“I don’t know,” I replied archly. “Are you?”

Maram sighed, and threw herself back onto one of the couches. “The machinations never end,” she said, and her voice turned sad. “I never thought I would have to move against Nadine, of all people.”

“Oh?” I said carefully.

“I know she seems a monster to you—” I snorted, and she ignored me. “She raised me after I was sent to Luna-Vaxor. I thought … I thought she loved me.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “Maybe no one loves anyone. Maybe all anyone loves is power.”

“Your mother loved you,” I countered softly.

“And how do you know that?” I could hear the strain in her voice. “Half the time I think she bore me to be a weapon against my father and for no other reason.”

“I think you would care less what your mother thought in the grave if she didn’t love you. If that wasn’t what you remembered.”

“Sometimes I think my memory is wrong,” she whispered.

I didn’t know what to say to that, and so set about dividing up the sweets and pouring out the tea.

“So,” I said when I’d handed her a glass. “Shall we begin?”

The work of planning such a tour was enormous.

“We should rely on the others,” Maram suggested, surprising me. “They have just as much a stake in its success as I do.”

“You’re right,” I said, staring at her wide-eyed.

“It happens on occasion,” she drawled, and I laughed.

“You will need an entirely new wardrobe,” I said. “And we will need to invite the press—”

“Why in the worlds would we invite the press?”

“This is your debut as the Imperial Heir,” I said. “The support of the galaxy is worthwhile and you should want to cement your place among them.”

She grimaced. “I hate the idea of the eyes of the galaxy watching me.”

“You will be queen—that is the reality.”

We moved on. She came up with a list of Vathek courtiers to invite city by city, and together we winnowed it down.

“You cannot invite the Clodius or Aphelion houses,” I said, pausing.

“Why not? They’re war heroes!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Because they are war heroes, Your Highness. You want the people’s love, not to remind them what they have suffered. And the Clodius and Aphelion sigils were stamped on most flags of conquest. Even I recognize them. Aphelion salted the fields outside of Azaghar. They will recognize the sigil and you will find it very hard to win them over.”

“Anyone else I need to worry about?”

“Have you not asked Idris?”

Tala came and set down a second tray with tea and pastries.

“That’s a good idea,” Maram replied. “I will ask him. But in the meantime, Ofal will meet us in Khenitra. And then one or two in every city after.”