PROLOGUE
Prince Lukas was barely six years old when his mother tried to drown him in the bath.
He didn’t see her at first. Too busy carving quarries into the mountains of bubbles to notice the Queen’s hunched shoulders by the fireplace. Even as the servants scrubbed dirt from his hair, he watched his toy soldiers bobbing like ships in the water instead of the way her long fingers gripped her skirts.
Until a shadow fell over him. His mother had stepped forward just as a bubble popped by his ear.
“Mama!” the boy squealed, clapping his soapy hands together.
“Your Majesty!” a few of the servants gasped. Hisses of panic shot between them.
The Queen frowned at the servants. “Leave us,” she barked.
A few looked as though they wanted to protest, but another sharp look from the Queen sent them all scurrying from the young prince’s bedchamber. The heavy door clicked shut behind them.
Lukas giggled. He liked his servants, but his mama was better. And it’d been so long since he’d been allowed to see her.
“Mama look!” Lukas beamed. Heart racing, he scrambled to grab his toy soldiers and present them to her. “Look what Father bought for me. Look at their swords!”
The Queen grunted, barely glancing at them.
“Father says that when I am big, I’ll have real soldiers to play with,” he babbled. “I hope I have lots. Then we can all play games together, like goblin tag!” His grey eyes sparkled, while his mother’s only darkened.
“Mama?” Lukas continued. “Father said you’re sick. Are you better now? Have you come to stay with me?” He grinned. “Can we play outside together? Can we—”
“Stop smiling like that.”
His smile fell, sinking deep into the bathwater.
“You look like a fool when you smile,” she grumbled. “Fools don’t make good kings.”
Lukas swallowed. He was so happy she was here. But he wouldn’t show it on his face. He’d hide every smile behind a wave of cool if that was what she wanted.
“Are you better now, Mama?” he asked as calmly as he could.
The Queen lowered herself to kneel beside the tin bath. “No,” she rasped, her fingertips skimming the water.
“Do you need medicine?” Lukas tilted his head.
“No.”
The Queen lifted her hand from the bath, and Lukas bit down another smile as she cupped his cheek.
“But I do need you to lie very still for me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You be a good boy now, and don’t splash too much. Just let it happen.”
“Yes, Mama.” He nodded, not quite sure what he was agreeing to. But her softened gaze made his chest feel warm, so he allowed her to push his head back into the water.
“Every day you look more and more like your father,” she said, bringing up her other hand to his shoulder.
Lukas couldn’t help but smile at that comment.
“I hate that almost as much as I hate him.” Her voice quivered.
Lukas’s grin dropped. “Why, Ma—” But water rushed into his throat before he could finish.
Darkness overwhelmed him. With his eyes screwed shut, he couldn’t see. Water filled his ears and all he could feel were two firm hands keeping him below the surface. Panic clawed up his chest. The young prince squirmed against her hold.
But then, he stopped.
