeh, then she’ll cut yeh into tiny chunks. She won’t pardon yeh.”
“Oh, I know that.” I resumed walking.
“Then yeh must have a death wish.”
“Maybe,” I said. What reason did I have to live, a
fter all?
“Well, if I can’t talk yeh out of it,” she said, “I’ll help yeh.”
“You will?” I scrutinized her face to make sure she wasn’t mocking me.
“It’s the least I can do.” She leaned closer and whispered behind her hand. “I hate Breen. Down to the bone.”
We entered the dining hall, laughing, and walked toward our Quadrant’s table. I was so distracted that I’d forgotten all about Rook Neculai’s letter and, feeling his attention, my eyes were unthinkingly drawn to him right away. He was intent on me, a small smile stretching his thin lips, making him look like the mouse who ate the cheese.
A blush, hot and intense, rose up my throat into my face. His eyes twinkled at my reaction, which must have made him think I would heed his summons.
Irate, I composed my expression and glanced away. The guile of him! I had no interest in nasty, middle-age Rooks. In fact, he was probably more than middle age, considering he’d tasted vampire blood. I heard he’d been a Rook for more than thirty years, which meant he could probably be my grandfather.
I had never liked older men, even if some of my friends had. In conversations behind shuttered doors, we had talked about finding husbands. Most of us had dreamed of snatching a noble’s young son, someone who would inherit the family business and property. But a few of my most jaded friends thought an older bachelor or even a widower would be much better. They were experienced in bed and had real power—unlike young men with fathers to tell them exactly what to do at every turn. Not to mention mothers. Jenica Fernvale and Dumitra Lightmantel had been particularly interested in a couple of older men.
But the thought of growing older next to a man twice my age never appealed to me. I had no interest in becoming someone’s nursemaid. I wanted someone who could age along with me, someone who wouldn’t think me childish and try to be my father and not my husband.
To add insult to injury, Neculai wasn’t only old, he was also a Rook, a creature with vampire blood in his veins. My stomach roiled at the mere idea.
Gods, how would I ever become a Rook if the mere thought of vampire blood made me sick? Would I be able to drink the Queen’s blood if—no, when—I became a Rook? I would have to, but...
One thing at a time, Bianca. You’ll deal with it when the time comes.
Maybe if I thought about it enough, I could grow used to the concept. Or maybe all I really had to do was constantly tell myself that this was the only way to gain enough power to destroy the Black King.
So, as I ate my dinner, I thought of various ways in which I could avenge my father’s death, ways to make King Maximus suffer and pay for all he stole from me.
I was so consumed by my fantasies that I didn’t even have to try to ignore Rook Neculai. He simply disappeared from my thoughts like a weak bad dream that can easily be dismissed when a real nightmare preys on you.
CHAPTER 11
As Fourth Pawn, I now had actual duties around the palace. Most of the time they involved guarding the front gate, extra work in the stables, and cleaning weapons. But sometimes, it required escorting the Queen.
It was a task I dreaded but, mid-October, during dinner time, Knight Kelsus announced that the next day we would be riding with Queen Lovina as she made a trip down to Acedrex to greet the populace.
Around ten AM, the stablehands prepared her luxurious white and gold carriage, a large vessel that needed four strong horses to pull it. They picked her up in front of the palace as all eight pawns waited by the gates on our mounts, the Rooks and Knights of our Quadrant, standing at attention next to us under the morning sun, which was rather warm for the time of year. Only the Bishops were missing, but they were hardly ever around.
It was the first time since I’d joined her court that I laid eyes on the Queen and the closest I’d ever been to her. For the entirety of the ride, she stayed in her carriage while we rode to the city.
Mostly, I saw her marble-colored hand, waving at the stupefied pedestrians who seemed frozen in their tracks. Her nails were red-tipped and long, beguiling the fact that they could turn into claws in an instant.
I’d seen her face before, but only from afar. There was no portrait of Queen Lovina at the museum, which was where I’d first seen a semblance of King Maximus. Through the carriage window, however, I got a good look at her, and the sight terrified me.
Lovina appeared even less human than King Maximus. She had been a vampire far longer than the King and had occupied the White Court’s throne for nearly four hundred years. Her time as a vampire hadn’t been kind to her—not from my perspective, anyway.
She seemed... artificial, much like the statues that graced her gardens. Her skin was sheet-white but veined like expensive marble, lines that rose from the base of her neck into her face like spidery roots. I imagined they covered her entire body and shivered at the realization that, if I succeeded in my quest, one day I might look like her.
Her hair—once black as indicated in several of the history books I’d been assigned to read—was colorless and long. She wore it loose, down to her waist. A crownlet studded with rubies sat on her head, matching her silver and red gown to perfection.
Her face was stunning and monstrous at the same time. Smooth, without any lines or color, aside from the dark veins and blood red eyes. Even her eyelashes and eyebrows were pale. I tried to imagine how she must have looked when she was human and decided that she had been beautiful and regal. Her slender figure, her tall neck, her high cheekbones must have made her very desirable. Why had she decided to join the White Court and fight her way to the top? Could her story be anything like mine? None of the books I’d read so far mentioned the reason.
She waved at her subjects but never smiled. No one waved back. Instead, they bowed, lowering their heads and eyes in a sign of respect that was nothing but ill-disguised fear.
It was a quick turn around the streets and avenues of Acerdrex. Within an hour we were back at the palace where she ordered the driver to stop as soon as we crossed the gates. She exited the carriage and then began pacing next to it like a caged animal. The Rook and Knight were again standing at attention by the gates as if they’d waited there for the entire hour.
I’d expected the carriage to drop her off in front of the palace and, judging by the way the more seasoned Pawns were exchanging confused glances, that was probably the usual way.
After a moment of pacing—her fists clenched, her shoulders tensed—she paused and let her red eyes travel over us. When they met mine, I involuntarily pulled on my mare’s reins, causing the animal to take a step back. My heart sped up, and I had to clench my teeth to control my breathing. I’d been nervous all along—I’d even taken an extra dose of bloodshade leaves this morning—but I couldn’t afford any amount of suspicion.
Could she scent my blood? Even the smallest hint that I was a Trove?
Suddenly, smoke rose from her skin and the sound of a low sizzle traveled through the air. She flinched and raised an arm over her face.
Knight Kelsus hurried to her side, removing his cloak and draping it over her head. She snatched it and wrapped it close around her slender figure. The Knight opened the door to the carriage and invited her to go back inside.
She remained where she was, however, her gaze turning to her Rooks.
“Varujan is dying,” she said in a deep voice that sounded like a man’s.
Both Rooks flinched at the words.
Who is was Varujan? I’d never heard the name uttered by anyone here.
“He’s over a hundred years old,” she continued. “My blood won’t keep him alive much longer, not without ruining him.”
I didn’t understand her meaning, but the Rooks seemed terrified by the news. Daciana seemed to almost tremble, and the cowardly position of Neculai’s shoulders gave me a measure of satisfaction.
The Queen peered at them from under the shadow of Knight Kelsus’s cloak, her face twisted in anger so much that her eyes shone and her fangs flashed.
My mar
e shook her head and took another step back, her hooves tapping against the cobblestone pathway. But she wasn’t the only one. The other Pawns’ horses did the same. Breen’s gelding even tried to rear up, and she had to pull hard on his reins to keep him under control.
But this all went ignored by the White Queen.
“Maximus has three Troves,” she said. “Three!” She held three fingers up and waved them in front of our faces. “Two of them, brand new. Why didn’t you find them?”
One of them was Talyssa. My stomach clenched.
Rook Daciana pressed her lips together and kept her eyes on her boots. Neculai, however, made the mistake of answering a question he should have realized was rhetorical.
“My Queen,” he said, his head in a slight bow, “Troves are more scarce than ever these days. We search. We destroy all the bloodshade we find. But it does no good. I think the trait is dying among our citizens.”
“Excuses,” she said in a cold, calm tone. “I don’t want any more of them. Varujan will die soon, and I will be left with nothing. I will be forced to totally forsake daylight, and you know how much I despise that. It’s already bad enough with my only Trove as weak as he is. He can’t sustain me long enough anymore.”
In demonstration, she stuck a hand out from outside the protection of the cloak and let the sun shine directly on it. Her skin started smoking, red blotches appearing in a matter of seconds.
Everyone watched, transfixed, as she let the sun burn her for a full minute, her skin going from red to almost black and the smell of charred meat rising in the air. She didn’t cringe or show any signs of pain this time, forcing us all to witness what the lack of enough Trove blood in her system could do.
At last, she pulled her hand back and said, “Find me another Trove or else...” she let the words hang with an unspoken but clear threat.
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