May Shadows Reign (Book 2 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Six

Seraiah took a tentative step into the room. Without a fire in the hearth, cold leached through the stone of the castle walls, turning the air inside frigid. She still wore the cloak she'd borrowed in Baromund, as she refused to set foot in her former home, but it did little against the bitter chill intent on settling into her bones.

Once Seraiah had picked herself up out of the snow on the day they'd arrived in Ratha, she'd decided she didn't want to know what might be in her home. She wasn't yet ready to find out if Papa had disappeared along with everyone else or if something else had gotten to him first.

Kestrel suggested taking rooms at the Grumbling Bear Inn, so that was what they had done. Like the inn in Baromund, the downstairs had appeared as though people had vanished in the middle of what they were doing. Upstairs, the rooms to be rented had been empty. Unlike Baromund, Ratha didn't see many—if any—visitors. The four of them had dusted things off, found linens, and claimed the empty rooms for their own.

In the days since, Seraiah had been on a search for clues. There had to be something here that could tell her what had happened or where everyone had gone.

She needed to know this wasn't her fault.

While Sterling worked at her training, Seraiah worked at hers. Every day, she attempted to summon a vision, but every night when she fell asleep, she dreamed of Lonan. She tried using various objects she'd found around the inn, but the trouble was, she didn't know the people they belonged to. She had no connection to them. The easiest thing to do would have been to go to her old house and find something of Papa's, but instead, Seraiah had come here to the castle.

The room was small and sparse, but it looked exactly like the one she'd seen in her vision of Ariya. The rest of Ariya's family had lived elsewhere on the grounds, but since Ariya was a lady's maid, she was provided a room inside the castle itself. Seraiah had only been here once before since Ariya usually met her at the library.

She crossed the space to a wardrobe. Inside, she found it stuffed with dresses she recognized. If there were any missing, she couldn't tell. Seraiah lifted one ink spotted sleeve, remembering the last time she'd seen Ariya. Her friend had found her in the scribe room with a puddle of spilled ink and tears in her eyes. She'd promised to find a way to help Seraiah rescue Sterling, and she had. If not for her, Seraiah might never have met Kai or Kestrel.

Seraiah dropped the sleeve. She didn't want to imagine how everything might have turned out differently had she never left with them.

Leaving the wardrobe, she passed to the small washstand with a looking glass hung above it. A pitcher next to the basin held water with a sheet of ice over the top. Two hair ribbons, one dark green and the other yellow, lay on the other side. Seraiah touched the green ribbon. The ends were frayed from use. It had the potential to work for her visions.

She tucked it into her pocket, leaving the yellow one behind.

Then she turned to the bed. It was made up and appeared unslept in. A single pillow leaned against the wooden bed frame. Either Ariya kept her room neat, and they had disappeared during the day or . . .

Seraiah could not consider the alternative.

She stepped closer and saw the hairbrush on the table next to the bed was free of any hair. The chipped paint on the wooden handle, however, indicated the brush was not new. A white handkerchief was tucked beneath it. She lifted the brush and set it aside before reaching for the piece of fabric.

She paused before her fingers could make contact.

Small spots marred the otherwise pristine handkerchief. They were faded as though someone had washed it but hadn't been able to remove the stains. Her mind flashed back to Ariya in her vision. She'd been tucked in bed, holding a handkerchief just like this one to her mouth as she coughed, leaving flecks of blood behind.