The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(13)

If she was asking about James’s miraculous recovery, she didn’t give a hint.

“Once. When he was young and didn’t know better, he saved a rabbit. We’ve been hiding his power ever since. There are people who would exploit his gift.” Or arrest him for it. Just months ago, Black Knife would have been one of those people. If caught, Connor would have been taken to the wraithland and sentenced to die by the creatures out there. “He’s well read and practiced in more traditional medicine. He knew what he was doing.”

“Very well. Thank you for your part in saving my son.” Francesca seemed to collect her thoughts. “But we will not speak of this again. None of us. Tobiah, we’ll tell everyone that you are recovering thanks to the physicians, but you’ll need to stay confined until a reasonable amount of time has passed for you to truly heal.”

Tobiah shook his head. “The law is clear. One week of mourning for the old king, and the new king should be crowned the following day, or risk being challenged. If we delay, either of my uncles could contest my enthronement. Many of Uncle Colin’s men are coming from Aecor, so they can attend the memorial and coronation. But if I miss the date and my uncle claims I’m not fit to rule, that means he has thousands of armed supporters at his command.”

“But you’re their king. Future king. Would they support him over you?” Meredith’s eyes were wide.

“It’s a possibility I won’t dismiss.” The prince gave a deep nod. “The challenger doesn’t even have to be direct family, though they’re more likely to have the support they need if they’re high in the line of succession. How do you think the Pierces took the throne from the Gearys?”

“So,” said Meredith, “two days until the memorial, and three until the coronation. Few people will believe you’ve healed so quickly, naturally.”

No one quite looked at James.

I lifted my voice. “Unless you claim the prince knew an attack might happen, and was armored beneath his clothes. You can say this was a ploy to draw out Patrick, and that you allowed everyone to believe the prince’s injuries were so grave in order to make him believe he’d succeeded.”

“Dozens of guards saw the bolt go through,” said James.

“They are under your command.”

“Give the order.” Tobiah ran his fingers through his hair, making the strands stand on end. “My recovery doesn’t have to be miraculous. I’ll play the invalid and rule from bed when I must, but we cannot delay the coronation.”

The crown prince left no room for argument.

“Very well.” The queen regent didn’t look happy, but her acceptance caused a sliver of relief to ripple through the room.

In this, at least, we were all five united.

We all had our reasons for needing this: a mother’s grieving heart, a fiancée’s elevation to queen, a cousin’s duty and friendship.

And my reason?

Too complex to name.

“One more thing before I go to share the news that Tobiah will live.” Francesca looked to me. “You could have sent your friend here and gone to find Patrick with the Indigo Order.”

Meredith gasped. “She could have been hurt!”

Francesca waved that away. “Perhaps, though she is a capable young woman and she’d have had a score of guards to protect her.”

I hated where this was going.

“Would you have been able to track Patrick, assuming he’d truly been there?”

Behind my back, I curled my hands into fists. “Possibly.”

“Why didn’t you go?” When I didn’t answer immediately, she added, “I’m not asking anything that my husband’s brothers won’t. There are still those who believe you cut my husband’s throat, and without proof that Lien did it—your word that he confessed holds very little weight after your impersonation of Lady Julianna—there’s little to keep suspicion off you. Even if there were proof, Lien is still an Osprey and was under your command during the time of the assassination. So why, a second time, did you allow Patrick to escape?”

“Would you have acted any differently, Your Majesty?”

The queen regent drew back, her eyes cutting to her son, and the answer was clear.

Tobiah slipped off the edge of the bed, using the chair arm for support. Meredith reached up, as though to help, but never quite touched him. “You should have gone after Lien,” Tobiah said. “Your presence wasn’t required here. You’d have been more useful tracking him.”

Before I could form any sort of response, a knock sounded and a wiry man in messenger livery came in.

With owl-wide eyes, the stranger glanced around the room and seemed to take in his mistake all at once. The queen. The crown prince. The princess. The duchess. And the Indigo Order captain.

He swung back to the prince standing on his own.

The prince, who should have been on his deathbed.

Our secret was out before it’d even begun.

Tobiah sighed. “What is it?”

“Refugees, Your Highness. Majesty. Highness. Hundreds of refugees are approaching Skyvale.”

“Refugees from which direction?” If they were from the east, that simply meant those who’d left during the Inundation were coming back. If they were from the west, more Liadians—and people from kingdoms beyond—might have made it through the wraithland.