Page 21 of Grave Flowers
“I wondered as much.” Inessa considered me. Her eyes were particularly ghoulish in their black circles, the white smoke making her image ripple. “Do you think you’ll be able to do it? Murder and you don’t get along, Sister.”
“It’s different,” I insisted, knowing she was thinking of Mother, just as Father had. “I have no lust for blood and no taste for power, but I’ll do what I need to do.”
“No, but you do have a taste for life, my sister,” Inessa said. She crossed her arms, fingers tapping thoughtfully. Fierceness rose on her face, like a sea serpent ascending from the depths to flash its coils across the watery surface. “Perhaps that’s why you’ll outlast us all. Father, Mother, even the royals here. In longing for something outside of a crown, you’ll find yourself wearing it.”
It was unclear if Inessa was complimenting me or simply observing something she thought to be true. It was always difficult to know her true thoughts. I’d seen flashes of her affection and protectiveness for me, but she was that way with anything belonging to her—and she certainly thought I, and my service, did.
She cleared her throat, then said, “Anyways, I’m starving.”
“There’s the marzipan castle,” I said. “Though it’s much too sweet.”
“Oh, I’m not starving for that. Ever since being in Bide, hunger eats me from the inside out. But it isn’t hunger for your silly human food.
I long to eat … ice. Dirt. Rocks. Glass. Do you mind?” She picked up a handheld mirror set in fine Crusan silver.
“Mind what?”
She smiled. The edges of her mouth were unnaturally wide, as though Bide and its horrors had reordered her features, stretching each angle just a bit farther. I shuddered. My scar throbbed. I put my good hand over it. Moist skin gave way beneath my fingers, and a clear liquid secreted from the tissue. Now that my sister was dead, the scar was conversely alive. It throbbed even more as she brought the mirror to her mouth. She bit. I stifled an alarmed cry. Splinters fractured across the mirror, and the tinkle of breaking glass accompanied them. Shards caught in her mouth, but she crunched down, hard teeth on sharp glass, soft lips on lethal edges, writhing tongue on silvery metal. The black liquid around her eyes gushed from her gums and mouth. It poured down her chin. This time it was as runny and thin and clear as water.
The smile on her lips grew wider, until it stretched nearly ear to ear. Glass shards, black liquid, and silver frame glinted in her mouth. When she spoke, and I could see the back of her throat vibrating with speech, a cave of silvery terrors framed by swollen lips.
“I remember, Mads—I had to tell you—”
“What?” I stepped forward, desperate for anything that might help me save her from these unnatural horrors. “What do you remember?”
But my words fell into emptiness. She was gone, entirely. Only the mirror remained on the floor where she had been. Its frame was indented with bite marks, a large chunk was torn away, and shattered glass flashed beneath it.
Blood welled around my scar.
Something bulged from inside. Terrified, I touched it. It hurt so horribly that I thought I’d vomit. The scar was softer than ever before, but there was a hard object under the skin. I pressed, not sure if I was whimpering more from fear or pain. Blood dripped downmy wrist. The object wrested free with a strange ripping sound. It struck the floor with a clunk. Weakly, I picked it up to see what had come from within me. I wiped off the blood and held it close to one of the candles.
A single shard of broken mirror glass flashed between my fingers.
Chapter
SEVEN
In preparation for the betrothal ceremony the next day, I donned a new dress specifically made for the event, which meant it was the same one Inessa had worn. It was slightly more covered than the party dress, but not by much. It was dark green, symbolic of Radix. The skirt was covered in our grave flowers, but as talented as Acusan sewists were, they had never seen grave flowers, and it showed. Every flower, from the beauties to the lost souls to the mad minds, were depicted perfectly upright, seeking the sun. They looked nothing like my bloodthirsty, salt water–craving creatures that thrived in the damp and the dark. A red lace underpinning went beneath the green silk dress to represent Acus. It wrapped up my neck and extended down my arms to where it hooked around my middle fingers. The rest spilled out beneath my skirt, creating a train. A matching red veil draped over my hair, and a thick green silk headband secured it in place, though my scalp ached from Sindony’s overzealous yet futile styling methods.
I stared at myself in the mirror, uneasy. My scar throbbed. I could feel where the glass had dragged its way through my hand and the spot whereit had torn free. I’d told my girls I’d cut my hand on the letter opener in my parlor. I also hid the bitten mirror and broken glass, but it was as though Inessa had gnawed on me. Her tooth marks were deep in my soul, leaving me raw and ragged. She might appear at any moment. I always had to be on my guard so that if she did, I wouldn’t react the way I had last night. I wondered what everyone was saying about me after I’d fled the dance floor.
“Sindony?” I called.
She hurried to my side like an overeager puppy, coming much too close for personal comfort. “Yes, Your Highness?”
“The party was such a thrill.” I made myself sound innocent and earnest. “Everyone was as kind as could be. Tell me, did the court seem to like me? It was my first public appearance, so I hope I did well.”
“Oh, the guests say you were just captivating,” Sindony reassured me. “Everyone is talking about your dancing and saying you looked like you walked on air.”
“I’ve had years of training,” I said, hoping people would think the moment Inessa had dipped me was simply talent and not supernatural intervention.
“I wish I might dance in such a way. You enchanted everyone.”
“Thank you. My dance master would be glad to hear it.” Rigby had eventually gone back to his native Pingere, and I’d heard he died after an ill had swept through, but he was alive and well—and perpetually displeased—in my memories.
“And were you all right?” Sindony prattled on. “The guests were worried you were unwell because apparently you left early.”
“The climate here is so different.” I watched her closely to see if she bought my excuse and spoke loudly enough for the other girls to hear as well. “I’m not used to such thin air. I should’ve bid everyone good night, but I was afraid I was going to faint. How embarrassing would that’ve been?”
