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The fit and styling are impeccable, effortlessly so.
The castle might look deceptively simple and unadorned, but everything here reeks of wealth.
Suddenly, Kastel and Garan are giving off a hostile aura, like big guard-dogs, ready to pounce at the slightest hint of anything inappropriate. But Vinciel pays them no mind as he reaches my side. It’s as if they don’t even exist. “You can remain seated.” He takes my hand and turns it over, placing his fingers over my pulse. “You have no pain?”
“No, I’m completely fine.”
He places his thumb beneath my left eye and pulls, briefly checking the inside of my lower eyelid. For the briefest of moments, his gaze flicks toward the point on my neck where the demon sank his fangs into me.
My heart is hammering. I want to ask a hundred questions, but I don’tdare.
Does he know the man that did this to me?
Does heknow?
I’m feeling warm again. Restless. Like I have an itch that can’t be scratched.
What iswrongwith me?
“Mildly anaemic and a little dehydrated,” he says at last. “Nothing that can’t be fixed. Lunch will be served shortly. Then you will be shown to your quarters and given time to rest.” He gives me a strange look. “I would recommend that you drink a lot of water and eat to your heart’s content. The servants will provide everything you ask for. And I’m certain His Highness will make arrangements to replace your damaged garments with something more suitable.”
A flush rises into my cheeks. I’m acutely reminded of the fact that I’m wearing nothing but my woolen underclothes beneath the warm winter cloak that was hastily offered to me by one of the Archduke’s men.
I have it wrapped around me right now, the well-woven deep blue cloth smelling of pine and fresh soap.
This isn’t at all the arrival I’d planned, but for some reason, I feel more comfortable sitting here in my underclothes and a borrowed cloak than I would in that cursed dress.
Vinciel steps back and tips his head. “I’ve seen all that I need to see. Please, make yourselves at ease. You are our honored guests, and you’ve been through quite the ordeal. Besides, it’s Seinmas.”
“When will I meet the Archduke?” I blurt. I feel a sudden need to regain some semblance of control, even though I’veneverbeen in control. “I must have an audience with him as soon as possible.”
I need to make a deal with him. I need to negotiate for Garan and Kastel’s safe passage back to Ruen. I need to see Aderick with my own eyes, so I can be assured of his wellbeing,especiallyafter that strange man took him away.
I need to know that Aderick will be cared for, and allowed to recuperate in this place for as long as he needs.
And I need to see for myself… what kind of man this Corvan Duthriss really is.
The rumors are too much. I don’t know what’s hearsay and what’s real.
The mad prince. The ruthless commander. The bitter recluse. Afflicted with an unmentionable condition. Cursed by arcane magic.
Which is the truth?
The physician raises a finger; a stern and not-so-subtle warning. “He will summon youwhen he is ready. In the meantime, please.Make yourselves at ease.”
12
CORVAN
“Come in, Kyron,” I say absently as I scan the dense paragraphs ofThe Known Vulnerabilities of Arcane Beasts.I’ve reached the chapter entitled:The Rare and Deadly Vampyr.
Deadly?Well, I beg to differ. I haven’t killed anyone since I was turned—well, not anyone innocent, anyway.
Rare?This isn’t news to me.
I’ve never met another of my kind. Thanks to my father’s suppression of all things magical, vampire lore isn’t well known in Rahava. The most valuable information I’ve received has come from the people of the mountain tribes.
Astoundingly, after their surrender, the Khaturians—the ones Rahavans callbarbarians, even though they’re anything but—decided that they would worship me as some kind of a god.
