Raelyn . . . and Theron? She’s who he went to in Ventralli, not his own cousin? But Finn and Greer did say that Raelyn was basically the kingdom’s ruler.
But whom do I trust in this? I don’t know enough about Raelyn or Jesse to choose between the two. Supporting the conduit-wielder seems the natural course—his is the line that will always be in power.
Unless he dies, and the crown passes to her infant son.She would no doubt act as regent until he came of age, and by then, she could be even more fiercely powerful.
Is she that kind of person? Jesse seems to think so.
I blink, surprised at myself. It seems I’ve gotten better at thinking through politics. I don’t know if that’s something I should be proud of.
Jesse hunches over papers on the floor, talking still. “. . . men stationed just out west, who are loyal to me, I think.”
All this swirls around me, the chaos of such heated politics rearing up out of what seemed a beautiful, picturesque kingdom. I turn to Dendera and to my surprise, she nods.
Accept him?I mouth.
She nods again.
But something about this still doesn’t sit right. Unease seems to be my constant escort.
“Why now?” I swivel back to Jesse, who pauses in his sorting to look up at me. “Because I need allies too, King Jesse, and if I agree to this, I will need support quickly. Why is it so imperative you find allies to fight your wife now?”
His face drains of color. “Because she . . .” His voice fades, his jaw bobbing.
Every nerve in my body flares to readiness, a feeling that shocks me with memory.
I was four or five, young enough that my recollection consists of hazy flashes of images that may or may not be real. A canopy of heavy, wet leaves in the Eldridge Forest;Alysson’s arms around me as we sat near a fire; and a sound, a violent, shattering noise—a branch snapping.
On its own it wasn’t anything unusual; branches snapped all the time in the Eldridge. But something about it felt heavier, louder than any noise I had heard yet. Because just after it, Alysson shoved me off her lap and fell over the sprawled body of Sir, lying motionless in the undergrowth of the forest. He didn’t move for so long, seconds that felt like days, until finally,finally, he turned over and murmured that his partner had been killed by Angra’s men.
As I watched him, and his wife hovering over him and people running in a frenzy around me, all I could hear was that branch snapping over and over, the branch he’d stepped on as he collapsed by the fire. For years after, every time I’d hear a branch snap, my heart would drop and my eyes would tear and I’d expect death to come roaring at me.
Now, as I stand in the center of the Ventrallan king’s study, I feel the noise before it happens. Not a branch snapping, but something just as commonplace—a noise forever warped into signaling that something’s coming, something I can’t control.
Two thumping knocks on the door.
I spin, the tulle of my gown whooshing against the force. Jesse leaps to his feet, his face sickly gray as he dives forward and yanks open the door.
Lekan stands there, fist up to knock again, sweat gleaming on his bare face. He sees Jesse and flinches—physically,violentlyrecoils, lips curling, body hunching back.
“I need the Winter queen,” he snaps.
Jesse sags against the door. “Where is Ceridwen? Have you seen her? Can you—”
“I need the Winter queen,” Lekan echoes his snarl, and shoves Jesse aside.Shovesthe Ventrallan king.
I gape at Lekan. I know Jesse is Ceridwen’s . . . whatever he is, and Lekan is her friend, but that was bold. And this coming from someone who once locked herself in the Cordellan king’s office.
Lekan’s glower intensifies. “I need your help.”
“I’m popular today,” I say as Jesse leaps in with “Where is she?”
I squint at Jesse. The moment he saw Lekan, he asked where Ceridwen was. But . . . they are involved, aren’t they? Wouldn’t he know where she is? Or did something happen?
Is that why Jesse is so panicked to find allies?
“She does that at every turn—infects potential allies until I’m left with . . .”
Snow above. Did Raelyn do something to Ceridwen? She’s left her alone for however many years, but maybe . . . maybe she finally acted against her husband’s mistress.
