Page 18 of The Lost Prince
A normal human attempting it would simply die.
I hated being told what I could and couldn’t do.
But I stayed my hand. I didn’twantto die, after all. Besides, everything was almost ready. I just had to dig a little deeper into the archives. There had to be examples of humans trying blood rituals. If I could just examine the effects of what went wrong, I was sure I could come up with a way to mitigate any damage.
Whenever I figured it out, this room would at least be ready.
* * *
Two weeks later, Vession ambushed me going into the dining hall first thing in the morning, declaring that the queen wished an audience.
Hatred and unease shot through me.
Did she know what I’d done, or where I’d gone? What if a Fireguard had found my materials in the stone room and someone had pieced together what I was studying? All someone had to do was compare the materials in the room to the manuscripts I’d been reading and then—
Stop.
I was fine. No one knew. The rooms and the corridor leading to it had been so derelict that no one patrolled it. No one knew anything.
Yet, I wasn’t advanced enough in my studies to strike her down. I would have to be cunning, and keep my fury under wraps.
“Do you wish to eat breakfast first?” Vession asked.
I shook my head. Already dressed for the day, eating now would only make my stomach rebel.
“Very well. Let us go,” he said bluntly.
I nodded as Vession led the way.
Fireguards raised their eyes to watch me pass as we approached the throne room. There was nothing they could do to help me here. If the queen wanted to interrogate me, she would. If she wanted to feed me to the dragon, she would.
Vession was oddly tense, as well.
He held up a hand to the Fireguards about to throw open the doors, stopping them. Shooting me another glance, they stayed their hands and shot each other looks.
“What did you do?” Vession hissed at me.
I blinked. Vession sounded … afraid. I hadn’t been worried at all until seeing his face look like that. Vession never showed emotion. Vession was never afraid.
“I … I …” I sputtered.
“Wonderful,” he grit out, and gestured for the Fireguards to get on with it.
The doors opened, and he practically pushed me forward.
That was more like the Vession and I knew, and the familiarity gave me courage.
I raised my head.
The queen sat garbed in a dress of dazzling white, dripping with diamonds and crystals that threw light in every direction, making it hard to look at her without squinting. Nestled in her silver hair was a crown of matching diamonds.
She should die. Her. Not my mother. Her.
The king was nowhere to be seen, but two Nobles stood by her side with graying beards and blue robes. Two primas stood next to them.
What was this, a trial?
“I heard you are scurrying around in the dark like the little mud rat you are. Are you too good for my ballroom?”
