“We’re all that is left. The rest were let go.”
Apparently, being loyal to Irina fed your horses but didn’t give you enough to keep a full staff employed. What were those jobless people doing for food this winter? Where were they living?
Lorelai’s jaw tightened, and the thread of determination that blazed within her refocused her grief into purpose. No one else in Ravenspire should die because of Irina’s irresponsible use of magic. Not if Lorelai could be stronger, faster, and better than the queen.
“Where is the duchess?” she asked as the maid’s footsteps slowed outside a pair of doors with rose trellises carved around its edges.
“In the dining room awaiting her dinner.”
The maid’s singsong voice was scraping Lorelai’s nerves raw. She stepped into a bedchamber decorated in brilliant blue, green, and yellow and turned to the girl.
“Go back to the library and sweep the hearth. Forget you ever saw me.”
Removing her hand from the girl’s arm, she shut the doors behind her as the maid turned back the way they’d come. A bank of windows on the western wall showed the sun disappearing over the edge of the mountain, leaving crimson streamers in its wake.
Lorelai settled into a chair in the corner beside the windows, the corner parallel to the door and therefore impossible to see until the duchess was already inside the room with the door shut, and waited.
Less than an hour later, the door swung open and Duchess Waldina entered the room. Her short, sturdy body was packed into a tightly corseted dress in the same brilliant blue as the curtains that framed her bedroom windows. Brown curls were piled atop her head, and her fingers were weighed down with jeweled rings. She shut the door, kicked her shoes off, and fumbled for the laces of her bodice.
Lorelai waited while the duchess unlaced her dress and heaved in a deep breath, and then she stood and said quietly, “If you scream for help, I will tear this mansion apart until nothing remains but the ground you built upon.”
The duchess whirled toward the corner and opened her mouth, but Lorelai was already moving.
“Eee—”
Lorelai’s gloved palm slammed over the woman’s open mouth, cutting off her cry. Magic sparked in her bare palm, and the woman’s brown eyes widened Lorelai lifted a hand wreathed in white light and held it close to the duchess’s face.
“I was very clear.” Lorelai’s voice was cold. “Scream, and I will bring this house down. You can see the magic in my hands. You’re aligned with my enemy. Do you really think I’ll hesitate to destroy everything you love?”
The woman shook her head in sharp, frantic movements that threatened to topple her tower of curls. For a moment, Lorelai was tempted to touch her with her bare palm and speak the same incantor she’d used on the maid, but according to news Gabril had gathered throughout the years from villagers on the duchess’s lands, Duchess Waldina had spent significant time in the castle as Irina’s guest. It was unlikely that Irina would allow someone to gain that much access to her without having put a spell or two in place to ensure her own safety. If Lorelai tried to overcome the spell, the duchess’s heart would fight hers, and the physical cost would be tremendous.
Besides, Irina needed to believe Kol had killed the princess. Lorelai wasn’t going to destroy that illusion until she was ready to launch an attack against the queen.
She met the duchess’s frightened gaze, and bared her teeth in a smile that made the woman tremble. Maybe she couldn’t use magic against the duchess herself, but the woman didn’t need to know that.
“I’m going to remove my hand, and we’re going to have a talk. You’re going to answer my questions honestly, or I will use my magic to compel you to do so.” Lorelai leaned close, her smile still in place. “If I have to use magic on you, Irina will know we’ve talked. That would displease me, and it would certainly displease her. I’m sure you understand the consequences of displeasing Irina.”
The woman nodded again, her eyes darting around the room before returning to Lorelai. Slowly, the princess removed her hand and then gestured toward the bed.
“Sit down.”
“Who are you?” The duchess’s voice shook, and she rubbed her lips with her bejeweled fingers.
“We’ve met before, Duchess. Perhaps you remember? You gave me a bag of wintermint candy drops to keep me quiet while you curried favor with your new queen.”
The duchess blanched. “That’s impossible. You’re dead.”
“And yet here I stand.”
Duchess Waldina pressed her hands to her cheeks and then fluttered them in the air like gaudily dressed birds. “Such a shock! I’m overcome. Of course, the queen must be told. She’ll be so grateful to have part of the family she lost returned to her.”
“Irina knows.” Lorelai studied the woman’s eyes, searching for the truth. “Only last week she sent a huntsman to kill me.”