The maid seized Zane’s chalice, but he held up a hand.
“No, thank you.”
A frisson of fear shivered through Kalie as she glanced at her own wine. It tasted normal to her. They didn’t have reason to poison her or slip drugs in her drink, but why else would he pass on alcohol?
She frowned at him.
“I’m trying to quit drinking,” Zane said.
Raising her eyebrows, Kalie relaxed into her chair. She’d never thought she would see the day he turned down a drink.
The pretty maid stroked his arm, fluttering her lashes at him as she held out the tumbler of spiced wine. “Are you sure you don’t want to taste what Etov has to offer?” Her voice was breathy and awful. “You’ll find greater pleasures here than anywhere else in the Federation.”
Kalie’s fists clenched under the table.
The maid angled herself so her cleavage was right before Zane’s face. Lifting his eyes to hers, he ground out, “I’m not interested.”
Shrugging, the woman pranced out the door.
He tried to meet her gaze, but Kalie looked away—only to findTheron’s assessing stare hovering on her. She scowled. It had all been a test, and judging by Theron’s frown, Zane’s rejection of the maid meant he hadn’t passed.
Well, she was done with their tests. It was time for hers.
Ignoring her rumbling stomach and the steaming chicken in front of her, Kalie clasped her hands. “Iliana has taken the Dalian throne.”
Though Father went rigid, Kalie kept her focus on Mother. Her tells were imperceptible—her eyelid twitched, her shoulders tensed—but her eyes gave her away. Masked behind the frigid ice was the same pain she’d glimpsed in Iliana’s gaze.
“You said you want to know the truth, Mother. So do I. A woman claiming to be your half-sister sabotaged my coronation, turned my guards against me, and stole my crown. Uncle Jerran—” Kalie’s breath caught, but she forced herself not to think of him. “He claimed she was lying, but I could tell he knows her. You do too.”
In the blink of an eye, Mother’s mask was back.
Two decades of experience suggested Mother was already rebuilding her walls, and once that happened, getting anywhere with her would be impossible.
“Don’t try to lie, I see it on your face. Uncle Jerran mentioned your involvement, and I won’t be kept in the dark any longer. Whatever happened between you, I need to know.”
“I don’t want to revisit that chapter of my life,” Mother murmured.
“And I wouldn’t ask, except it’s come back to haunt me.”
Fires cast dancing shadows over the faces of her siblings, who were watching with rapt attention. They wouldn’t do any good. The only one who could get Mother to talk sat at the head of the table, so Kalie faced Father’s imperious stare.
“A phoenix can be reborn once it dies. Iliana may have won at the coronation, but I won’t let a puppet of Carik’s sit on my throne. I already have a spy in my court, I’m already making plans, but charging in blindly would be foolish. I’m not going to fight until I know who I’m facing.”
“You call yourself a phoenix?” Father asked, resting his chin on his steepled hands.
Kalie swallowed. “I’m a Hannover, am I not?”
The ancient chrono on the wall ticked away as she stared at Father. A distant crack of thunder penetrated the weather forcefields, followed by screaming winds that the sound modifiers couldn’t fully erase. The aroma of burning candles wafted up her nose, carrying the scent of cinnamon and cedar.
“Tell her, Ashé.”
Father’s tone brooked no argument. Candlelight flickered across Mother’s drawn face as she sighed, lowering her gaze to her hands.
“What do you want to know?”
“Iliana claims your mother married her father, that she’s a legitimate heir.”
Mother scoffed. “My mother was a whore?—”
