One body remained separate from the others, elevated on a stone altar. It was Isla, Ana’s vassal and lover, who had been corrupted by the crimson mist and killed during the attack on my coronation day.

A wave of emotion raced from my chest to my throat as I watched her. I felt guilty for my own thoughts when faced with Ana’s unbearable pain, but I was grateful I had not lost Adrian. It was selfish and not becoming of a queen. I needed to focus on finding a way to fight the mist.

Ana stood among the dead, her back to me, and as I slipped through the door, she turned to face me, brushing tears from her cheeks.

“Oh, Ana,” I said, embracing her.

She took a deep breath and then looked around the room, her eyes continuing to water.

“Did you…did you have to do this by yourself?” I asked.

She shook her head and swallowed. “Killian helped.”

A thickness gathered in my throat. I would have to check on him today.

“It was awful,” she said, wiping her sleeve across her eyes. “If we could, we held them until they passed.”

I was quiet for a moment, but I could not help asking, “Could Adrian have saved them?”

I feared her answer because there was a part of me that knew I could not forgive Adrian if he possessed the ability to save our people and chose not to.

She shook her head. “There were so many injured. By the time I managed to examine them, they had already developed fangs. It is the first sign the change has taken root. There would have been no stopping it, even with his bite.”

My fear dissolved once more into guilt. I hated that I had even questioned him, but I was still coming to terms with what I had become, and I did not understand it.

“We should go,” I said. “High Council begins soon.”

Ana and I left the sanctuary for the west wing.

With each set of stairs we climbed, I felt more and more dread—not because of the upcoming meeting but because Adrian’s council chamber was located just beyond the mirrored hall where I had killed my father.

I’d had no intention of letting this bother me, had told myself it was just a room, but as I found myself standing before it, I was unable to move.