It was dark and still, save for the faint ticking of a warped clock on the far wall. In the corner, I spotted a small kitchen. My hand trembled as I turned the faucet, filling a copper canister I’d found on the counter.
I was about to leave, but something rooted me in place.
Near the window, a cluttered table caught a sliver of moonlight. Parchment was strewn across its surface, the edges curled, the ink faded. They were Serpent Press articles. Dozens of them.
Above the table, a chalkboard hung bolted to the wall. Lines and markings spiderwebbed across it. It was a rough, hand-drawn map of Wrathi. One region had been circled over and over, the chalk strokes layered and jagged, as if the hand behind them had grown more desperate with each pass.
Something in my chest pulled tight.
I stepped closer, fingers brushing the edge of the nearest page as wind rattled the pane. I shouldn’t have looked, but I did.
June 11, Summer Gathering:Why does Blanche’s land remain untouched while his neighbors starve?
January 15, Wrathi Days: Blanche accepts a marriage bid. But all eyes were on his wife, the once-untouchable death wielder—as her unborn daughter is set to marry the son of her former rival.
February 11:A male marked only as “F” was seen escorting a Serpent’s wife upstairs… Some may call this a scandal.
July 15: Fallon and Victor share a room during Veravine’s funeral. Some wonder if they were ever truly rivals.
And then the final page:
The Last Serpent Ball:Six students are mysteriously dead. Some say the elite Serpent Academy will never host another grand ball. Victor Lynch was seen comforting Fallon for a moment too long. Was it the queen of death?
A throat cleared from behind me.
“Those are private,” Rok said flatly. “Not something your eyes should be seeing.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” I murmured, still gripping the parchment. “Victor hated my mother, yet he’s comforting her after a ball and sharing a room at an inn?”
“Or maybe,” Rok said, stepping closer, “the barter was made out of spite. A man like Victor doesn’t give something away unless he’s desperate… or in love.”
“In love?” I scoffed. “With Andri in the picture?”
“Yes,” he said evenly. “Victor Lynch was in love with your mother. And when she chose Andri, he wanted revenge. What better revenge than forcing their daughter to marry his son?”
I swallowed hard. “Why Hadrian then? Because he was powerful?”
Rok’s gaze didn’t waver. “Fallon met with Hadrian eighteen times. Willingly. Maybe they were both dealing with the same ghosts. Or maybe they were truemates who finally couldn’t resist each other.”
“She had an affair.”
He tilted his head. “Desperate people make strange bargains.” He paused. “Your mother was a Scavenger, Severyn. Her choice was Victor’s leash under the sunlight bargain… or freedom. Even if it meant sacrificing everything.”
“All she did was lie,” I said.
“She knew the wedding would happen, and she waited—waiting was her revenge. Victor loved her, but she chose Andri. So he made the bargain, not for her daughter, but for Andri’s. That was the insult. In Victor’s eyes, she was just his wife. Just apawn. And in the end, his own words are the reason your homeland’s sun remains, because he thought lesser of your mother.”
I stared at the table, voice low. “Do you think they were in love? Hadrian and my mother?”
He leaned back, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Would it make this easier, knowing you were created from love? I went through something similar. I understand how you feel.”
“What happened?”
Rok’s voice lowered. “You already know some of it. I felt a mind-reader inside my thoughts earlier.”
My throat tightened. “When your realm went barren?”
“It was war.”