Page 121 of A Throne of Blood & Vengeance

“Bonus points for an excellent delivery,” Draven added.

“Right.” Alaric rubbed his forehead with one hand and held out some documents with the other. “Look this over, Rynn. I believe we have everything covered. Kieran and I have both reviewed it twice. All it needs is your signature.”

Rynn swallowed before striding towards Alaric and taking the contract from him. “Thanks. Be back in a bit.”

Without another word, she left the room. A moment later, the sound of Samara coming down the stairs echoed through the hall outside, followed by soft murmurings between her and Rynn. When Samara joined us again, any hint of amusement was gone from her face. Cali was right behind her with an equally grim expression.

“What happened?” I looked between the two of them.

“I’ll get to that.” Samara sat on one of the tables, and everyone else took a seat. I remained standing against the wall with my arms crossed, feeling too anxious to sit.

Whatever had happened must have been bad because Cali didn’t sneer at me once.

“First, the crown has agreed to go along with the transformation spell. So that will make that portion of the plan easier.” Her dire expression softened for a moment. “Also . . . I gave them a name. Talis.”

The recognition hit me instantly. Samara’s parents had often taken her stargazing, and if my parents had been away—which they often had—they’d invite me to join them. The star named after hope had been her dad’s favorite.

“It’s a good name,” I said softly. “He would approve.”

Samara looked at me and saw the understanding in my eyes. “I think so too.” She smiled back before swallowing and growing serious once more. “Tell them, Cali.”

“A striker just delivered a message from a courtier at House Corvinus.” The Furie’s gaze flicked to Kieran. “Your friend, actually—Riah.”

Kieran blinked in surprise. “Is she okay? What did she say?”

“Tamsen defected from House Corvinus. She left in the middle of the night with Riah and a handful of others; they took shelter at a small outpost close to the Velesian border.” Cali’s fisted hand shook before she tossed the crumbled-up message onto the table. “Carmilla sent three squads of rangers after them. The people in the outpost refused to grant them entry. They said Carmilla was a false queen.”

Samara sat perfectly still, but her eyes had turned a solid black.

“What happened?” I asked when silence reigned.

“The rangers . . .” Cali trailed off, clenching her jaw hard enough that I could see the muscles feathering along her jawline.

“They burned the outpost down,” Samara cut in. “With the people inside. Tamsen, Riah, and less than a dozen people made it out alive.”

Rangers swore an oath to serve not only their House but all of the Moroi. Either those rangers had disregarded that oath of their own volition . . . or Carmilla had stripped them of their free will and forced them to carry out a heinous act that would likely haunt them forever.

A mixture of disgust and rage rolled through me, and I could feel the same sentiments echoed by everyone in the room.

“We have to stop her,” I rasped, drawing Samara’s dark gaze. “Whatever it takes.”

“We will,” she swore.

“Where is Tamsen now?” Draven asked.

“The group split up after escaping,” Cali said. “According to Riah, the Corvinus Heir refused to risk any more lives protecting hers. Tamsen traveled with them to another outpost but then ordered Riah and the others to keep their heads down and deny any involvement with her before leaving. She told Riah she was heading towards House Devereux.”

“Shit,” Roth swore. “I can’t express how bad of an idea that is. They won’t trust her—not a Corvinus. My family made an exception for Nyx because they turned their back on their House and have proven themself over the years, but Tamsen is the bloody Heir. There’s a solid chance they’ll kill her on sight with how high their paranoia probably is right now.”

“This all happened several days ago—probably at the same time we were leaving House Salvatore. Riah lucked out and found an outpost where another of Kieran’s friends was—one who just happened to have a striker that could track Kieran’s scent,” Cali continued.

“Jasi, probably,” Kieran grunted. “I pulled some strings to get him out of a tight spot with House Tepes a few years back, and he’s one of my best informants now. Lives in an outpost on one of the main trade routes—hears all kinds of gossip.”

“Which one?” I asked.

“Morningwell.”

I started calculating the distance in my head and the possible paths Tamsen could have taken. The Morningwell outpost was southwest of House Corvinus, towards the middle of the realm. The main road went directly east and west from it, but Tamsen likely hadn’t taken that. It might have been safer, but the road would be heavily patrolled. If she were desperate enough—and it seemed like she was—the rogue Heir had likely cut straight through the wilds.

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