The smell of a servant I recognized from the ballroom tangled with Koya’s and held a citrus and pine touch of worry. I followed the meadow gold and vanilla trail to a part of the castle I had never been before. There was a stark contrast between the tapestried and elegantly decorated main areas of the castle and the wing I now walked. The carpets were a strange color, an off shade of green with shell pink interspersed. Oil paintings of fish hung on the walls and several statues in odd, indiscernible shapes stood in small alcoves. Smoking sticks in holders gave off acrid scents that probably smelled like roses to the human nose, but clouded my senses and left a dull taste in my mouth. “How long ago did it start?” Koya asked further down the hall. “Moments, my lady. I ran to get you as soon as she showed the signs,” an anxious female voice replied. “Where is Teritha?” Joven asked. His presence surprised me. I thought the hall I traveled was the only one leading to their mother’s wing, but Joven’s scent in the hallway was weeks old.
