Page 76 of Blood Ties

A silver raven filled the gap. I recognised the badge Lenora had worn on her black armour when Adrian brought her into the throne room.

“You cut your hand on Edith’s key before you came under the house,” she said. “You carried the document case under your left arm when the court threw us out. I told you to stay away from the Crown, and Adrian tried to drag me through the gate for saying it.”

“All right. Why are you here?”

“Because the Claiming weakened his order enough for me to speak inside Harrowmere. I don’t know how long the gap will remain open.”

Lenora’s face moved into the thin strip of light. Her dark hair had come loose from its tie, and blood marked the collar of her armour. I couldn’t see where it came from.

“Are you hurt?” I asked.

“Nothing that matters yet. Listen to me. Adrian killed Edith.”

The words reached me clearly. I still needed a second to understand them.

“Edith’s doctor said her heart failed.”

“Adrian made certain it would. He put poison in her heart medicine during her last visit to Harrowmere. I smelt it when he opened the bottle. Edith did too.”

Lenora pressed closer to the gap. “It was a court poison made to vanish from human blood within hours. The doctor would find a failed heart and no reason to suspect anyone helped it stop. Adrian wanted her death treated as natural so the will would proceed and nobody from your world would interfere with the estate.”

An ordinary investigation would never reach him, and Lenora’s oath had kept the only witness silent.

My fingers closed around the sword grip. “She knew?”

“Yes. He offered her the clean bottle if she told him where you lived and gave him a sample of your blood. She refused. She said he could kill her, but he wouldn’t get close to you while she could still stop him.”

A dull pressure built behind my ribs. I saw Edith in her small sitting room, complaining about weak tea while I fetched the biscuits. She’d been tired during her last month. I had blamed age and grief after Grandad’s death. She’d known a vampire had poisoned her and spent the time she had left making certain I reached Harrowmere with a warning.

“He fucking murdered her.”

Lenora didn’t look away. “Yes.”

I put one hand against the gate. The metal stayed cold. “And you stood there while he did it.”

“I did.” Her answer came without an excuse. “The captain’s seal binds me to the lawful ruler of Harrowmere. When Edith chained Stellan and named Adrian regent, her order made his commands lawful. He ordered me to remain still while he poisoned her. Then he ordered me never to tell you or anyone carrying her blood. My blood had kept Edith alive for more than a century. Adrian made certain his poison was stronger than anything I could give her. The oath doesn’t make me agree with him,” she continued. “It takes control of my body when I refuse. It can stop my voice or force me to stand aside. Adrian has used it for a century because the court still recognises him as regent while Stellan remains chained.”

Anger cut through the shock. “You’re the commander of the guard. How many people has that excuse allowed him to hurt?”

Lenora’s jaw tightened. “Too many. I fought the order until it stopped my heart. Adrian released it when I collapsed, then made me stand again. I couldn’t touch the bottle or warn Edith’s doctor. You don’t have to forgive me. You need to know what he’ll do when the Crown is within reach.”

“When Harrowmere threw us out of the throne room, the Claiming placed your protection above his command,” Lenora said. “That’s why I could warn you about the Crown. It was the first order I’d broken since Edith named him regent. The court punished me for entering with him, then stopped treating me as a threat when I chose the heir over the man trying to control her.”

She didn’t ask me to comfort her. An oath explained why she hadn’t moved while Edith died. It didn’t change the result.

“You don’t get credit for one warning after a century at his side,” I said. “You do get the chance to tell me everything that keeps him from doing it again. Don’t shorten the truth because you think I can’t handle it.”

“I won’t. Adrian needs you alive until you wear the Crown and give the first command. After that, your survival matters only if Harrowmere demands it. He told Stellan you could return to your human life because he wanted the king to believe cooperation might protect you. Adrian has never planned to let you leave with authority over this court.”

The answer was brutal and useful.

“Why kill Edith when her death woke the next heir?” I asked.

“Because she knew every rule he was breaking. She could refuse the Crown for the rest of her life, and Harrowmere respected that choice. He wanted a younger heir who didn’t know the court existed. He couldn’t find you, so he killed Edith and trusted the succession to bring you to the house.”

Lenora lowered her voice. “Edith used the time he left her to write the instructions you carried below. She knew the court would hold you once your blood opened it, so she gave you the only protection she could. The documents would help you recognise Adrian’s lies. Stellan could keep the Crown from reaching you if you gave him enough blood to move. She trusted neither man. She trusted you to use both facts.”

Adrian hadn’t needed my address. He’d used my grandmother’s death and the will to make Harrowmere fetch me.