She’d been right. The wagon was full of weapons honed to a razor edge, one of which had killed her. Keris had always assumed that the weapons were put into position using bribes, but he’d not stopped to considerwhohad been bribed.
Or bywhom.
“Alexandra supplied the weapons for my father’s invasion. An alliance among Maridrina, Amarid, and Harendell, though Edward was unaware.” The rightness of it radiated through him. “And the alliance didn’t die with my father. Katarina and Alexandra are working together. Or at least, they were until Lestara returned and threw their plans into disarray.” Keris slammed his glass down on the table and started for the door. “I’m going to kill that murderous bitch.”
Zarrah caught hold of him, dragging him back. “Not like this. We need to be clever. Need to somehow get the word out of this cursed palace of what she’s done, otherwise the only thing we’ll achieve is our own deaths.”
The door to the suite swung open, and Cavendish stepped inside.“Veliant, you’ve been summoned. Her Imperial Majesty can remain here.”
He didn’t want to be separated from Zarrah, but she gave him a tight nod. “Go.”
Well aware that he might be walking toward his own murder, Keris scooped Fiona up and tucked her under one arm. “Prove your worth,” he muttered to the dog, then followed Cavendish out of the room.
Cavendish took Keris to the throne room, and to his surprise, it was full of nobles. Until now, Alexandra had kept him and Zarrah entirely separate, treating his suite of rooms like a prison cell. To the best of his knowledge, no one outside Alexandra, William, and their inner circle were aware that Zarrah was in Harendell.
William sat on his throne, Lestara on a throne slightly below him, hand pressed against her stomach. But Keris’s focus was all for Alexandra, who sat on a chair next to the dais surrounded by her ladies.
Fiona gave a small yip, and Keris smoothed her fur as he said under his breath, “You’re right. She’s the worst poison of all.”
Alexandra’s eyes locked with his.
Don’t react,he ordered himself even as his fingers itched to wrap around her throat.
The dowager queen gave a tight smile as he approached, the scar across her face twisting. “It is good to see you up and about, Your Highness. Grief drives many into the solitude of a wineglass.”
“Wine isn’t quite strong enough,” he answered. “I prefer the taste of revenge.”
Before she could answer, William stood and gave a small cough. “You’ve all been gathered here today because we wish to announce that the Crimson Widow has been caught red-handed in Ithicana attempting to negotiate a deal with the Maridrinians to restart the flow of trade.”
Murmurs spread across the throne room, but William held up a hand. “I will not deny that our conflict with Ithicana allowed Amarid the opportunity to take advantage. Through duplicity, Katarina manipulated King Aren’s desperation, and using the coward’s method ofpoison, she slaughtered thousands of Ithicanian men, women, and children. She attempted to conceal her act beneath the guise of plague, but the truth always outs.”
Just then, the door to the throne room swung open, and a large Cardiffian man strode into the room.
“His Royal Majesty, King Ronan of Cardiff!” the herald shouted out, the man looking horrified at the breach of protocol.
Ronan resembled his murdered brother, Cormac, but larger. His dark hair was heavily laced with gray, his skin weathered, and though Harendell was warm, he wore heavy furs. Around his neck he wore a necklace of steel that depicted what was surely his family’s constellation, and on his head, he wore a crown formed of bone.
“Father!” Lestara stood, then winced, pressing one hand to her stomach. “What are you doing here?”
Ronan ignored her and strode toward the dais. He stopped only because soldiers moved to intercept, though he paid them little mind as he raised a finger and pointed at Alexandra. “Murderer.”
Gasps broke out through the room, and Keris fought a smile as Alexandra’s eyes widened with shock.
William rose to his feet. “You will mind your tongue when you speak to the dowager queen of Harendell, or you will find yourself without it.”
Ronan scoffed, then spat on the floor in front of Alexandra, who remained seated. “You would defend this woman? She is a murderer. A liar. A traitor.”
Swords drew all around, Harendellian soldiers baring their blades, but Ronan only looked on with scorn. “Shall I list your crimes, Alexandra? Shall I list the horrors that your secret alliance with Katarina has inflicted? The murder of my sister. Supplying Silas Veliant’s invasion with weapons. Poisoning Ithicana to take its bridge.” His eyes panned the crowd of shocked nobles. “All things you pissants would forgive, but there is one transgression that might steel your spine against this villainess: the murder of King Edward of Harendell.”
Shock stole the breath from Keris’s chest, and the whispers and mutters in the room went silent all at once.
“Are you mad?” William finally asked, seemingly as stunned at the accusation as everyone else. “Ahnna Kertell murdered my father, and then attacked my mother. There were witnesses. James—”
“It was James who told me the truth.”
William’s jaw dropped, but Alexandra gave a slow shake of her head as though this development was not unexpected.
“James is alive?” William demanded. “Where is he?”
