“Why don’tyoubelieve Sallister?” I say.
“Because despite your aloof demeanor, I simply don’t believe you would be poisoning the people when you genuinely seem to care for them.” He gestures at everyone following us. “That girl’s reaction to your arrival spoke volumes. I saw you pick up that doll. I heard you consider burying your treasonous guard. And it’s not just now. When you rejected my funding request for the bridge last month, it was obviously for the protection of—”
“When I rejected your request,” I say flatly, “you said I was heartless.”
He breaks off in surprise, then looks over, and I have no trouble holding his gaze.
“Don’t try to deny it,” I say. “I remember.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I did say it.” He lets out a breath. “But I wasn’t talking about you. Or—not entirely. I was angry. We trulydoneed a bridge, and Sallister was accusing me of trying to manipulate my proposal for my own profit, when he’s the one who is always after every coin.” He grimaces and looks away. “But I’m ashamed to admit that when I reviewed my proposal later, I discovered that our engineershadinflated the numbers. I still don’t know if it was deliberate or an oversight, but you and Prince Corrick were right to reject it.”
I’m not sure what to say to this. We ride on in silence for a while.
Jonas eventually looks over. “I simply don’t believe their claims because if you were in on it, there’d be no reason for Sallister to stop. There would’ve been no reason for you to risk your life in the sector on the day the rebels attacked the palace. There would’ve been no reason for you to offer amnesty. You could’ve had the army kill the rebels. You could’ve had them kill usall. But you didn’t.”
“I had no idea about the poison, Jonas. I wish I did.” I swallow, and my throat is tight. I think about Quint’s years of notes about all the ways I’ve tried to protect everyone—and all the ways I’ve failed. My brother’s years of doing horrific vicious things until he was broken and couldn’t take it anymore. I think of all the loss and pain and suffering that my people endured. “I would have stopped it the very instant I took the throne.”
“I know,” he says. “And that’s what I’ve been telling Arella and Roydan. They’ve requested to speak with you this evening.”
My shoulders immediately go tense as I remember the conversation I overheard. I know Sallister is working against me, but he’s doing it in poor faith. Arella and Roydan are different. Theygenuinely do have proof that points to the royal family, and Arella has always been openly critical of our methods to keep smuggling activity to a minimum.
They have no motivation to help me.
“What did you tell them?” I say.
“I said I would ask if you were receiving visitors.”
So he allowed me the chance to refuse—and to refuse privately.
I want to. Everything, as usual, is still so precarious.
But a refusal, I know, would imply guilt. I draw a slow breath. “Please send word that I’ll welcome their company.”
By the time Roydan and Arella arrive, I’ve spun myself into knots. I’ve asked Jonas for the room to be mostly empty of guards, because I don’t want to heighten any tensions. I have Thorin and Saeth at the wall, with Quint seated beside me, his book and pencil ready. I’m so grateful for his presence, and I realize I’vealwaysbeen grateful for his presence.
Jonas didn’t bring any guards of his own to the room, but Roydan and Arella did. A servant pours wine and tea and lays out a tray of pastries, and we all sip and stir and exchange pleasantries like this is a social visit, until I’m ready to explode from the pressure of it all. But they asked for this meeting, so I wait.
“Your Majesty, I believe I should be direct,” Arella finally says.
Do you really think thirty minutes of pleasantries could be considered direct?I want to say. But I don’t.
“Please,” I say.
“Jonas has been urging us to consider that you were unaware of the actions of your parents, specifically your father.”
“I was,” I say quietly. “I don’t have a way to prove it to you, but I was.”
“Your penalties were always very harsh,” she says. “Prince Corrick’s actions were never subtle. You know I have always been an outspoken advocate for change.” She pauses. “It was alarming to hear rumors that the King’s Justice was secretly moving among the populace as an outlaw himself.”
“I’ve heard those rumors,” I say carefully.
“Some people say he did that in an attempt to capture more of the people,” she says. “To punish those who might have uncovered his wrongdoings.”
I look right back at her. “I hope you know we have always heard your concerns, Arella. We may have been harsh, but I hope you believe that I have been fair. That my brother has been just.” I pause. “If Prince Corrick was moving among the people as one of them, it wasn’t to cause harm.”
She’s quiet for a moment, studying me, but I meant every word, and I don’t look away. “When I discovered the shipping logs from Trader’s Landing,” she says, “I wasn’t sure what to believe. A tremendous amount of steel had been shipped to unknown cities over the course ofdecades, and there were notes from Consul Montague about side promises with unknown cities, as well as some correspondence with King Lucas that seems to indicate some argument over who would receive the greatest share of the profits. It wasn’t until we found a note about the means to infuse the poisonous roots of the Moonflower into the water supply that we began to suspect the worst.”
“Of me,” I say.
