Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2)(83)

“But still,” I reasoned, “this is proof that I’m not your niece. My maternal grandmother was not your mother.”

“It only means that your mother lied to you. Perhaps Rota felt guilty that she had taken you from your family, so she created a false one.”

“She wouldn’t have lied to me.”

“She lied to you all your life. You didn’t even know she was a Fireblood. You don’t even know your name.”

My head snapped up. “What’s my—I mean, your niece’s— name?”

“Your name is Lali. It means ‘Ruby’ in the old tongue.”

I could only stare.

She sat back, her lip twitching up on one side. “Now you see why I wondered about you from the first.”

“It still doesn’t make sense,” I said quietly. “My mother’s skin was cool compared to mine.”

“Rota had exceptional control of her gift. She could suppress her heat.”

“Even in her sleep? She used to cuddle next to me for warmth on the coldest nights. I’m telling you, it doesn’t make sense. She didn’t use her fire to defend me when the soldiers came! She would have done anything to defend me. I know that much.”

Queen Nalani shook her head. “That I cannot explain. So much of this is still unknown, and will never be known. It eats at me, Ruby. I hate not knowing why she left. I wish I could talk to her just one more time.”

“I wish that, too,” I said hoarsely. How I’d wished that. More times than I could count.

“Can you begin to understand how her disappearance tore at me? She didn’t trust me enough to tell me where she was going. For a short time, I even suspected her of treason. Our father died of grief within months—she was always his favorite. Then I had to take the throne. In the midst of all that, some of the outlying islands rebelled and I wondered if she was behind the uprising, if she had played the reluctant princess when she really wanted to be queen. But there was no trace of her. Nothing.”

I shook my head, unable to cast my mother in the light of power-hungry usurper. I didn’t understand how Queen Nalani could ever have suspected that. It was almost as if she hadn’t known my mother at all. Or maybe I hadn’t.

Either way, her grief was real. I could see it in the tightness around her eyes, the brittle slant of her mouth. For the first time, I experienced a flutter of pity for the proud queen.

As she caught me staring, her gaze hardened. “So, I’m sure you’ll understand why trust is such a delicate and precious thing to me, Ruby. It’s important to me that when I ask you a question, you answer honestly.”

Nervous heat flooded my veins. “You can ask me anything.” Whether I would answer honestly was another matter. I couldn’t reveal anything about my plans.

“My soldiers have combed the island twice over and can’t find the Frostblood ship. I want you to tell me where it is.”

The blunt words cleaved the veneer of warm reminiscences like an axe. “How would I know that?”

“Come, now. You spoke alone with the king for a quarter of an hour. Surely he told you things. He trusts you, does he not?”

I took another sip of tea, concentrating hard on keeping my hand steady. “Not with everything.”

“But he did trust you with that.”

Always be aware of your surroundings. Never let yourself be maneuvered onto dangerous ground. Who had told me that? Brother Thistle? Kai?

Arcus. After backing me into a fish pond. The memory came fresh and vivid. I could still feel the lily pads brushing against my skin, feel my fury as he stood, untouched and superior, on dry ground.

Well, clearly I hadn’t learned. The queen had softened me up, made me lower my defenses by sharing fond memories of my mother, and then backed me into quicksand. When cornered, there was no choice but to attack.

“If you expected me to interrogate your prisoner, why did you send Kai to drag me away?”

“I sent him for your protection,” she replied smoothly.

“I doubt that. You know the king is no danger to me.”

“I know no such thing. His brother—”

“He’s nothing like his brother. I wish you’d believe me.”

She took another sip of tea. “You may believe what you’re saying is true. Tell me this, then. How many ships are on their way?”

“No more ships. There’s only the one.”

“Why did the king come himself? Why risk the journey? He wouldn’t come on a simple scouting mission.”

“As he told you, it wasn’t a scouting mission. He thought I was in danger. He came for me.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

She put her cup down with a rattle. “The Frostblood king. Came all the way here. For you.”

“Kai tried to tell you how much he cares for me when we first arrived in your court. I know it might sound far-fetched, but—”

“He had no reason to think you were in danger. There was no time for me to send him any message. So, what drew him here?” Her hand cut the air in an angry gesture. “Did he plan to kill me? Although he could simply have hired an assassin…” She shook her head. “If what he says is true and he received a letter, he could have sent messengers to procure my confirmation first.”