I tried not to let my concern show on my face. Ceren was surrounding himself with the right people, much to my surprise.

“Speaking of dear Prince Talin,” Hyacinth said. “I could have sworn you’d be married by now. And yet here you are, wearing your old clothes, sleeping in your old room. Even dining with the man you tried to assassinate.”

“I am loyal to Talin and to my family,” I ground out. “I came to free them, not to help Ceren.”

“Ah, but he’s already had more of your blood. So you have helped him, haven’t you?”

She knew he was drinking my blood, then. They all did. “You’re one to talk about helping Ceren,” I growled, no longer able to pretend I didn’t despise her. “You head his war council.” Why question my loyalties, I wondered, when she knew they were in exact opposition to hers?

Unless they weren’t. I stared at Lady Hyacinth for a moment. “You said I was free to ask anything I want,” I began.

“Yes, of course.”

“What exactly do you want for this kingdom?”

“We all want the same thing as you: a strong Ilara, united and whole.”

My pulse began to speed up, and I wondered if somewhere in the castle, Ceren felt it. I glanced around the room to see if there were any of the spying holes I had in my chambers, the ones Ceren or his guards could use to listen in on me. This had all the makings of a trap.

Know your enemy, she had said when I asked why she invited me. And she had implied that I was helping Ceren, perhaps willingly. Did that mean she thought I was on Ceren’s side? If so, would that make me her enemy?

Hyacinth glanced at the other ladies, who all gave tight nods. “Tell me, Nor. How much do you know about the bloodstones?”

I wasn’t about to tell her about Adriel’s book and the spell we had uncovered, but I also couldn’t pretend I was completely ignorant, or she would know I was lying. “I know they come from the blood of Ilarean royals and only Ilarean royals can use them.”

She nodded. “That’s true. But it’s also true that King Xyrus had a few pieces of bloodstone jewelry that were never destroyed by Queen Ebbeela, and they never worked for him—or Ceren, for that matter. You might recall a ring he used to wear, with a red stone in it?”

I thought back to when I’d first met Ceren. I vaguely remembered a ring of that description, though it had meant nothing to me at the time. “I think so.”

“It wasn’t until after he drank your blood that the stones began to work, Nor.”

That was new, and definitely interesting, information. “But why? I’m not an Ilarean royal.”

Hyacinth sat down next to me, so close our thighs were touching. “No, but the Varenians are the only people in our kingdom, as far as we know, who still have a spiritual and physical connection to the natural world. Your blood is special, Nor.”

Where are all the bloodstones now? I had asked Ebb once.

Gone, milady. Scattered to the edges of the world. They say there was once power in the blood of men, but we abused that power, and the gods took it back.

I thought of Adriel, how her people buried their dead to grow the bone trees, with their deadly fruit. If the Galethians had magic, they would never know it as long as they burned their dead.

“So you’re saying that without my blood, Ceren would have no command over the bloodstones?” I asked. I knew he needed my blood to remain strong enough to wield so many stones, but I would never have suspected that he couldn’t use them at all without me.

“That’s correct. Ceren is the last of the pure-blooded Ilarean royals. If he dies, the bloodstones die, too.”

I had considered that before, but if my blood was part of the equation, that meant we didn’t have to kill Ceren; we merely had to break the blood bond. Which meant, no matter what, I had to get a vial of his blood back to Adriel.

My pulse was beginning to race, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I didn’t want Hyacinth to suspect my plans. But if she was trying to trick me somehow, this was a strange way to go about it. Ceren already knew what I thought of him and that I would never help him willingly. Nothing I had admitted today was new information to him.

But Hyacinth had given me useful information. I looked at the other women, who were watching me coolly for a reaction. Was it possible I had allies in this castle after all? “Can you get me a key to Ceren’s study?” I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Do you want my help or not?”

She glanced at Dree, who nodded. “I’ll get you the key,” Hyacinth said.

Finally, I was getting somewhere. “Good. I only have one more question.”

She gestured for me to go on.

“Why are you helping me?”

Her eyes glittered behind the kohl like cut gemstones. “Have you ever stopped to consider that there are other women besides Talia who are tired of having a kingdom, Nor? That this place has slowly deteriorated with men in power? It’s only a matter of time before Ceren gives us a choice: wear the bloodstones or die. At that point, it will be too late.”

* * *

I was summoned to dinner again that night, and the thought of spending any time under Ceren’s shrewd observation was rattling me. I had information I could use against him finally, and I needed to keep it close.

Ceren had ordered me to wear the red gown again, though I wasn’t given a reason why. Tonight, I let the maid curl my hair and arrange it with a few gold pins.

“All finished, my lady,” the maid said behind me.

I turned to face her. “What’s your name?”

“Elspeth,” she replied without hesitation. She had the high forehead and narrow face of a lookdown fish, with ash-brown hair and a sallow complexion. I wondered how she had ended up with the task of caring for the Varenian traitor.

“Where are you from, Elspeth?”

The frozen smile widened. “I’m from a little village near the Lakes, my lady.”

It was very likely her family would be impacted by the impending war, if they weren’t already. I felt a stab of pity for her, and a wave of gratitude that Ebb had managed to escape this fate. “How did you come to work at New Castle?”

“My parents couldn’t pay their taxes, so they sent me instead.” The smile wobbled slightly; the bloodstone pulsed faintly at her throat. It was a painful reminder of what the bloodstones did to people, how she couldn’t even experience her true emotions while Ceren had control of her.

“What if I asked you to do something for me, Elspeth? Would you be able to, do you think?”