I flipped through the pages carefully. They were fragile and musty smelling. Every so often I stopped and traced unfamiliar runes with my finger. Some of them were beautiful and almost called to me to try them out. But that was for later.
In the end, I nearly flipped right by the spell I was looking for. It was so innocuous, only taking up half a page of the thick, crinkled parchment. I carefully turned back to it, before I swallowed my fear and studied the rune.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in through my nose and pictured the rune in my mind while I concentrated on what I wanted. If Rose was right, and our magic was about intention, I was half-way there.
I pointed my finger in front of me and carefully sketched the concealment rune in the air, each line turning silver as I focused on what I needed to happen. My magic created sparks of awareness in my hand and arm, and it helped my confidence grow.
As the shimmering rune faded to nothing, dispersing into the air as if a breeze had whisked it away, I stood and waited. How would I know if it had worked? I preferred the frost runes. At least a snowflake gave me a vague idea as to my success.
I cracked my door open and peered out at my guard. He glanced around and I opened it wide enough to walk through. When he didn’t acknowledge me, I ducked back inside.
“Actually, give me a few more minutes,” I called before slipping out of the door and closing it. I needed him to believe I was still in that room.
It was odd to walk by him and see no reaction at all. He continued to stare straight ahead of himself, and I fought both amusement and anxiety at what I was achieving. I’d never imagined I’d practice magic so freely inside Talador, and here I was breaking the law before I’d even changed it.
I crept along the corridors, grateful for my soft-soled slippers, and glanced into each room I passed, checking for Grimelda. Suddenly, she stepped out into the corridor directly in front of me, and my feet scuffed to a halt as I struggled to contain my gasp of surprise. She glanced over her shoulder and I stood perfectly still as her eyes narrowed for a moment.
Then she turned and began to walk faster than I’d seen her walk since we arrived. There was no evidence of the infirmity she usually displayed at all. I skipped a little to keep up, holding down my skirts so the fabric didn’t shift and rustle.
She walked to the corner of the kitchen and opened a small door set into the stone wall. The smell of damp floated out of the opening, but she ducked through and I followed her. We walked down a narrow, uneven staircase that seemed to have been hewn into the rock, and slimy mold hung from the rough stone walls. Occasional flickering torches added the illusion of light to the area but mostly created shadow.
We descended into a cool, gloomy room where a number of bubbling beakers and flasks sat above thin blue flames on a long, narrow table. Grimelda walked along it, peering into various containers and stirring the contents of some. Steam rose in different colors, some glittery, some heavy and thick until it almost looked solid, and the aromas merged in the room until I wrinkled my nose against the assault on my senses.
A large silver mirror, a twin to the dozens of others hanging around the palace, rested on a table against the wall. Grimelda stood in front of it and traced a rune upon its surface, causing the mirror to shimmer and melt into an image. Through the mirror I saw Iris sitting on her bed, eating the pre-breakfast Grimelda had brought her. Grimelda stroked Iris’s cheek on the glass, and my stomach twisted. She was spying on Iris!
Not just Iris, I discovered, as Grimelda flicked the mirror, causing the image to change. Now the mirror showed my room, which was empty, of course. Grimelda frowned and flicked the image again, displaying the hallway, then again, showing the courtyard, clearly growing more and more agitated as she looked for me. The hair on my arms stood up, realizing she’d been watching us all this time. How much had she seen? Or heard? My suspicions. My magic. My night with Keane.
The door at the top of the stair opened again and I pressed myself into the shadow in the corner, hardly daring to breathe as Lord Malren descended into my view. He limped, leaning heavily against the wall, his palm pressed against the stone. Grimelda waved a hand at the mirror, and the image faded, to my relief.
“Must we always meet down here?” He groaned his words, his displeasure obvious.
Grimelda laughed, the harsh sound gradually becoming throaty and smooth as her appearance changed from that of an old woman, the one I was used to seeing, to one I hadn’t seen in a decade, yet still recognized.
Riala.
She hadn’t changed one bit. Her luscious red hair fell in big, round curls to the middle of her back, and her amber eyes sparkled with fake innocence as she pouted at Malren. She sashayed over to him, her walk slow and sexy, and she placed her palm against his chest.
“I realize you’re used to more regal surroundings, but this is where I do my best work.” Her tone dripped with fake sympathy. “And it’s the only place where we can meet safely.”
She raised herself onto her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his. Immediately, his arms wound around her back and he jerked her against him and growled. I averted my eyes as he groaned and pressed his tongue into her mouth.
When she stepped away from him, smoothing the pad of her thumb over her lower lip, she chuckled. “Do you feel any better?”
“Not at all,” he barked. Then he smoothed over his exasperation, the creases of frustration disappearing from his brow. “This is taking a very long time, and that frigid princess injured me. I thought you said she had no magic.”
“She’s managed to be more of a problem than I expected. No matter. She’s still weak and untrained. But Iris…” Her lips twisted into a smile. “Iris will be great.”
“Yes, yes,” he said impatiently. “Iris is all very well, but when will I be King?”
She chuckled again, the sound throaty and sexy once more. “Oh, Malren, haven’t I taught you anything?” She undid the top button of his shirt. “You really need a little more patience.”
She flicked open the second button. He murmured his approval and pressed closer to her, his hand cupping the back of her neck underneath her hair.
She shifted in his hold and said her words low and slow. “Later, at breakfast, I’m going to poison Lily. Just like I poisoned her father, the late King. That asshole.”
Horror filled me, and I nearly gasped out loud. I had to slap my hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet at the revelation that Riala had killed my father too. That explained his sudden and mysterious death…and now she planned to do the same to me.
Malren dropped his hand to the laces at the back of her bodice. He pulled teasingly at the bow and it unraveled. “Then what?”
“I’ll make my move on my kingdom.” She wriggled a little to ease his efforts to free her from her clothes. “I’ll ensure the suitors are busy with an arranged activity so that meddling herbologist won’t be around to help them again. If anyone causes trouble, you’ll stop them.”
Malren bent forward and kissed her neck. “Pure genius, my Queen.”
“I’ve been putting everything in place. We’re ready to strike.” She tipped her head back in invitation for more kisses, and his hands caressed her breasts, pushing down her loosened bodice. “Soon the throne will be ours.”
I’d seen and heard enough. I slipped away, creeping back up the staircase and pausing at the top to ensure they couldn’t see the door opening before I made my invisible way into the kitchens. As soon I was through, I pressed a hand to the stone wall for support, gasping for breath. I now had proof that Grimelda was Riala, that she’d murdered my father, that she was working with Malren to take the throne—and that they were going to poison me. Again. Soon.
I had to find Keane.
Twenty-Eight
Lily
I ran quickly and quietly to my room, my thoughts crashing through my mind. I didn’t care what the guard thought about my randomly opening and closing door this time. The first thing I did was grab a hea
vy wool blanket and throw it over the mirror, with a shudder. No more would Grimelda spy on me. I’d have to order all of those mirrors removed from the house later today, but I had other things to deal with first.
The spellbook was untouched on my bed, and I turned the pages as rapidly as I dared, searching for the rune to make me visible again. Finally, I found one that looked as though it would work if I had the right intention, although I paused. I really should have thought about this part before, but apparently I had a little of Rose’s impetuousness after all.
I stashed the book under bed, pushing it as far into the shadows as I dared so that I could still reach it. Then I drew the rune, not as carefully this time, instead trusting myself to get it right. Again, nothing about me felt different as the silver lines faded into a shimmering mist.
I opened my door and looked out. The guard turned in my direction. “Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning. Could you send word to Iris that I will meet her in the dining room shortly?”
He drew his brows together briefly. “Captain Keane informed me I wasn’t to leave your side, Your Majesty.”
I put on a stern look as I stepped out into the corridor. “Did Captain Keane also inform you that you are to obey my direct orders?”
He hesitated for a moment then nodded.
“I wish you to take a message to my sister,” I said.
He didn’t move.
My look grew colder. “Do I need to repeat myself?”
He shook his head. “No, Your Majesty.”
“Good. Then both of you will find me in the dining room.” I hurried off down the corridor as fast as I could without breaking into a run.
I didn’t want anyone to see the true heir to the throne looking desperate as she darted around the castle. More thoughts clashed in my head. Grimelda planned to poison me, and no one would be around to help. She was poised to take the kingdom and no one but I knew about her plans. It was time to find my former Captain of the Guard and inform him his resignation was being denied.
But he wasn’t anywhere inside the castle, so I walked out toward the gate, trying to look as though I might be taking a morning stroll through the overgrown grounds. I caught sight of the apple tree out of the corner of my eye, and my stomach rolled, pushing bile up my throat. She’d tried to poison me with apples before—what would it be this time?
I grimaced as I raised my hand to hail the guard standing at the closed gates. He lumbered to one knee and bowed his head as soon as he saw me.
“Have you seen Captain Keane?” I asked.
He rose to his feet. “Yes, Your Majesty. He left at first light this morning. I watched him through the gates myself.”
The pain was physical, almost bending me double, and I clutched my arm across my stomach. “He…left?”
The guard reached out toward me. “Your Majesty, is something wrong?”
I tried to gather myself at the alarm in his voice, and straightened, forcing a smile onto my lips. “I’ve simply waited too long to sit down to my breakfast.” I waved a hand as casually as I could manage. “Thank you for doing your job so well.”
Then I turned and began to walk back to the castle, my steps slower as the view in front of me blurred with my tears. I tried to blink them away but they escaped and rolled down my cheeks.
Keane had left me.
I shook my head as despair tried to swallow me whole. There was no time for weakness nor regret. Riala had already set too many of her plans into motion and came closer to success each time she attacked me.
And without Keane, I would have to deal with it all on my own.
My guard and Iris should have been waiting for me in the dining room, but I had no time for that. What I was about to do was most improper, so it was better if I acted alone. I stole back into the castle through one of the small doors set into the base of a turret and climbed the winding staircase inside up to the east wing. That was where Grimelda—no, Riala—had said she’d arranged rooms for my suitors when we’d arrived.
I crept softly down the corridor. This one was even more barren than the one outside my room with simple stone floors and no wall hangings of any kind—except for another one of those dreadful mirrors.
I paused at each door, listening for signs of life and trying to identify which man might lay behind it. I moved on quickly after sounds of violent sneezing and snoring, and avoided the room I already knew to be Vasso’s.
The corridor outside one of the rooms smelled particularly fragrant, like woodland greenery in the rain and the scent of delicate flowers or herbs. I knocked on the door, but when no one answered I pushed down the handle and peered inside.
Danzin’s glasses lay on a small chest of drawers next to the bed, and the silent lump in the bed proclaimed him to still be asleep. I couldn’t linger half inside and half outside his room in case anyone spotted me, so I walked in and closed the door softly behind me.
The entire room smelled of herbs and crushed leaves, and he had a microscope set up on a small desk in the corner. His medical bag was tucked half out of sight behind an old, overstuffed armchair that was too big for the small bedroom space. I approached his bed and stood next to him.
“Lord Danzin,” I whispered, but he didn’t so much as mumble. I raised my voice a little and tried again unwilling to touch him or startle him awake.
“Princess Lily?” He sat up, leaving his sheets in disarray as they pooled at his waist. He fumbled for his glasses and pushed them into place on his nose. “Is everything all right?”
My gaze strayed to his chest then back to his face. Danzin was a handsome man, but seeing his naked form did nothing for me—proof my heart belonged to Keane. “Perhaps I should come back.”
“No, it’s all quite fine,” he insisted as he reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head. “How can I help you this morning?”
“I’m afraid I’ve come to ask for a favor.”
“Oh?” He sounded interested more than suspicious. “I’m sure you already know I’ll do anything you request, Your Majesty.”
Shame and sympathy coursed through me at the thought I might be using this kind man, but I had no time for either of those emotions. My life and the safety of my kingdom hung in the balance.
I quickly told him my idea, and we put together a plan. I prayed to the Sun and Moon it would work.
* * *
After I left Danzin’s bedroom, I hurried to the dining room, as the next part of my plan formed in my mind. I had to begin by gathering all those loyal to me, and the only nearby people I could trust were my suitors, each with his own intention to marry me.
When I arrived at the dining room, Iris stood from her seat. “Where have you been? I’m starving, and Grimelda said we had to wait for you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You’re this hungry, even after your pre breakfast snack?”
She shrugged. “I’m growing. And practicing magic is hard work, apparently.”
I brought my hands together in front of me. “I’ve had an idea for this morning. A small change of plan. I’d like us all to eat together.”
Iris lifted her eyebrows. “We always eat together.”
“Yes, but not with the lords.” I turned and addressed the guard at the door. “Could a message be sent to each of the visiting lords? Please let them know their presence is cordially requested for breakfast with Princess Lily.”
The guard nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.” Then he turned and hurried away.
“Let’s move to the large banquet hall, Iris.”
“I’m not sure Grimelda will appreciate this,” Iris muttered. “She doesn’t seem to like sudden change.”
Yes, that was exactly the point, though I didn’t tell Iris that. I needed to get the upper hand on Riala somehow, and this was all much harder without Keane. I missed his constant, watchful presence and the feeling of safety he brought me. I knew he would have a solution to this problem.
But if I had to do it alone, so be it
.
Riala, wearing her illusion of Grimelda, responded quickly to my request, although her hurried movements suggested she hadn’t planned to make time in her schedule to prepare the banquet hall. Very quickly, large platters of sizzling meat were brought to the table, alongside bowls of steaming mounds of scrambled egg.
My stomach growled, but I fingered the pouch of herbs in my pocket. Danzin had stressed the importance that this was administered on an empty stomach.
The lords arrived in pairs or by themselves and I stood as each of them joined me at the table. Each of them looked confused, but somewhat resigned to their fate, as they sat around the table. They probably thought I was about to announce my choice of husband. I still had to make a decision about that, but I had to survive this meal first.
“Thank you so much for coming,” I said when they were all seated. “Meeting all of you has been a lovely experience, and I wanted another occasion for us to celebrate our new friendships. Please enjoy this breakfast, created in honor of us all.” I gestured at the array of dishes and Iris clapped her hands excitedly.
“Now this is what I call a breakfast,” she proclaimed, and everyone laughed as she reached forward and helped herself to two sausage links.
Grimelda bustled from the kitchen, a plate in her hands. She walked directly to me and set the plate on the table. “This is for you, Princess Lily, with all my best wishes for finding love and a long life.”
A beautifully presented apple sat in the center of the plate, cut into a delicate lily as before. Did she truly think I wouldn’t suspect poison again? How big of a fool did she think me?
I met her eyes, but she smiled guilelessly at me. As she watched, I took a long sip of water, then used my knife to dislodge a petal. I placed it in my mouth and reached for napkin to wipe my lips. “It’s certainly very juicy.” I pushed the apple out of my mouth with my tongue. “But very delicious.”
I cut off a second petal and Grimelda walked away, apparently satisfied that I was eating her poisoned offering. I dabbed my napkin at my lips, then took another long sip of water.
Kiss Of Snow: Royal Hearts Book Two Page 14
