The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(42)

I pushed a note of impatience out of my tone. “All right. Be quick, but thorough. The sooner I sign it, the better leverage we have getting Aecor from Prince Colin.”

“If Patrick doesn’t get it first.” Connor folded his hands in his lap. “What if the Indigo Army finds him? He should be in trouble, but what about Melanie and Paige? Ronald and Oscar?”

“Melanie is on our side, and the other three didn’t kill King Terrell. They didn’t try to kill Prince Tobiah. The Indigo Kingdom wants them, but not as badly as they want Patrick. That will be taken into account.”

Connor nodded thoughtfully. “And what about us? Do we get to punish him, too, when he’s caught?” His tone was careful and even, betrayed only by the white of his knuckles and tightness of his jaw.

“When Patrick is caught, he’ll be tried for all his crimes, including sending Quinn and Ezra on the mission that killed them. And all those who came before them. We’ll build memorials in their honor, right?”

All three boys agreed, solemn now.

I stood and smoothed my dress. “I’m going to check on Rees. Make yourselves useful. And be nice to her when she gets back in.”

On my way out, I grabbed a blanket to ward off the cold.

Theresa was leaning on the rail, staring east over the woods. Gold and red leaves of late autumn rained like drops of colored ink, breathtakingly beautiful in the gloaming.

“Is it possible to be homesick for a place you can’t remember?” Her voice was soft, caught up and carried away by a gust of icy wind.

“I think so.” Next to her, I put the blanket around both of us, and she rested her cheek on my shoulder. “We’ll go back home one day. Soon. And we’ll make new memories there.”

“I wonder what Patrick and the others are doing now—if they’re thinking about your coronation, too. He always intended for you to take it back on the anniversary. That’s only a few months off.” The clock tower chimed fifteen, and a cloud-shrouded full moon started to rise over the horizon. The early moon, the storm-darkened sky, and the frigid wind made the afternoon feel like evening.

The acrid scent of wraith rode on the air, but it was faint. For now.

“I don’t want to talk about Patrick and the others.” I pulled her toward the door again. “Come on.”

Just as we started to move, voices below caught me.

“Let’s speak out here, Your Grace.” Prince Colin strode into the garden below our balcony, just beyond the rail.

I crouched, waving Theresa to follow so he wouldn’t look up and see us. We crept forward and watched the pair from between the balcony rails.

“I’m in a hurry, Your Highness.” Annoyance colored Lady Meredith’s tone, but she appeared in the garden, cloaked and hooded.

“Certainly.” Prince Colin spoke too sweetly. “I only wanted to say how glad I am that Tobiah recovered so quickly from his injury. It’s such a relief he’ll be able to take his place as Sovereign of the Indigo Kingdom, at last.”

Meredith dipped into a slight curtsy. “Indeed. I am grateful for his recovery, too.”

“Just like his cousin, James Rayner.”

I imagined Meredith’s thin smile at that; her tone reflected one. “Yes. They do have access to the best physicians, though.”

“I think it’s more than luck or physicians.” Prince Colin began to circle her. “What could have happened? How is Francesca’s side of the family so blessed, I wonder?”

Theresa adjusted the blanket over us, making the wool rustle, but the pair below was too engaged to hear.

“I’m sure you know better than I do, Your Highness, though given how many terrible things have happened to them lately, I’d hesitate to say they are blessed.”

“Hmm. I do have a hypothesis.” Prince Colin pressed his hands behind his back, his chest puffed out.

Part of me wanted to rescue her, but if she needed it, she didn’t show it at all. Meredith hadn’t moved, her cloak spread out around her like a shadow. She was a statue.

“I think it’s that foreign princess. Wilhelmina. She and he are so close. Always sharing some secret. Don’t you think?”

Meredith tilted her head, just a shift in the shadow of her sculpted regality. “I was under the impression they weren’t fond of each other.”

Beneath the blanket, Theresa nudged me, but I didn’t tear my gaze from the two below.

Prince Colin strode deeper into the gardens. “I simply do not trust the princess.” He said it as an announcement. As though anyone would be shocked. “She paraded around in another woman’s identity for months.”

Meredith remained silent.

“She’s lived on the streets for years. What does that do to a young lady? Let alone a princess.” He allowed that to sink in a moment. “It was her man who killed King Terrell. She was responsible for the Inundation, leading the wraith here. And now she keeps that creature she created—with her magic—as a pet. Tell me, why hasn’t she sent it away? Why does she insist on keeping it in the palace?”

“I cannot tell you.” Meredith’s tone was mild, and vaguely annoyed. “And while those things may be true, and those questions are important to ask, none of it signals a dangerous closeness between Princess Wilhelmina and Crown Prince Tobiah. Why would you think they have any kind of relationship?”