Page 81 of The Blood Witch

Vee shrugged, hopping down from the window. “I don’t know, really. What’s there to do in the palace, anyway?”

“Oh.” Amalia frowned, feeling awkward. “Not much, really. Most of the palace is empty.”

They used to have visitors, she remembered. Her mother loved having visitors from all over the realm, loved being wined and dined by the aristocrats from every octant. She’d had the whole Western Wing converted to bedrooms, so there was always room for guests. Now, those bedrooms were all empty. No one bothered to visit the palace anymore.

“Why don’t you show me around?” Vee pressed. “I’m sure you and I could get up to some trouble somewhere around here…”

Something in her tone, something in the way her eyes traveled over Amalia’s face and lingered on her lips, made her pulse jump.

She nodded, quickly.

“We’ll have to be quiet,” Amalia warned her, working to keep her voice careful and calm. “There are still a few guards around the palace. I’m not sure if we’re really allowed to be wandering around, especially at night.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Vee said, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “I can be very, very sneaky.”

She stepped closer to her as she said this, stopping right in front of Amalia. Their noses bumped.

Amalia swallowed loudly.

“Okay,” Amalia whispered, feeling dizzy as she stared at Vee’s smile.

They hit the kitchens first,giggling as they pulled snacks out of the pantry, eating whatever looked good until Amalia felt fit to burst. Then they swung through the Western Wing, creeping into long-empty bedrooms, cooing and laughing over some of the things old visitors had left behind.

Amalia found a cat-o'-nine-tails stashed under one bed, frowning in confusion over the leather pleated whip while Vee howled with laughter.

Truthfully, Amalia didn't really know much about the palace. She didn’t even know how to find the Eastern Wing, where the Queen’s Blades had once lived. Her heart had broken at how disappointed Vee had looked when she’d admitted that to her.

“I could show you the throne room?” Amalia heard herself saying, wanting to give her friend something. “That’s where it all… you know, it all happened.”

She didn’t want to talk about the night of the Blood Moon. Didn’t want to even think about it.

But Vee’s eyes had gone wide when she’d said it. “Really?” she gushed. “That would be amazing!”

She wrapped her arms around Amalia, and suddenly it was too late to back out.

Amalia didn’t want to go to the throne room. She hated that room and had only been there twice since her mother’s death. The first time was to oversee the clean-up. The second time was to take her place on the council. The idea of going back made her feel a little nauseated.

But Vee… Vee wanted to see the throne room. Vee looked so excited. Swallowing her own feelings and pushing them as deep down into her stomach as she could, Amalia managed to paint a smile on her face.

“Sure,” she said. “It’s this way.”

The smile vanished when Vee reached out to take her hand, interlocking their fingers. Amalia stood there, dumbly, looking down at their intertwined hands, her heart pounding.

“Lead the way,” Vee said, smirking.

The throne roomwas designed to be an entertainment space—a long singular room, made to accommodate large groups of people coming to pay homage to the Queen. There were four entrances—the main entrance leading into the palace proper, two side entrances, and the back entrance closest to where the throne had been placed. This was the entrance her mother had favored—preferring a private method of coming and going that allowed her the freedom to leave whenever she chose. It was also the entrance the council members used.

The eastern side entrance was closer, so Amalia led Vee there, holding her hand the entire time. She felt lighter than air as they raced through the halls, giggling.

This was… fun. And Amalia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had fun before Vee. If she’d ever had fun…

As they approached the throne room, all that vanished though. The room had been designed to hold large crowds of people, yes, but it had also been designed to carry voices from one end of the hall to the other—the acoustics such that anyone sitting on the throne would merely have to whisper and still they could be heard all the way at the other end of the room.

Amalia froze when she heard the voices, coming to a halt so quickly Vee almost ran into her.

“What’s wrong?” Vee asked, head cocked to the side.

Amalia shook her head. “The council,” she whispered, listening to the gentle rumble of conversation drifting out from the throne room's eastern entrance. Someone had left the door ajar slightly, and she could make out Alice’s voice.

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