“Let’s put your … mitigation … to the test,” he said. “You will tour the southern provinces with your allies. But you will do it with the Vath in tow, lest you forget you are my daughter and not your mother’s. If you survive, then you will have earned the right to determine who are your allies and who are not. If you do not—”

Maram gracefully sank to her knees but did not bow her head. “I think you will find that I am more than equal to the task, Your Eminence.”

I could not see his face as he looked down at her, but his body was perfectly still for long seconds. He was not there in truth, it was only a hologram, and yet he reached for her anyway, and swept a finger along her cheek.

“Prove to me that you have risen above your mother’s breeding,” he said softly. “Do not disappoint me.”

Even the mention of her mother elicited no reaction from her. “As you command, Your Eminence.”

He did not say goodbye or wish her good health. His image simply rippled away. For a moment the room was silent, and then the diwan doors groaned open. Maram was on her feet, her face hard—I recognized the expression of deep rage, barely leashed. Nadine strode in, then drew up short. There was a tilt to her mouth, as if she’d won a prize.

A frisson of rage ripped through me as I realized what she must have done, how she must have whispered in the king’s ear.

“Do you no longer kneel to your future sovereign?” Maram said, her voice dangerously soft.

Nadine bent her knees.

“Lower,” Maram said.

Nadine froze, eyes wide, her knees still bent.

“Have you lost your faculty to understand my words,” she said, coming closer. “Lower.”

The high stewardess sank to her knees. They’d barely touched the ground before she began to rise again.

“I did not give you leave to rise,” Maram said. I had forgotten this girl—all rage, bent on someone’s humiliation. “Lower.”

“Your Highness—”

“I did not give you leave to speak,” she said. She waited, perfectly still, as Nadine laid her forehead on the ground. I thought if she’d had a crop in hand she might have whipped it across her face.

She took a deep breath. “I suppose I have you to thank for this,” she said.

Nadine raised her head. “I only reported on your success, Your Highness.”

“You have set a trap,” Maram said softly. “Because you believe me to be the frightened girl you made me. I am not. I am the future queen of this world.”

“Allow me to assist you—”

“I would rather suffer the death of my mother a thousand times than accept your help,” Maram said. “And I do not need it. You should worry what will happen when this trap is sprung.”