Chapter 9Drakulya's wife had a luxurious suite inside the palace. I knew this because the vision of her bedroom played for me before I entered the cottage: thick carpet throughout; luxurious velvet wine-colored comforter covering the bed; corkscrew bed posts rising to the ceiling; matching heavy drapes over two windows pulled back by silk cords; fragrant flowers in several vases. All of it visually sharp. So sharp that I could smell the flowers as though I was standing in that room, but I was not.
My boot steps tapped on a bare wood floor, the sound pulling me back to the one-room cottage. The smell of death and decay cloyed the air. My stomach quivered. I fought the urge to gag. No luxurious amenities surrounded me in the gatekeeper's house—no running water, only a few cupboards, and a b
