Page 160 of A Vow of Embers

“My mother loved to read and was especially interested in religious texts. She collected them. The older the book, the better. I think my father bought every single one in Ilion to give to her as a gift.”

That would explain why Parthenia hadn’t been able to find anything. It was all here. Just beyond this door.

Xander cleared his throat and then said, “And I think my father bought every book that was sold from Locris.”

That was why he’d wanted me to promise not to destroy anything. He had been worried about what I would do when I saw Locrian books. He had been concerned that I would overreact and take out my anger on the library.

He didn’t know that this was what I had been looking for ever since I’d come to the palace. I tried to keep the excitement off my face and just nodded.

At that he pushed the door all the way open and let me go inside first. I couldn’t see anything as the room was pitch black. But as soon as he entered, carrying the torch, I let out an awed “Oh!”

There were so many books and scrolls everywhere. I had some memories of what the palace library at Locris had been like when I was little. It had been massive and I remembered thinking that no one person could ever read all the books we had.

His mother’s library dwarfed our old collection. I stepped forward to look at some of the books closest to me, reading their titles. I pushed down the indignant part of me that wanted to loudly question which of them had come from my home and tried to focus on the fact that he had finally done what he’d said he would. Given me access to his mother’s library. There was so much here we could look through. It was astonishing.

I wondered if Io knew what subject had interested her mother the most. A strange feeling brushed against my neck and made me shiver. Her mother collecting this type of book couldn’t have been a coincidence.

“Can I read some of these?” I asked. I hoped that he would allow it, that he hadn’t brought me here just to wave these in my face but not let me take the books.

He was quiet for a few beats, and then he said, “That will be your decision. I make this a gift to you.”

Shadows and firelight danced across his face and I couldn’t decipher his expression, couldn’t tell if he was serious. “What?”

“This all belongs to you now.”

My heart banged into my ribs. “I don’t understand. You’re giving me your mother’s library?”

“For as long as you’re my wife, it’s yours.”

Which wouldn’t be very long at all. My mind raced, trying to figure out his angle, what he hoped to accomplish by doing this. What game he could be playing.

But I couldn’t think of a single thing.

Why would he give me his mother’s legacy?

Stupid girl, for the same reason Quynh trusted you with hers.

No, that didn’t make any sense. Xander didn’t trust me. He had made that abundantly clear. And he hated me.

Hated me so much that he had kept holding my hand even when we had entered this part of the palace, far away from observant eyes.

I told myself that he had done it just so I wouldn’t get lost.

There couldn’t be any other reason.

“Thank you,” I finally said.

He nodded and momentarily looked pleased, but then it was gone. “You’re welcome.”

“I’d like to take some of these back to our room.”

“Here.” There were several knapsacks on a table and he handed one to me. “What is it you’re hoping to find?”

“Information,” I said before I brushed the dust off a book close to me and then stuck it into the knapsack. Was that the point of the gift? Had he gambled that I might reveal to him what I was looking for?

If that was the case, my one-word answer wasn’t going to be enough. So I foolishly added, “We keep learning things that seem to contradict what the high priestess has taught us.”

I should have bitten my tongue before admitting to that.