Page 102 of House of Lilith

I’ll have a couple of weeks to think about it all and come to the conclusion that this whim of mine is only hurting the family.

I won’t be using Blood Magic in the Games anymore.

And for the time being, to help the family keep some semblance of power, I’ll be taking on the position of Student Leader.

It pains me, just thinking about it all. But how could I have said no?

I mean, it’s so clear she’s right, especially when it comes to the stakes for our family. The land is in disarray. The King is putting pressure on the princes to get rid of the excess. Even the most powerful families are under a microscope right now.

And then, to complicate things even more, just after Uncle lost the position of the Guardian of the Obscura and decided to retire — mid-year at that — I go off and break up with Max…

The timing couldn’t be worse.

But what am I supposed to do? Proceed marrying someone I’m very confused about at best?

It makes it hard to keep my breathing even, just thinking about everything having turned to shit like that. For a second, I almost let the helpless anger take control of me.

But then I hear a group of students enter the Library, dropping their voices as soon as they do, and it snaps me out of it, the world around me coming into focus again. I push myself off the chair and I order myself to get a grip.

After all, I think to myself as I start walking towards the History Section, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about any of itright now.

So the best course of action I can choose right now, I think as I grabWorld History after the Unveilingoff the shelf, is simply to focus on the very thing I came here to do.

*

My focus only growing, I spend the next couple of hours perusing all the books I’ve stacked on the table in front of me. I’ve already scoured the web for mentions of Queen Vasilisa Romanov. And I got zero hits, which is why my next course of action is taking a closer look at 1865 and 1866 in relation to Peter the Great, the one who led the army that the old man said the Queen led.

If nothing, once I find a certain number of sources with his name in them, it’ll at least convince me of the absurdity of even considering the possibility of the man’s words being true.

But the conclusion that’s forcing itself is an odd one. The year when Peter the Great supposedly died…

There’s not a single recorded document of it happening. No Scion or vampire church records, no old pamphlets, nothing.

Nothing.

And it makes me remember the words of my old History teacher. “Sometimes, Anastasya,” he’d say, “what they sell you as facts are actually mere conjectures.”

Which could mean, I think to myself, my frown growing deeper as I stare at the year marking the end of Peter’s rule…

It could mean the length of his reign was a conjecture.

And that, in turn, leaves the possibility of someone else having been the actual ruler in the space of those two years.

It’s not very likely, I warn myself, but I can feel my impatience growing.

And now, instead of going back to the index cabinets to search for books mentioning the Vasilisas of the world, I find myself getting out of my chair and walking straight for the Librarians’ desk.

As I walk, I decide I won’t be asking about Vasilisa Romanov per se. That would probably only earn me a funny look. So once I’m in front of the desk, I catch the plump shifter girl’s eye and I throw her a smile, choosing to say, “Could you tell me if there were any Vasilisas of high rank during the Umbrage?”

“Hm,” she says, scratching the back of her neck. “Not tomyknowledge.”

I guess it’s a disappointed look that I throw her, because she asks, “Have you checkedThibault’s Peerage?”

“I have,” I reply with a sigh. “Is there a more comprehensive record?”

She presses her lips and shakes her head. “Sorry.”

But I’m not willing to give up just yet. And for some reason, I find myself asking, “What if I told you there were bones and horses somehow involved?”

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