04 Silence by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online Page B

body. “That doesn’t mean he’s ready to be king. He is a strong and capable young man, I’ve no doubt being raised by Waltham ensured that, but like I said before, he’s too selfish to be the King.”
    “So you want me to just step in?” Briony asked.
    Aunt Sophie shrugged. “It may not come up. Your presence has already a healing effect on Waltham. He may prove to outlive us all !” She turned suddenly serious. “But he may not, and if so, you need to be ready.”
    “Excuse me, your highness, my lady Sophie.”
    Briony turned to see the servant who had opened the doors addressing the pair of them. The woman bobbed another curtsey. “Forgive me, but if we do not begin soon, we will not have you both ready in time for the banquet.”
    Briony was about to point out that there was still plenty of time to go, but some of those dresses had looked very complicated. She nodded. “ All right, we ’ll come straight through.”
    The next couple of hours were one of the stranger experiences of Briony’s life. It wasn’t just a case of washing, picking out a dress and maybe putting on a little eyeshadow. Instead, whole teams of servants went to work on both her and Aunt Sophie, setting about them with makeup and perfume before helping them into layer after layer of garments. Some of the latter were almost painfu lly restrictive as the servants hauled them into place, lacing and tying them so that they looked as they should.
    When they were done, Briony surveyed herself in a mirror. She could hardly believe that it was still her. She wore a dress of red silk and velvet, with delicate cream slashes coming through here and there. Her hair, meanwhile, had been turned into a small work of art with the aid of pins and clips. Aunt Sophie had undergone an almost equal amount of work, though she was in a delicate dress of gold and lace. It seemed more practical than Briony’s, not trailing along the floor, and even her hair was simpler, in a single braid down her back.
    Aunt Sophie looked at Briony for a second, and then burst out laughing. “What do you look like?”
    “Me? We both look like someone’s idea of princesses.”
    Still, it wasn’t like they had time to do anything about it, and Briony had to admit that they looked pretty good, so they headed back to the main tower, where the banquet would be held. It took them a couple of false starts, but they fina lly found something that looked like a banqueting hall. Certainly, there were tables set out for food.
    Except that the room was empty…
    Or not quite empty. Aunt Sophie walked over to one of the tables and picked up what looked like a crooked dagger. She took one look at it, grabbed Briony by the hand and ran as fast as she could with Briony in tow, only stopping when they were well clear of the room.
    Out of breath, Briony looked up at her great aunt. “What was that about?”
    Aunt Sophie actua lly looked scared. “That, Briony, is Palisor’s worst nightmare. The vampires who have made it here, that is one of their weapons. It’s a warning, I think.”
    “I heard people mention vampires before,” Briony said.
    Aunt Sophie paused, but then nodded. “If you think Pietre is hard to fight, think again. Vampires that make it through into Palisor are older, stronger, and hungrier than he will ever be. And since you are currently the only unchanged human here… this could get bad, Briony.”
    At those words, Briony felt her heart fal l. Palisor was beautiful, but it seemed that even here she wasn’t safe. Even here, she would have to be the thing that she had been forced to be back home.
    A vampire hunter.
     
    Chapter 7
     
    With Pietre gone, Kevin, Fallon and Jake could only stand there. Kevin knew as well as anyone how dangerous the master vampire could be, yet he had escaped once again. And with him gone, their hopes for getting Briony back seemed to be in tatters.
    Kevin shook his head. No, he wouldn’t accept that. He couldn’t accept that. Though