Delphinium, or A Necromancer's Home (TCoLaD Book 2)

Truth

~ (Continued) Vijfday, 30th of Iovilios, 11831 ~

It was a land of mist and cold. She shivered and crossed her arms, taking hesitant steps forward, not able to see what she walked upon. It felt of frozen earth. The air thinned and Lizzy could make out trees around her, so sparse that it could not yet be called a forest. The sky was black, but there was neither moon nor stars.

She did not feel alone. A presence filled her. That which had called her to the forbidden books. That which she felt when with the odd woman around the château. And that which she felt just now, as her blood had poured out from her.

"Hello?" she called. Silence. It swallowed up her words into darkness without echo or reply.

A few more steps. Ground became stone, she began to hear wind, and her shoes clicked on the path. The mists thinned, and she came upon a gazebo in a clearing. Stars began to sparkle in the sky.

There was a spread on the table, tea and snacks and small sandwiches that would look lovely in the afternoon, but eerie in this nightscape. The woman from her waking-dreams was seated and waiting for her. The maid. The friend of Sabine's.

Sabine had been a confidante of—

"Bonsoir. I am Mora," Death introduced herself.

"I have died?" It was silly to say, but Lizzy could think of nothing else.

"Your life was taken from you, oui."

"Then I am to be judged."

Mora waved her hand, and a second chair appeared. "No, not yet."

Elizabeth sat down. Mora poured her tea and handed her the cup, and out of habit Lizzy added sugar and took a sip.

It tasted unlike any tea she had had before, almost of copper in the back of her throat.

"How did I die?"

She remembered screaming, grabbing a knife. Pain. Blood. Renaud?

"Lord Renaud," Mora confirmed. "He had become a vampire and wished to kill Pierre in an act of revenge. Your illness flared in his presence, and the fresh blood you coughed was too much and he attacked you."

"Is Pierre—"

"He stabbed Renaud. As did you. The two knives ended the vampire's life, and he is no longer a threat. Pierre is cradling your body and doing everything in his power to save you."

"But I am already dead," Lizzy said. It was a hollow feeling, not one of sadness, but emptiness. She would never see her family, her brother, or even meet her nephew. She would never see Pierre, or marry him, or have children of her own. She wanted to cry, but the tears would not form.

"You are. But that will not stop Pierre."

"Of course not," Lizzy said. "He will try, and I am sure Vivien will try, and other doctors may be called, but shortly it will be obvious it is too late and there is nothing to be done."

"Are you certain?"

"Unless there is another one of your confidantes or suitors in Spadille, and they are known and summoned, then yes."

Mora smiled.

"You have more?"

"I have many who pledge themselves to me, some more favored than others. There are several in Spadille. And one very close to you."

Elizabeth paled.

"Pierre... He practices necrocræft?"

It was one thing to discuss it, theorize, and plot out in one's mind without the idea that it would truly happen. Wishing to have a fancy bauble, and even trying to work out how one might steal it, was entirely different from reaching out to pick it up.