Page 64 of House of Lilith

Years, tactics, names.

Until my eyes linger on the following sentence:

“Wait a minute, back it up a bit. What was the name you just said?”

I frown, the manner of the question being uncharacteristic for the way the interview was being conducted up to that point.

So I go back a little, trying to identify the moment that led to it.

Yes, I think when I find it.

“Would you be able to remember, Mr Conrad, who you reported to while the clash was still ongoing?”

“Of course. Directly to Queen Vasilisa Romanov.” This makes my frown grow even deeper. “How could I forget? I mean, sure—”

“Wait a minute, back it up a bit. What was the name you just said?”

“Um… What did I say?”

“What did he say?”

“He said Queen Vasilisa Romanov. That’s what I put down anyway.”

“Mr Conrad, is that it? Did she write it down okay?”

“Mr Conrad, have you got something confused perhaps? There is no one by that name in our recorded history.”

“Mr Conrad?”

“Is it cold in here? Why is it so cold in here?”

And that’s where the transcript ends, followed by an explanation in brackets, saying that this was the moment they had to bring the doctor in and that the man died shortly after.

But it’s the name that keeps ringing in my head. Vasilisa Romanov.

Queen? Frowning, I let out a scoff.

For a second, I think that I must be losing my mind. Then I smile, realizing I was getting worked up about a dying man’s last jumbled-up thoughts. As Cian himself says in the interview, there is no one by that name in our recorded history, let alone a Queen. I should know. I was forced to learn the entire Romanov lineage, from the seventeenth century up to my father’s date of birth, even before I learned to read and write.

Still, it’s all so interesting. And now that Cian is done divulging all the information he’s managed to gather, he says he’ll be going into an analysis of sorts, giving three theories on why things ended the way they did.

I flip the page, eager to learn what they are.

But it’s at that exact moment that I hear a bout of cheering that’s hard to ignore. I look up to see Max, Nikolay and Hilde all squinting in the direction of the archway into the Common Room.

“Someone’spopular,” I hear Nikolay say. “Maybe we should go check things out.”

Even if they do, I think to myself, I’m staying right where I am.

“Let the kids be,” Max replies. “We’re fine where we are.”

Content with his decision, I turn my focus back onto my book.

But the noise only grows louder.

“Oh look, Nick, it’s your buddy Dahrian,” I hear Hilde say.

It instantly makes my ears prick up. I fail to stop myself from throwing a glance over my shoulder.

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