Page 105 of Queen of War and Ruin

Acelina frowns at me.

“That can’t possibly be true,” she says.

My chest feels tight; panic buzzes low and frantic in the back of my mind.

“It— It was an accident,” I stammer. “He had Zarek tied to a chair. I just wanted him to leave, I— I forgot about the knife⁠—”

Acelina steps back, still shaking her head.

“Why would you lie for him?” she asks.

I try to pull in a breath. Syvan’s scowling face flashes through my mind. Blood on his teeth. Blood on his clothes.

My hands are shaking. I twist them together and stare at the ground. And, slowly, another feeling bubbles up inside my chest. Acelina doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t think I could murder a prince.

Gods above, am I actually offended by that?

Acelina takes a step closer, then puts her hand on mine. I drag my gaze up to meet her eyes. She’s looking at me in a strange way, like I’m an animal she’s never seen before and she’s trying to determine if I’m going to bite.

“You’re trying to protect the snake?” she finally asks. “After how he treated you?”

She looks down at the ground as she speaks. No, not the ground. She’s looking at my arms.

Another memory comes back to me. Acelina’s personal tailor, draping cloth around my arms. The bruises from training with Petrys that Anura tried to hide with powder and lotion. The way Acelina looked at me when she said she was sorry. The way she toasted to our absent husbands, long may they remain at their distant posts.

“Oh,” I say. “Oh, that. Zarek didn’t hurt me.”

Acelina’s frown deepens. I didn’t think that was possible.

“Those bruises,” I say, running my hand down my arm. “Those weren’t from Zarek. He hired someone⁠—”

Her mouth falls open. It takes me a moment to realize that sounds even worse.

“A guard,” I stammer. “He hired one of the guards. To teach me how to fight. He said the palace wasn’t safe, that I needed to learn⁠—”

My voice trails off. Did he love me even then? a voice whispers in my mind.

“He was—trying to protect me,” I say, although my voice pinches at the end and comes out a ragged whisper.

Because here I am. Despite all of his efforts, I’m back in this place.

Acelina steps back. She’s still frowning, but she doesn’t look confused. No, now she looks like a woman contemplating a narrow array of terrible options.

“And your new husband?” she asks.

“Blayne?” I snort. “He’s an asshole.”

There’s more I could say, yes, but that one word covers it pretty well. Acelina nods like that’s all she wanted to hear. And then she leans close to me with a strange, fierce look in her eyes.

“I haven’t seen my children in three years,” she says in a low, rough whisper. “Syvan wanted them gone. He thought they were a threat, my tiny babies. Even I don’t know where they’re hiding.”

She leans back, blinking. The sun sparkles off the tears in her eyes. When she turns back to me, there’s a ferocity in her expression that makes me want to reach for the dagger hidden under my skirts.

“If the snake did kill that miserable sack of shit,” she hisses, low and fierce, “then I want to thank him.”

I swallow hard. Acelina sucks in a deep breath, then tilts her head to stare at the interlacing branches above us. She’s trying not to cry, I realize. A moment later, she turns back to me, blinking as she leans close.

“They’re keeping the snake on the fourth floor,” she says. “The king’s new advisor has him caged in his quarters,” she whispers, her voice dropping. “They’re planning something with him. An execution, I think.”