My eyes wide, I looked to Ana, who’d been hovering along the edge of the room. I had no idea the task would fall to her.
“During my analysis, the only thing I found of note was that her blood seemed to be crystalized,” she said. “Which, after a lot of research, leads me to believe that a spell was cast, specifically one for something called the crimson mist.”
A mist.
It made sense, considering how everyone had seemed to perish, like something had covered the entire town, crawled beneath doors, and seeped through windows. Still, I wondered how she was so certain it was a spell. Could a vampire also not possess this power? They could spread plague, so how was this different?
“Whoever is casting, however, is either not a witch or not gifted in blood magic,” she continued. “If the spell was successful, every villager would have been possessed by the crimson mist just like the girl.”
“I thought all witches were dead,” I said.
There was a strained silence, and Adrian answered, “It is likely a few survived. And even more were born after the Burning. Witches are not created, they are born. It is in their blood.”
I did not know what to make of this information. I’d grown up believing witches were a part of our past, that no more would walk this earth. Suddenly, Adrian was telling me that wasn’t so, which meant…where were they? Was the mist their attempt at retribution?
“Could this be Ravena?” Tanaka asked, and beside me, Adrian stiffened.
“Who is Ravena?” I asked, looking up at him. He stared for a long moment, and I wasn’t certain he wanted to tell me, but finally he relented.
“She was Dragos’s witch,” he said. “After his death, she escaped and has never been found.”
This was new information to me. I never knew that Dragos had employed a witch. Was that not contrary to his mission? That was a question for another time. Right now, I wondered why someone from Adrian’s past, someone who had been in hiding, was suddenly making herself so obviously known.
“If she is your enemy, why attack Vaida then?” I asked.
“We do not know that it was Ravena who conjured the spell,” said Adrian.
“Whoever it was likely did not intend for the mist to strike Vaida,” Ana said. “I believe they lost control of the magic, which is also why the spell has only managed to work on one person and killed the rest.”
“So the spell is intended to create monsters?” I asked, shivering as I recalled how dangerous something like this could be if it worked. The girl in Sadovea had looked so innocent, and she’d lured me in with no issue.
“I think it is intended to create an army.”
There was a stretch of silence.
“Can the mist affect us?” The question came from a noblesse named Julian.
“As long as the mist can attack the blood in our veins, I imagine so,” Ana replied.
More dread.
If the mist could successfully possess vampires, there would be no stopping the terror they might inflict. The worst part about this was that no one really seemed to know who was responsible.
“We should double down on our efforts to locate Ravena,” said Julian.
At his suggestion, Adrian’s jaw tightened, and I was curious about his reaction. Then he said, “Do you not think I have tried, Noblesse?”
“I did not mean to suggest otherwise, my king,” Julian said. “It’s just that you have been distracted.”
It was the wrong thing to say. I knew it in the way the air changed around me. It became thick and heavy, and beside me, Adrian tilted his head.
“Please enlighten me as to what has distracted me, Noblesse.”
Julian swallowed noticeably, and his eyes slid briefly to me. I was not sure if he was looking to me for help or suggesting I was the problem.
“The conquest of Cordova has taken up much of your time, Your Majesty, not to mention…your new wife.”
A long pause followed his words, and then Adrian spoke. “Do you think I lack the ability to conquer the world, fuck my wife, and search for a fugitive witch, Noblesse?”
I flinched at his words, and Julian did not answer.
“Does anyone else agree with Noblesse Julian?” Adrian asked, and as his gaze swept the crowd, he left my side, coming around the table as he twisted a gold ring upon his finger. No one spoke, and a sense of unease crept along my neck. I noted the way Daroc took a step closer to me, as if he were preparing to whisk me away the moment something horrible happened. Tanaka tensed, his fingers splayed across the map as if to give him added support.