From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Somewhere far from here,” he said, and I believed him. He’d do
what no one else would, not even…not even Vikter. “You’re being
summoned because word has come from the capital.”
It felt strange when Tawnyy arrived to help me with the veil, to be wearing
it after everyything, and even more weird to realize that the castle looked
the same as it had before the attack. All except for the Great Hall. It had
been barricaded from what I could gather. One brief glance at the room
Vikter had died in told me that the door had been replaced.
That was all I needed to know.
The Duchess wore white, like I did, but while I wore the clothing of
the Maiden, she wore the color of mourning. She sat behind what had been
the Duke’s desk, looking over a piece of paper. Not the desk that had been
in the Duke’s more private office. If we’d been meeting there, I had no
idea what I would’ve done.
I still couldn’t believe how the Duke had been killed. Surelyy, the
weapon had been coincidental, but it still pecked awayy at something in the
back of myy mind.
The Duchess glanced up as the door closed behind us. She looked…
different. It wasn’t the color, or that her hair was pulled back sharplyy from
her face in a simple twist. It was something else, but I couldn’t place it as
I walked past the benches. There were two other people in the room, the
Commander, and a Royyal Guard.
Her gaze flickered over me, and I wondered if she could tell that I had
left myy hair down beneath the veil. “I hope yyou’re doing well.” She
paused. “Or at least better than the last time I saw yyou.”
“I am well,” I said, and that felt like neither a lie nor the truth.
“Good. Please. Take a seat.” She gestured at the bench, and I did as
she asked.
Tawnyy sat beside me, but Hawke remained standing to myy left. I did
everyything in myy power not to think about how Vikter belonged here.
“A lot has happened while yyou’ve been…resting,” the Duchess
started. “The Queen and King have been notified of recent events.” She