Page 130 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“Grrreat. I was starting to think The Viper slipped something into my glass.” Dax leaned forward. “Tell me Evie, precious cousin, the light of grandpa Constantine’s eyes, how are things going with The Dragon?”
“I–” I gulped. “Decent. Things are decent.”
“She’s blushing,” Dara murmured.
Clara shrugged. “Let her blush. At least one of us should find a shred of happiness in this whole mess.”
Dax sighed. “Yes, yes, happy life. But with the Blood Brotherhood prince of all people?”
“Hey!” I said, louder than intended. “I’m standing right here.”
They were doing it again. Talking among themselves at a pace and with a familiarity that stung. They meant well, they did, but it still hurt.
“Yes, you are,” Allie said kindly. “Dax was just concerned–”
“And I appreciate it–” I did, so much. “But don’t coddle me. Can you honestly say none of you has softened the tiniest bit when it comes to your Blood Brotherhood fiances?”
Silence. And shifting in their seats while averting their gazes. I felt vindicated.
Except for Dara. She shrugged. “I haven’t. I don’t even know where he is now. Probably tinkering with his weapons in the basement, messing up my shelves.”
“You’re right, Evie,” Dax said slowly. “I was an asshole, I apologize. Just…be careful.”
I huffed a heavy sigh. “I’m trying to.”
It was so damn hard. Zandyr was nowhere near me and this little gathering, but I almost felt him, even from halfway across Phoenix Peak. The pulses of his emotions fluttered at the recesses of my mind–he felt…vindicated? Today’s meeting with the Senate must have gone well.
Emboldened, I cleared my throat, straightening my shoulders. “I actually wanted to ask you all about something I haven’t been able to find. Have you ever heard of ritualistic Clan killings that involved slash–slashing someone’s throat? Or anything about the Quorilith Clan?”
The corners of my eyes still stung while talking about it. But my parents wouldn’t have wanted me crying over them. They would have wanted revenge.
Heavy silence settled over us.
“I can ask Soryn,” Clara said, hesitant at mentioning her own fiance. “He knows everything. He can recite the Code by heart. Every line. Who does that?”
“Do you trust him?” I asked.
“Not in the least,” she said without blinking.
“Then best not to.”
“Quorilith,” Dara sounded out, gaze hazy. “The Clan that hid in the Forbidden Swamps, right? Super violent, super old?”
“You tell me, you seem to know more about it,” I said, the tinkling of curiosity drawing me closer to her portal, a wisp of vapor that rose from a powder-blue book.
“Not much, they didn’t exactly leave written traces behind. They were suspicious of everyone and the feeling was quite mutual. Old scholars theorized they engraved their dangerous spells on the walls in their dungeons, but nobody has ventured into one of their sunken temples in centuries. Nobody who came back alive, that is. They dealt in dark magic.”
“How dark?” Allie asked, making me feel better for not knowing so many parts of Clan history. The Quoriliths had really wanted to stay hidden.
“They only worshiped gods of death and lies. It’s said the water in their swamps turned red with the blood of the ones they sacrificed before battle,” Dara went on in a matter-of-fact tone, as if reciting from a manual.
The library turned icy as we all stilled, entranced by Dara.
“Legends say that’s why their temples fell. Because the blood seeped into the ground and swallowed them up. Others say the blood turned that place into a swamp, that it had been a beautiful, lush forest before. Hard to say when that happened solong ago. The Quoriliths seemed unpleasant, I haven’t studied their Clan all that much. I’d rather read about the Bone Bridge.” Dara jerked her chin at me. “But why don’t you ask your prince about it? He must know more and I’m sure they must have at least second-hand recollections hidden somewhere.”
He hadn’t seemed to. “Why would he?”
Dara’s brows rose. “Because his ancestors defeated the Quoriliths. The few survivors of their heinous Clan were absorbed into the Blood Brotherhood.”
