“Lila?” asked Emma. “Everything okay?”
The illusion slipped away again.
Crikey, I was losing it. For a moment, I wondered if I’d made the buds appear, like I had at Castle Hades with the nightshade. But it was gone now. An illusion.
I blinked, clearing my head. “We have one more wing, don’t we?”
Emma’s eyes glinted. “The last one is my favorite.”
As we walked, I kept glancing out the window, longing to see life out there.
In the final wing, Emma led us into a ballroom so large it could be a cathedral of gray stone. Diamond-pane windows stretched up twenty feet, letting the amber morning light pour over the floor. Chandeliers dangled from a soaring vaulted ceiling.
In the empty ballroom, Emma twirled in a circle, and the hem of her dress spun around her. “Someday, when all the fighting is over, we need to hold a ball in here.” She stopped twirling and looked at me, her eyes shining. “You’re one of the lucky ones. I’ve been alone in here far too long.”
Oswald blew a curl out of his eyes and leaned against a column. “You have me.”
She smiled at him. “And you’re a lovely colleague, but I want a romance. Like Lila has.”
My smile must have looked like a grimace. “True love. That’s me.”
Emma turned toward the window, stroking her lace collar. “When you are lady of this place, we should hold balls again, of course. I hope you can make Samael cheerier. He’s been morose forever, I think. But I don’t think it used to be like this. What do you think it was like in the days when Samael used to live here? I imagine it was much livelier.” Her voice echoed off the high ceilings. “Music, dancing, masked balls. Everything.”
I stared. When Samael … used to live here? In the Iron Fortress?
Oswald folded his arms. “He just isn’t the party type, is he? I doubt he was any more fun five hundred years ago.”
“Hang on,” I said. “What do you mean, ‘when he used to live here?’ He was here five hundred years ago?”
Emma stopped twirling and frowned at me. “It was built for him, a gift from one of the Albian kings for helping to suppress the northern rebellion. Have you never read a history book?”
I sighed. “No. I’m only just learning to read.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “Fascinating. So you just … have to accept whatever people tell you as fact?”
“No … everyone has to sift out truth from reality. Books can lie, too,” I pointed out. “And even photographs, as I recently learned.”
“Oh?” Emma was studying me closely, morning light washing over her. “You know, Samael told us that he would marry you, but he hasn’t said why he locked you in a room by yourself. I know something happened at Hades Castle, but not what.”
Good. They needed to think Samael and I were in love. “He’s just making sure I’m safe for the wedding. Like you said, evil is all around us. But let’s not dwell on that. When I am countess and overseeing this castle, we should bring the garden alive again. And we’ll throw parties here. We can bring in musicians from the Bibliotek.”
Her eyes widened again. “Wonderful! It has been infinite tedium in here lately. I think I will enjoy having you here.”
“And as his future wife,” I said, “I’d like to know as much about my home as I can. Every detail.”
Oswald’s gaze darted to Emma. “No.”
Interesting. “No what?” I asked. “What are you saying no to?”
“There’s a forbidden room.” Emma’s eyes danced with mischief.
Oswald glowered at her. “Emma loves going in it.”
She shrugged. “It’s not forbidden to the seneschal. I don’t understand why it’s forbidden at all. It’s a mystery, isn’t it? And I love a mystery. It is the one thing I have to entertain myself here. Except Oswald has no curiosity, dullard that he is. No offense, Oswald.”
“Offense taken,” he snapped.
I smiled. “Surely not forbidden to me, as the future Countess of the Iron Fortress.”
“We’re not going in,” said Oswald. “Not without the count’s permission.”
Emma grinned. “Follow me.”
10
Lila
We stood outside an ornate set of doors carved with the most fascinating symbols, some of them beautiful and some of them grotesque—gargoyles with their tongues sticking out, monstrous faces.
My gaze lingered over a carving of a moon wrapped in thorny vines. The vine leaves wrapped around another symbol: a raven wearing a crown.
The Raven King. I could almost feel his presence here, like in Castle Hades.
Now, I felt an overwhelming desire to see inside the room, almost like I’d find him in there. The ancient king’s power thrummed through the door, and it was like an invisible cord pulling me in. I had to see what was in this room.
Emma pulled a set of long skeleton keys from her pocket. “Since you will soon be in control of the castle along with the count, I don’t see why you can’t have a quick peek in the mystery room.”
“What if he returns early?” said Oswald. “We didn’t get permission.”
“Shh.” She slid the key into the lock. “Stop worrying. Why would he hide things from his wife?”
“Exactly,” I said. “He wouldn’t.” Lie.
When the door swung open, I was staring into an enormous bedroom, nearly the size of a ballroom. It smelled a bit musty in here, and the tapestries on the wall were old and threadbare, but the rest of the room was well-preserved. Windows reached from the floor to the towering ceiling, overlooking the thorny courtyard garden. The wind whistled in through broken windowpanes.
The room had a bleak atmosphere—all deep gray stone and dark wood furniture. A four-poster bed stood by one of the windows, with the curtains drawn before it. The pale silver bedspread looked worn with age. The room had a distinctly feminine presence: the delicate engravings in the stones depicting vines and flowers, the ornate silver stitching on the bedspread, a mahogany table with finely etched glasses and bottles of wine.
Not the Raven King, then.
Disappointing—and confusing.
I cleared my throat. “And why is this room locked? Who lived here?”
Oswald shrugged. “He won’t tell us.”
“And that is why I’m obsessed with this room,” said Emma. “Because why? We don’t get much excitement here, but this is a mystery.”
“Is it not covered in the history books?” I asked. “There must have been someone living here when Samael was here five hundred years ago.”
Emma sauntered across the room. “No, we only know the basics. The Iron Fortress was built for Samael as a gift, but there’s no mention of angels at all in the books. It’s always been a fraught topic in our country, one kept secret.”
I bit my lip. “And who was the Iron Queen?”
Oswald shrugged. “You know our country is full of legends that aren't true.” He flashed me a charming smile. “Not all of us share your superstitions.”