“You know of all that has occurred today?”
“Yes. Including your role with the forgery.” Her unseeing eyes tracked to him, and though Keris knew she used the sound of his voice to place his position, it still felt like she could see him.
Keris cleared his throat. “The letter was a forgery, but the information within it was true. Edward wed Siobhan Crehan and was wed to her still when he went before the altar with your own mother. James is Edward’s only legitimate child, and Edward aimed to name him heir to the Twisted Throne.”
Virginia was silent for a long time. “Is my brother alive?”
“I don’t know.” Keris hesitated, then added, “He married Ahnna.”
She made a soft humming sound, a small smile forming on her face. “I knew James fancied her, but I thought she had villainous intent, so I was not always kind to her.”
Withdrawing the real letter Edward had sent him, he set it on Virginia’s lap. “Your father sent me this before his death. The code says:I will have wed William to Lestara by the time you receive this. Forgive the seeming betrayal of our friendship. As one who has risked all for love, you will one day understand everything, but know I regret the hurt my actions will cause you and your family.I’m sure you have the resources to confirm its authenticity, should you so desire.”
To explain the relevance would have been an insult to her intelligence, so Keris only sat silently while Virginia considered the tangled web of truth and lies. Finally, she said, “My father loved Siobhan with all his heart; this I know for certain. It makes sense that he married her, but if I believe that, then I must believe everything else. Like a rowof dominoes, one truth knocking into the next and the next. I must accept that my mother murdered my father.”
“I’m sorry.” Keris knew her pain, because his father had murdered his mother right in front of him.
“I’ve always wondered if my mother was born cruel. Whether there is something in the blood that disposed her toward schemes and manipulation.” Virginia toyed with the tie on her dressing gown. “My heart tells me no. My heart tells me that once upon a time, Alexandra was just a girl who dreamed of love, family, and being a good queen, but then my father tore those dreams apart by loving another. What pain to know that her life was a lie, and that everything that mattered to her was at risk unless she did horrible things to protect it. All with no escape, because her tormentor was her king. My father made my mother the way she is, and he died for it. I loved him, but perhaps he deserved his death.”
Keris grimaced, Alexandra’s absolution not his goal in all of this. “It is the least of her crimes.”
“Another domino.”
Silence stretched, and time grew short, because once Ahnna was arrested, they’d come for him and Zarrah.
“To have suffered does not excuse causing suffering in others,” Virginia finally continued. “My mother will say that she acted out of love, but what she has done to William is not love. What she has done to me is not love. Love should not leave horror and death in its wake.”
It shouldn’t, but it often does.
“I don’t have the ability to condemn her, if that’s the reason you are here,” Virginia said. “William will only send me away. He already did once, because whenever she sees me, Lestara is reminded of how I leashed her like the bitch she is. Yet another thing I won’t forgive my father for.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I need your help.”
“I can’t get you out, either, but I suspect you know that.”
“Ahnna is in the Sky Palace.” Keris moved straight to his point, because he might only have minutes left. “To save her family and what remains of her people, she is meeting with William. She intends to take the blame for Edward’s murder on the condition William withdraws from Ithicana. She’s going to die because William refuses to hold your mother accountable for murder and treason.”
“Die for nothing,” Virginia murmured. “My mother’s word means nothing, and William always does as she says. As soon as the storms end, Ithicana will fall for good. It never ends.”
“You know that Valcotta has been recently plagued with wasting disease?”
“Yes.”
“Alexandra arranged to have infected cattle sent south, then for them to escape into the herds to spread the disease. The proof was in her banking records, which she seems to have recovered after their unfortunate theft. But if you were to send that information south, the powers in Maridrina and Valcotta would believe it coming from your lips.”
“You wish me to send information that will cause Valcotta to declare war on Harendell?” She huffed out a breath. “You are bold.”
“Desperate. The lives of those I love most are at risk. I don’t think I can save Ahnna, but I can try to save those in Ithicana.”
“There has to be another way besides war.”
“If there is, I no longer see it.”
Virginia was quiet for a long moment, then she said, “They said that James was somewhere near Verwyrd watching events unfold.” Her brow furrowed. “He loves Ahnna, so he won’t let her do this. If he does not intervene before she’s executed, it means he is dead.”
If he is dead, it was Alexandra’s doing,Keris thought.
Silence stretched, then Virginia abruptly sat up straight, putting her feet back inside her slippers and tucking the letter into a pocket. “I thank you for the poem, Your Highness. You truly have the loveliest reading voice I have ever heard.”
