The noblewomen who’d feigned swoons were climbing to their feet now, moving to the railing for a better view.
Harendell’s princess climbed upright, batting aside Cavendish’s attempts to help her, and with unerring precision, she pointed a finger at her mother. “I know the truth, Mother. William is dead because ofyou!”
Alexandra’s face hardened under her bloody mask. “Everything I do is for you and your brother, Virginia. I would die for either of you. Would gladly exchange places with William, if such a thing were possible.” Her voice cracked on the last, but then she squared her shoulders. “This is Ahnna Kertell’s doing. Ithicana’s doing. How is that not clear to you?”
“It’s AhnnaAshford,” Virginia spat, “because James married her! And he would never harm William.” Turning to face the rising murmurs of the onlookers, the princess raised her voice. “I spoke with James not an hour past, and he confirmed all that King Ronan claimed about my mother’s crimes. She allied with Katarina and together, they murdered Princess Siobhan. Together, they conspired with Silas Veliant. Together, they plotted my father’s murder. And together, they attempted to slaughter an entire nation so as to control abridge!”
“Lies,” Alexandra snarled. “You’re overcome with grief. Be silent.”
“No.” Lestara had ceased weeping, her voice now filled with authority. “Let Virginia speak.”
Alexandra climbed to her feet, her desire to protect herself overwhelming her grief for her fallen son, and she gave Lestara a sharp look before rounding on her daughter. “I know you love James, but he has been taken in by that Ithicanian snake. Corrupted by her sensual wiles, for he has the weakness of all men.”
“Sensual wiles?” Virginia laughed, high and brittle. “You think James betrayed everything forsex? No. You’re just angry because Father never loved you. And William is dead becauseyoukilled him. You conspired with Katarina, and she poisoned him before she died!”
Beside Zarrah, Keris stiffened. “Not Katarina,” he whispered. “Fiona was with me. She’d have smelled it. She didn’t bark.”
Then who?Zarrah’s thoughts spun.
“Virginia is lost to grief and is being manipulated by stronger minds.” Alexandra crossed her arms. “We stand in a dangerous moment, and Harendell needs leadership, otherwise villains will capitalize. Ithicana will capitalize—laughing, because they have been exonerated by the emotional bleating of a woman barely out of girlhood. You are all grown men”—she surveyed the noblemen—“and you must be more discerning in the information you choose to believe.”
Virginia sneered. “Then let someone else speak. A man. A discerning man.” She turned to Cavendish. “Georgie. Tell them.”
Cavendish looked like a man on the edge of collapse.
“If you ever loved me, you will speak the truth.” Virginia wiped tears from her face. “Speak, or I will know that every word of affection that you’ve ever spoken to me was a lie.”
“Speak, George,” Lestara urged. “If you have knowledge, you must share it.”
He swallowed hard but then spoke. “The accusations are true. Alexandra brought me into her schemes. I murdered King Edward on her orders. Her injuries were self-inflicted to frame Ahnna.”
Silence swept the square like the shadow of a passing storm.
In hindsight, it made so much sense. Virginia had always beencollateral damage in Edward’s plots, and Cavendish’s love for the princess would have made him an easy target for Alexandra’s manipulation.
“This is damning.” Lestara’s words filled the square. “This is treason and regicide, and the court cannot continue to deny the truth.”
“Oh, besilent,you stupid slut!” Alexandra shrieked. “You’re a Cardiffian whore—good for birthing and nothing else!”
Lestara smoothed back her hair, voice cool as water. “Oliver is king apparent. And under Harendell’s law,Iam his regent. That makesmequeen.”
Zarrah’s blood turned to ice. Beside her, Keris whispered, “It was Lestara. She poisoned him.”
Alexandra’s face lost all color. “You will not listen to this woman!” she shouted to the crowd. “She is a traitor. A Cardiffian witch!”
Keris broke from Zarrah’s grip, descending the gallery stairs like a storm. “Neither of these women should rule!” he shouted. “The child has an uncle! NameJamesas regent. Or Virginia. Anyone but this monster!”
“Not James!” Alexandra shrieked. “He and Ahnna murdered William!”
“It is you who are responsible for William’s death, not James,” Virginia shouted over the noise. “Quit blaming him!”
“I did not kill my son!” Alexandra clawed at her blood-streaked face. “All of this—everything—was forhim! I killed Siobhan for him. I killed Edward for him. And if not foryou”—she pointed at Lestara—“William would have been the greatest king Harendell had ever known!”
Lestara only gave her a smile of condescension. “No, Alexandra. You just got tangled in your own web.”
For all his size, Ronan of Cardiff moved as silently as smoke. He flowed down the stairs, drawing his blade as he walked. With one swing, he cut Alexandra’s head from her shoulders.
The noblewomen swooned in truth this time as the head rolled,coming to rest just below the gallery platform. As Zarrah looked down at it, Alexandra’s green eyes gleamed with the last thought she’d ever had, and Zarrah would swear until her deathbed that it was fury at discovering that she’d been outmanipulated.
