Dipping my head, I greeted her with a polite smile. “Callie. How are you enjoying the wedding?”
“It’s lovely,” she stammered. “And I apologise if I was interrupting anything, I just needed to see you, and umm.”She paused, cheeks burning. “Actually, I should probably just come back later.”
I placed a hand on her arm before she could scurry off into the now-dwindling crowds. “What did you need to see me about?”
She glanced around, before finally squaring her shoulders and taking a breath. “I wanted to apologise on behalf of my mother… and myself.”
My lips parted.
“I may have been present for some of her conversations with that dark-haired faery.” A shudder passed over me at the mere mention of him until Lukas wrapped his arm around my waist. “And I knew it was wrong, everything they were scheming about you and poor little Raphael, but I was just so afraid of what she would do if I told anyone.”
“You knew your mother was involved with Raphael’s sickness?” Anger bit at Lukas’s tone.
Callie flinched. “I didn’t at first, but after the day Mother and I met Naria and Lord Arenn in the courtyard, she started including me in her meetings and… Oh, I’ve just always been such a coward.”
Conflict battled inside me. She knew… For so many days she’d known and said nothing while Prince Raphael suffered with that awful faery curse. Part of me wanted to shout at her. Grab her by the shoulders and demand why in the underrealm she didn’t just tell one of us. But the other part, the part that recognised the way she always had her fingers buried in her skirts, the way her eyes darted around like a little rabbit before speaking, felt like maybe, of all people here, I should probably understand.
Sighing, I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Does Cora know about your mother working with Arenn?”
She straightened. “Yes. I spoke to her last night.”
“What did she say?” Lukas asked, his surprise matching my own. We had wanted to approach Cora and expose Marigold’s involvement with her son’s illness ourselves, but with tensions between our kingdoms already running so high, it didn’t seem wise to potentially start a war when Prince Raphael was already fully healed. Besides, there’d be other opportunities to punish Queen Marigold. Like swapping her indigestion medicine with crushed up poisonous leaves of the—
“Cora was furious at first.” Callie winced, pulling me out of my murderous thoughts. “But then she calmed down and said that she forgave me. Although she couldn’t say the same for my mother. After we spoke she made us walk over to Mother’s bedchamber together to confront her.”
Lukas’s hand gripped mine as I blurted, “You confronted her?”
Callie nodded. “It was awful.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “But Mother confessed after an hour or so of arguing, and Cora had her thrown into the dungeon. Father hasn’t done anything to try and get her out yet, and I doubt he will anytime soon. Though I fear what will happen to our people with my father running the kingdom.” She tugged on her sleeves nervously. “It’s no secret that my mother has always pulled the strings.”
“You should take the throne from him,” I said before I’d even realised I’d spoken.
“I could never! I’d be a terrible queen. I—”
“Anyone would be better than your mother and her oblivious husband,” I grumbled.
Lukas chewed his lip in thought. But instead of disagreeing like I presumed he would, he spoke in a serious tone. “There are treaties in place to protect rulers from each other. Since your mother attempted to kill Cora’s son, the other kingdoms would be permitted to elect a new head of state for Hallshire.”
A smile touched my features as horror dawned across Callie’s.
“We could put you forward,” I suggested.
“Goodness, no!”
“Then who else? Your father?” Wrapping my fingers around her shaking hands, my voice softened. “Listen to me. I, of all people here, understand how scary it can be to take a crown you do not wish for. And if there is another life you’ve dreamed of having, then please, don’t let us or your mother’s cruel actions take that away from you.” I felt Lukas’s heavy gaze on me as I continued. “Ultimately, the decision is yours, Callie, but at least promise us you’ll think about it. For the sake of your people.”
Callie blinked, and for a moment looked far older than her age. But then she swallowed, and nodded her head very slowly. “I’ll consider it.”
“Write to us with your decision,” Lukas told her. “You’ll have Drothmore’s support either way.”
“And Corlixir’s.” I smiled warmly.
“Thank you.” She tugged on her sleeves one last time before dropping her hands to her sides. “I also wanted to say congratulations on your wedding.” A smile crossed her face.“It really has been such a beautiful day, and I wish you both all the best for the future.”
Taking my new husband’s hand, I thanked her before adding, “You too, Callie.”
After watching her disappear into the now much smaller crowd of guests, I glanced at Lukas as a servant lit a row of candles behind us.
“May I ask my dear wife for one more dance?” he asked, dropping his voice low enough to make my belly flip.
