Silence - By Kailin Gow Page 0,15
to share?” she demanded. “If he was raised to become king here, why shouldn’t he do that? I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I don’t want to be anyone’s ruler. I have a life back in Wicked. I’m needed there. I have friends there, a brother, and Kevin and Fal on…” She looked at Aunt Sophie, “and a diner and Preservation Society to run…”
King Waltham looked shocked, and even Leytham seemed a little surprised. “But you are my blood heir,” the King said. “Palisor wil be strengthened by it. If there is a legitimate blood heir to the throne, it cannot be ignored.” It looked as though he might say more, but he seemed to think better of it.
“We wil speak again after the feast. For now though, servants wil have gone to your tower. You should prepare for the banquet.”
Briony took the hint, and she walked back over the bridge to her tower with Aunt Sophie. Leytham stayed with his brother, apparently having further things to discuss, while Archer trailed a little way behind them until they got to the tower, but then led the way.
“If the King wants you to ready yourselves, then you wil need to go to the preparing room,” Archer said, leading the way along flights of stairs to a room with elegant lattice-work doors. “I’l leave you to get ready.”
As the dragon-shifter left, the doors opened, swinging out towards Briony and Aunt Sophie to reveal a large room with a balcony, where a trio of Hugtandalfer women were laying out dresses. The one who had opened the doors appeared no older than Briony or Aunt Sophie did, and smiled at them as she saw them before dropping into a curtsey.
“Welcome, your highness, my lady. Everything is ready for you.”
Briony didn’t know what to say to that, so she settled for heading into the room. There were dresses prepared on al sides, al exquisitely beautiful, but al also more formal than anything Briony had seen before, let alone worn. She walked right through the room and out onto the balcony.
The view there helped to take away a little of the sudden tightness in her chest. It wasn’t home, but it was more than breathtaking enough to make up for it, being on the side of the tower that faced the outside world, rather than the rest of the castle. From where she was, Briony could see the hil s that she had flown over, and she thought back to the creatures she had seen staring up.
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Aunt Sophie said.
Briony nodded. “But beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere as beautiful.”
Aunt Sophie walked to her side and looked out from the balcony. “Wel , it’s not quite like Wicked, but Palisor certainly lives up to its reputation. There’s a reason so many non-humans want to come here, after al . I suspect even Pietre might be able to appreciate this beauty.”
Briony shuddered at the mention of the master vampire’s name. She found herself wondering why her great-aunt would bring him up, but now that she had, there were things Aunt Sophie needed to hear.
“Pietre was stil causing so much pain in Wicked when I left, Aunt Sophie.”
“Yes,” the other girl said with a sad note in her voice, “he would.”
“It’s bad,” Briony went on. “The war between the werewolves and vampires isn’t over, and now more people are caught in the middle. After Pietre set fire to his own coven, he relocated somewhere we couldn’t find him. He’s been gathering more and more vampires into Wicked, hoping to break into Palisor.”
“Not to mention the fact that Kevin, Fal on and Jake are stil stuck there,” Aunt Sophie said. “Look Briony, I know how much al of this is for you, being here when everything else is going so wrong back there. I know, darling.”
“You do?”
Aunt Sophie nodded. “I do. This must be the craziest thing you’ve ever heard or seen. But you have to remember that Palisor is the reason why you were brought to Wicked in the first place. You were meant to come here, Briony. I know it is hard leaving everything else behind, but you have to try to remember that.”
Briony felt her eyes widen. Aunt Sophie was talking as if she should just forget Wicked. Briony wasn’t sure she could do that. “I just keep thinking about al the people there. The ones I won’t get to see again while I’m here. Fal on and Kevin, obviously, but