Page 49 of Grave Flowers
FOURTEEN
As fast I could, I bolted to my chambers. I tore off the red dress and put on a nightdress. Then I stood in the middle of the bedroom, terrified. My chambers were silent, yet a heavy presence hung in them, thick and waiting.
Someone or something was here with me.
“Once upon a terror tale …” The strange, vile whisper twisted through the room. I turned in a circle. Nothing but shadows surrounded me.
“Inessa?” I whispered.
“A girl kissed a boy on a balcony.” The dreadful singsong voice was not Inessa’s. “All the eyes saw, every pair, every pair. I know because I was there. She was silly and dumb, and her heart burst like a rotten plum.” At the wordplum,the voice gargled and choked, as though full of water. A slosh came from the bathtub.
Trembling, I went to it. It’d been empty when I left, but now it was filled. Great sloshes spilled down the sides and onto the floor. Whatever was in my chambers was inside the tub, beneath the water.
“Inessa, is it you?” I whispered. Cautiously, I bent over the tub. A hand shot up from the water and grabbed me by the front of my nightdress. It dragged me forward, hauling me half into the tub, submerging my head. I tried to jerk free, but the hand was too strong. Water filled my nose, eyes, and ears. It flooded my throat. I choked but only inhaled more. I was drowning. Flailing, I tried to grip the sides of the tub. My feet thrashed against the soaked marble floor. It was too slick. Hair matted over my face. Bright starbursts blinked across my vision, even though I couldn’t see anything.
Then, just when I thought darkness would overtake me, the hand let go. I stumbled back, gasping, retching, choking. I fell hard onto the marble and scuttled back in horror.
Inessa rose from the bathtub. Water poured from her limbs in shimmering panes, as though she wore liquid glass. It dripped from her fingers. She stepped out of the tub and made her way to where I’d dropped the red dress. With a snooty huff, she pulled it over her head.
“There,” she said.
“Y-you—you almost drowned me!” I coughed, shaking.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she said, as though she hadn’t risen from the depths of the tub with all the performative theatrics of an actress. “I wanted my dress. Little sisters always try to steal your clothes.”
“What was that terrible rhyme?” I choked.
“What rhyme?” Inessa blinked at me as though I were addled.
“It was a strange voice saying … well, I couldn’t really tell. It had the cadence of a terror tale,” I said, trembling and soaking wet. Coughs still racked me.
“If it was me, I don’t have any recollection of it. Which is unfortunate because you look utterly terrified. I would love to be able to elicit such fear with my voice alone. Anyways, what have you been up to? Tell me everything.”
Guilt struck me speechless for a moment. If she’d seen me kiss Aeric, she didn’t remember. I’d gotten lucky. I would never tell her, and I’d never ever act in such a way again.
“Well, I thought I’d freed you,” I said, struggling to my feet. “I discovered a Radixan working in the garden and I … I killed him. But he wasn’t your murderer because you’re still haunting me.”
“It’s true, I haven’t been released,” Inessa said. She picked up a towel and began to dry her hair. Black sludge oozed from her eyes and mouth. Precisely, she wiped it as well and tossed the damp towel to me. It was hard to tell if she was giving it to me so I might dry myself too or simply wanted me to put it away. “It wasn’t for nothing, though. You did well. I didn’t recall it until now—it seems my memory returns as you retrace my steps. But I remember him. A Radixan posing as a Crusan handyman. I was on to him as well before I ate the flower berry. He might not have been my assassin, but he would’ve tried to kill me and had to be dealt with at some point. Good job, Sister.”
“So then … who in the name of the Family murdered you?”
“If I knew, I would tell you,” Inessa said. “But it had to be someone else. Come now, let’s think.”
She made her way over to the bed and clambered onto it. Impatiently, she motioned me to join her. I went to the wardrobe and pulled the soaking nightdress over my head and replaced it with a dry one. The nightdress clung to my wet legs, and my hair hung in a matted, sodden mess over my shoulders. I crawled onto the bed next to her.
“You killed Luthien,” Inessa said, turning to face me. A smile spread across her sludge-stained lips. She leaned over onto her elbows. “What was it like killing him?”
From her playful intonations, you’d think she was asking me what it was like to flirt with him.
“Not pleasant,” I said distantly. How strange that Luthien had been alive this morning. And yesterday. And last month. He hadn’t knownthe timeline of his life was burning down as quickly as an oiled wick. I slipped under the blankets on the bed, drawing them as close to me as possible. “I’d rather dance.”
“But you hate dancing.”
“Exactly,” I sighed.
“You might hate killing even more than dancing, but you’ve done your duty.”
Shame filled me. My lips tingled at the thought of kissing Aeric. Viciously, I bit them.
