Geneva’s general dismissiveness of both her children frustrated Koldo, to say the least. Her next words were measured and careful,a soldier’s to a superior, no hint of what simmered beneath. “With all due respect, Your Highness, that is the bare minimum of what Princess Amarande wants.”
“Ah, yes, the stableboy. She runs after him so, and then he does not arrive with her at the Itspi. She did not even tell us what became of him after Taillefer made it appear he had died.” Geneva examined her nails. “Curious, isn’t it?”
Koldo treaded carefully here. “It is. However, if the princess’s accomplice was Prince Taillefer, we must think about whathewants. His aims may not be the same as his mother’s.”
Ferdinand frowned for a brief moment before looking to Satordi. “As heir to Pyrenee, Renard needed to marry to gain his throne from his mother’s regency before age eighteen—would Taillefer be eligible for the crown in the same way? If he married?”
No one could say Ferdinand lacked an eye for strategy.
“I am not as familiar with laws of succession in Pyrenee as I am with those of Ardenia,” Satordi answered, “but it can be presumed that if the succession laws were rewritten for one son they would be for both.”
Garbine arched a brow. “Prince Tailleferdoesrealize how badly that tactic went for his brother, does he not?”
Satordi shook his head. “He likely does not care—he was the architect of Renard’s death. The princess was clear on that. She drew the knife, but he planted the motivation.”
“Could that preclude him from the crown?” Ferdinand asked.
“Perhaps.” It was the youngest councilor who answered—Joseba. “He can be disowned, but his mother’s claim would be weak at best with no blood in it.”
Ferdinand spoke up again. “But what if Renard’s paranoia was justified and his mother was trying to usurp his crown through marriage?”
Geneva made a dismissive noise. “Inés’s chance at a joint kingdom via heir died with Sendoa. There is no one available. The boy king of Myrcell married last year. If it were advantageous to him, Domingu would’ve taken Inés’s hand after Louis-David’s last breath.”
“That did not stop those same men from pursuing Amarande.” Koldo gestured to the marriage contracts, now stacked in rolls on a sideboard, one step from being filed away.
Satordi pinched the bridge of his nose—the man enjoyed nothing more than appearing put out by women. “No, that was a clean way to join kingdoms. The princess has the blood; Inés does not.”
“Blood is not the only way to take a kingdom,” Geneva argued. “Conquest can do the job, too.”
Joseba, as erudite as he was, could not leave it at that. “Of course the Warlord’s Torrent is the best example of this, but one might argue King Domingu took his crown by both blood and conquest.”
Ferdinand built upon Joseba’s analysis. “What if Taillefer is using Amarande for both means—via conquest with her murder of Renard, and by blood, using a loophole?”
“Did the princess not say that she tried to kill Taillefer?” Garbine asked in answer to his question, having only as a guide Satordi’s description of the events during Amarande’s arrival.
“She did,” Koldo confirmed. “But judging by Taillefer’s own wits, it’s still a worthy gamble.”
After a long moment, the king searched the room for more answers. “If Taillefer married Amarande, could he take Ardenia, too? Would she still be elevated to queen?”
Satordi exhaled thinly and straightened under his thick ivory-and-gold robe. “Our laws did not foresee such a difficulty.”
Difficulties that could become very ugly, very quickly. Geneva looked to the king. “We should draw in the troops from the borders. Fortify the castle.”
“No. That will only mean a fight on our doorstep.” Koldo leveled her steady gaze on Ferdinand. “And, if Amarande arrives with Pyrenee to take Ardenia, my soldiers and their loyalties will have to choose between the princess they’ve known, or the new king and his lies.”
“The army fights with you, Koldo,” Garbine argued. “Those men and women will take your orders.”
“The army fights for Ardenia. My orders will only be suggestions when my best soldiers address split loyalties.”
“Then we are back to the beginning, and wasting time with this conversation.” Geneva rapped the polished tabletop with a small fist. “I agree—we must avoid war at all costs. If we capture Amarande and Taillefer, we own the narrative. General, you must reclaim the princess.”
Koldo pointedly sought the king’s opinion. Geneva was not in charge here and she would never be, no matter what she believed.
Ferdinand raised his eyes to Koldo’s. “If anyone can retrieve her, it is you.”
That she could. “I will leave at once.”
“And if you’re able to nab Taillefer, do,” Geneva added. “He might come in handy if Amarande doesn’t murder him first.”
