Page 147 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

I nodded. “Neither do I.”

“Then… what problem arises that brings you to me so… surreptitiously?”

“The problem that your man is trying to kill mine.”

The queen didn’t react. Not a twitch. Not a tremble. But she also didn’t move. And I felt the creep of surprise in her, as if she held herself extremely tightly. “Go on.”

I took a deep breath. “Is your goal a healthy kingdom? The success of your people? Or is it purely your own ambition and status, regardless of who is hurt?”

The queen’s lips tipped up. “You know I could simply lie if the latter weren’t true? Tell you what you want to hear?”

“I have been lied to a great deal in my life, and I have recently had reason to learn what the truth looks like—and how to manipulate it. So… I trust I will see through it if you lie. Please answer the question.”

The queen’s brows shot up. For a moment I thought she’d kick me out and into the dungeons. But then she folded her arms. “You came to me. What do you think?”

“I know what I believe, but I also know I’ve been fooled before. I’d like to hear it from your lips so that I can… measure it.”

The queen snorted. “Dear God, you commoners really do speak frankly, don’t you?” she muttered, shaking her head. “But, very well, I will grant your wish, because this is part of why I believe women should be given more power and responsibility: Our consciences are generally more tender—we are ambitious, but rarely ruthless. And we are… less likely to be blinded by ambition. Your answer, dear, is that I am, indeed, ambitious—but I do not believe my success can be achieved without closely guarding the well-being of my nation. What keeps them healthy and prosperous keeps me healthy and prosperous. And that is as honest as I can be. So… what is your verdict? Am I telling the truth to your very wise eyes?”

Her tone said she was amused. But I saw the edge in her gaze.

She was worried. And not because she was lying. At least, not about her protection of her people. But there was still one possible hurdle.

“I believe you,” I said bluntly. “But now I need to ask you about your intentions towards my mate. Because this involves him, and… while I might believe that you seek the well-being and prosperity of your citizens as a whole, I have been an up-close witness to your… personal ambitions,” I said dryly. “I know you can be quite ruthless when you want something. Or should I say, someone?”

The queen stared at me silently and for much longer than I would have anticipated. Her eyes narrowed again and her jaw tensed.

“I don’t believe it’s any secret that I find your mate appealing. And admirable. These are not common traits in a man of power.”

I nodded, nerves fluttering in my chest. That was precisely the point.

She cleared her throat, and for the first time her eyes flickered away. But when she looked back, she didn’t waver. “You have my apology for my false words that day in the stairwell,” she said finally. “It was… not kind.”

Thank God.

I had no fear that Donavyn would ever abandon me for this woman. But I’d had a great deal of fear that all her talk of strengthening women only extended until the moment she wanted a man.

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly, a little flare of anger rising in my chest, but I stuffed it down. “It takes humility to acknowledge a flaw.”

Her lips tightened. She didn’t like that. But she nodded once. So, I extended a peace offering.

“When we first began on the trail to this mission, I didn’t trust you because of what had gone before. But you are my queen, and when you demonstrated that you wanted to help me fulfill my purpose… well, I was grateful for your help. It was truly what I needed, and has helped us get this far.”

“This far in what?” she prompted.

Then I blew out a breath. “When this… tragedy began to unfold, I told the men that you could be trusted. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came to you. But I need to know: Can you trust me in the same way? I once needed your help. Now, you may not know it yet, but you need mine. If you ignore what I bring, your husband will… well, I don’t know precisely what he’ll do with you, but if you truly admire Donavyn—what he is, what he has achieved, what he stands for—if you want this nation to be the kind of nation that he leads towards… then you need to hear what I have to say. And I will warn you… it will have far-reaching implications.”

Diaan’s lips went thin. “Tell me the bad news.”

I hesitated on the cusp of saying this out loud. Once it was out there, she was armed—for good or ill. But then I remembered how she’d dealt with it when I spoke with her ladies in waiting and they told me about her husband’s infidelity. How she had offered more vulnerability, admitting that she’d never been able to have children, and laughing off what must have been a deep pain.

I took one, final, cleansing breath, then stepped onto the bridge of no return.

“Your mate is trying to kill mine. And he’s going to great lengths to make it look as if he’s had nothing to do with it. That’s because he’s got a plot in place to replace Kgosi with a Furyknight named Ruin, and his dragon Carnage—and overrun the current dragons with wild ones that are little more than mindless weapons. He’s… He’s not just going to lead. He’s going to conquer—and he knows Donavyn and Kgosi wouldn’t fight that kind of war for him. So, he’s trying to remove them.”

Diaan went very still. But the blood drained from her face.

For a moment I thought I’d been wrong. That I’d made the wrong choice, and that the queen would never work against her husband.