Of Blood and Roses

Chapter 17

Sabine stood near me, gaze set on the floor. Her lips were pressed together. Her expression ahd been withdrawn all morning. Had she discovered something during her sleuthing?

We had been busy up until now preparing for the day, and this was our first moment alone, my vast team of Garnetti servants in and out fetching me tea or helping me with my clothes.

"What is it?" I asked, careful to keep my voice light. Like I hadn't seen her sneaking into my room last night. Roserian or not, I knew better than to trust her. She was in on whatever plan Mother had, and my stomach twisted at all the possibilities.

Sabine had been lying to me.

She looked up at me, a sudden smile appearing from nowhere. "Nothing Your Highness. Just a bit tired. Am I dismissed?"

Anger sparked through me, and I coiled my fingers into my skirts. I could sense an Angel somewhere with us in the room. The air rippled, like it was laughing at me. It only infuriated me more.

"Your dismissed," I said shortly.

In the mirror, I saw a flicker of emotion pass over Sabine's face. I thought for a moment she might say something. I was wrong. She turned away and left the room.

I continued staring at where she had been long after she left before standing and straightening my clothes. I inspected myself in the mirror. The necklace Blanche gave me the day I left home glinted at my neck, and I almost missed the innocence of the girl that had received it. Still hopeful that Jourdon and I might find happiness, unaware of Mother's plots. Most times I could ignore the similarities between myself and Mother. But now, my expression was empty of emotions, my eyes hard and full of secrets.

Secret kisses. Secret spies.

If anyone found out about either, it would be my head that rolled. I pressed my lips together and swallowed back my fear. I couldn't show it. Eyes were on me everywhere at all times. One little gap in my armor and the courtiers would be all over themselves as they tried to figure me out.

Now I knew no one could know. I had to keep playing Mother's role of a perfect daughter just long enough until I could figure out what her real plan was. From there--only the Angels knew what could be done.

My thoughts raced, and I could see my facade breaking down the longer I stewed. I needed a distraction.

#

Darren frowned as we walked into the library, clearly confused about why we were there. I had only glimpsed it on my tour with Marquise, but she had mentioned I was free to sue it as much as I liked.

Today It was empty and dark. I searched the wall, locating an oil lamp. Using it, we were able to peer into the dark library. Darren lit the rest of the candles around the room as I wandered the shelves. On the far side, there were windows by which one could read, pale grey light filtering out over the dusty floor.

"Not used much, is it?" Darren said, taking in our bleak surroundings.

"Seems not." I peered at one shelf. It was full of nothing substantial—old lines of succession for smaller noble houses. I moved on to the next one. The fact that the library was empty—the Garnetti neglecting it so much as to not even employ a librarian—worked in my favor.

Darren approached, lifting the lamp, and letting its dim light reach out toward the end of the aisle. Above us the library continued upward, our small light struggling to reach high enough.

"It doesn't look like it was always that way though, look at all of these books. There has to be thousands."

It was true, the books seemed endless. Some of the leather spines were tattered from age. As deserted as the library was, it was easy to imagine how it might have looked once: bright and spilling with people who had once loved these books.