The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(113)

I took my chair.

For an hour, we spoke to people, watched the dancing, and ate when food was brought our way. At last, people stopped creeping up to us with questions or requests, and I leaned on the arm of my chair, toward Tobiah.

“I wish I were in the city right now, as Black Knife.”

He let out a soft snort. “Do you remember the night of my engagement ball?”

I remembered Meredith and how stunning she’d been that evening. I remembered the way she’d looked up at Tobiah, her happiness shining through.

Tobiah didn’t comment on my sudden stillness. “Until I danced with you, all I could think about was Black Knife. And then you asked about him. Now I realize what a strange conversation that was. Me, knowing you as the nameless girl. You, knowing me from the One-Night War. Neither of us putting the final pieces together.”

“Nothing has ever been simple between us, has it?”

“I don’t think anything is simple. Ever.” He stood and offered me a hand. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“They’ll notice we’re gone.”

“We’ll be just a few minutes.”

I didn’t take his hand, but stood up and led him to a nearby office. When I turned on the gas lamp, the flare of light revealed only an old desk, a couple of bookcases, and a faded painting of a long-dead king. I closed the door behind us, even though James and Oscar were the only ones standing outside.

“I don’t remember Sandcliff Castle having so many gas lamps.” Tobiah strode to the window and stared out toward the bridge.

“Your uncle had them installed.”

“Ah.” He glanced over his shoulder. “How does it feel to take your throne at last?”

I leaned a hip on the desk and sighed. “I’d like to say important and monumental, but that wouldn’t be the truth.”

“Since when does lying stop you from saying something?” His tone was all teasing.

“Never,” I said. “But I will change. I want to be an honest and fair queen. I used to think my parents were.”

“Perhaps you judge them too harshly? Perhaps they were doing their best.”

“Perhaps.” I pulled myself straight. “But they didn’t even try to find an alternative way to provide the lowcity with clean water, or meet with the Wraith Alliance kingdoms. Perhaps they were doing the best they could, Tobiah, but I want to do better. I must do better.”

“I believe you will.” He faced me, his expression open and honest. “You have the advantage of empathy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those who crave power tend to be too selfish to have the empathy they need to be good leaders. But you care about your people as individuals, not some teeming mass to be reclaimed and ruled. Even before all of this started, you loved your Ospreys. They were never expendable to you.”

No, they weren’t. Not like they were to Patrick, just faces with sets of skills, ready to be deployed at his convenience.

My throat was tight. “You can’t know how much it means for me to hear you say that.”

“I’m not just saying it, Wilhelmina. I believe it.” He walked toward me, his face shadowed as he turned from the light. “You will be a good queen, and I will gladly follow your lead now that I am a ward of Aecor.”

Oh. He was a ward of the kingdom. Just like everyone else who’d crossed the bridge, the Wraith Alliance allowed him to retain his titles, but none of the power unless I granted otherwise.

Tobiah was a ruler in name only, as I’d been just yesterday.

He studied my face, and though I hadn’t spoken or given any sort of reaction, he still read my thoughts in my eyes. “The Indigo Kingdom isn’t all gone. Not yet. But the valley is. That was the heart of the kingdom. The rest will fall until there’s nothing left. I can only hope that all my people find somewhere safe.”

“There’s nowhere safe,” I reminded him.

“But there’s still hope.”

“Optimistic Knife strikes again.”

“That menace.” He dared a smile, but it was quickly put out. “My uncle is missing. After the meeting this afternoon, I had him followed.”

“I remember.”

“Well, they lost him. And now no one can find him. Nor can they find his supporters, the men who were stationed here under him, and even some of the loyalists you freed when you arrived.” Tobiah leaned his weight on the desk, shoulders hunched and head bowed low. “It’s about five thousand people, total. Nothing we can’t defend against, but just the idea of my uncle marching through your city, tonight of all nights—”

“We can defend against it. Did you tell James? He’s in charge of castle security, though I suppose you’ll want him back.”

“James knows.” Tobiah closed his eyes, and his throat jumped. “He also told me about the Red Militia—your maid moving information between Patrick and the others, and this looming threat the Militia poses.”

“Tonight,” I whispered. “It will happen tonight. Patrick needs to make a statement.”

Tobiah bowed his head. “That’s why you didn’t want the coronation ball. What would you be doing instead, though?”

“Denying a pleasure to my friends and guests so that I could indulge in worry and paranoia.”