She’d spent so many years chasing her aunt’s approval. So many years searching for a way to prove that she could be rational. That she could be ruthless. Now she’d done it. So where was it, that spark of joy? The sudden burst of self-love? The fulfillment she’d always imagined? Her whole life, she’d been accused of feeling too much.

Now she felt nothing at all.

All her life, she had thought she would be loved if she managed her emotions. That she would be worthy if she became impressive, indispensable. Now, she saw it for the lie it was. Earning Isabel’s love would mean becoming the girl Isabel wanted her to be. It would mean taking a knife to her bleeding heart once and for all.

Approval meant nothing if Isabel didn’t love her. It certainly didn’t mean a damn thing if Hal was going to hang.

Wren shook her head. “Your Majesty, I’m incredibly grateful. But I have a few things to say first, if you’d allow me to speak freely about the matter of Hal Cavendish.”

“Spare no details.”

Wren reached into her bag and pulled out a file. “This contains everything you need to know.”

Isabel’s rare jovial mood shattered beneath her confusion. “What is that?”

Inside were three vital things. A vial full of goddessblood poison. Blood samples, the DNA of which would exactly match the Guard’s records on Jacob Byers. A lengthy list of shipping records that began a few months before the first soldier went missing.

It was enough to save Hal. It had to be enough to save him.

“This,” Wren said, “is evidence that will indict Lord Alistair Lowry in the disappearance of our soldiers.”

Surprise flickered across Una’s face. Anger—then impatience—reddened Isabel’s.

“I see.” The queen turned to the window again, the whip of her skirts washing the air cold. “Burn it.”

All Wren’s confident composure split like a dropped plate. “Your Majesty?”

“I’m well aware of Alistair Lowry’s predilections.” Wren watched the reflection of Isabel’s face in the window freeze over. “He gave me his solemn word that he would touch none of my subjects—only Vesria’s. The snake.”

“You knew?” Una asked, a quiet fury creeping into her voice. “What she claims is true?”

“Yes.” The admission came freely, easily. “It’s true.”

Una’s gloved fists trembled. “For how long?”

“I knew from the first, as soon as Vesria’s soldiers began disappearing,” Isabel said. “I had my suspicions when the first of the Guard vanished, but their deaths are sacrifices to preserve this alliance.”

“When you sent us to look for signs of them, it was all a charade,” Una said hollowly, almost to herself. “You dismissed Wren for nothing.”