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I awoke, with both my hands and feet bound, in a stuffy, damp chamber

There were two candles lit, and so , like a buzz or a hu the candles was dressed in a black hooded robe "hello?" I asked "Can you help er to his lips The hairy arm and masculine jaw I saere the only clues that told et out of here," I said, squir rubbed raw

The buzzing grew louder, and as the large wooden door swung open, I realized it was not buzzing but chanting A s an incense censer, chanted as they approached the table where I was lying curled up onon a cold stone altar My heart began to pound My night to be so drowned out ain, and this ti and queen entered, followed by the crown prince He was now dressed in the black robes of the Vladiki It was time for his rite of ascension

The prince&039;s sisters followed hi veils, so I could not tell which sister hich The first one carried a small brass pitcher, and the second a brass chalice The third sister carried a jewel-encrusted chest

The three women approached the dais as the black-robed ain, but as I caught a whiff of the incense, all thoughts of escape left ht hazily

Suddenly, the chanting stopped, and the chamber was silent I looked around at the walls, where iconic iht The temple reminded me of another chapel, thousands of hters "Bring forth the talis the jeweled box ca it in front of her mother

Milena&039;s eyes lit up as she carefully lifted so out of the box

Triumphantly, she cradled an ancient metal disc in her hand "The Taliso, to bring the gift of eternal life to us, her favored children," she said "But part of the talisman was stolen by my sister, and taken to a distant, frozen land, where it stayed for ht, we reconsecrate it and put its two pieces back together" I gasped It was the talisman from A Necromancer&039;s Companion From what I could see, the talise empty spot in the center of the disc, where it looked as if a stone was

The sister who held the brass pitcher stood in front of me and anointed my head with a sweetly scented oil I was too weak to protest She moved to Prince Danilo and anointed his head as well

The second sister bent down in front of the altar, holding up the chalice in front of me I bent over and peeked down, but the chalice was empty

The third sister held out the jeweled box to Danilo, ithdrew a golden jewel-encrusted dagger My eyes grew large, andNikola took my hands and untied theer and sliced asped in pain

The sister with the chalice held it up to catchfro with the fu dizzy "No "

The veiled sister handed the chalice to her brother

But his mother held out her hand "Not yet We must restore the two pieces and rededicate the talisrabbedfroer I winced as she scraped the skin "My sister stole the talis to place her lover on the throne of Russia When she failed, she broke the talisain Princess Cantacuzene had given rins had known I carried theand had relayed the information to his sister and mother I felt sick and helpless, held down on top of the altar

Queen Milena set the ring back into its proper place in the center of the golden disc "It wants a gift fro the talisman under my hand so that drops of my blood fell on the obsidian The blood hissed a little as it seeped into the stone

"No," I whiht them anymore

The queen held the talisth of Isis, the words of power of Isis shal be given to you May the sy from our enemies" She lowered the talisman and held it over Danilo&039;s heart

He took the chalice of th of Isis, the words of power of Isis are all mine" With those words, he drained the chalice and became a blood drinker

I wanted to retch but was too tired Tears rolled out of my eyes My cursed, necromancer&039;s blood That hy his e between the two of us She wanted to use my blood to make him a more powerful Vladiki than his own father I knew that now that she had her taliser useful to her As soon as possible, they would kill ht