“The end of my proposal to negotiate with the Hadari. Not that I’d much chance of getting it through the Grand Council. Ebigail’s threateners have already gone door-to-door.”

And there was little point getting a truce through the Privy Council if there was uproar in the lower chamber. It was one thing to order an unpopular peace, and quite another to enforce it.

“Was she polite?”

“Very.”

“Did she crow?”

“Hardly at all. I’m too tired for games, Lily.”

She chuckled. “Little wonder, because you’ve been played sufficiently this morning already. I spoke with Rosa. She asked me to enquire if Sevaka Kiradin made it home safe.”

Malachi frowned. “There’s no need. I saw her this morning. A few bruises, but nothing . . .” Realisation crashed home with the force of a falling tree. “Oh, Queen’s Ashes!”

The first genuine scowl touched her lips. “Language, Malachi.”

“Sevaka was there when Aske died, which means . . .”

“. . . that Ebigail already had all the reason in the world to intervene. From what I know of Sevaka, I imagine she insisted. And you wonder why Ebigail doesn’t take you seriously.” Lily sighed. “She dances around you with such ease.”

Malachi clapped a hand to his eyes and willed the world to go away. He hadn’t known. He hadn’t thought to ask, and Rosa hadn’t thought to tell him. Because he’d been too focused on helping Rosa that he hadn’t stopped to think. Instead, he’d galloped headlong for a solution, kidding himself that he’d done the right thing. The noble thing. What generations of Reveques before him would have done.

There was special irony in having his hubris pointed out by the woman whose family name and reputation he’d invited to ridicule.

“It’s not as bad as that . . .”

“No, Ebigail accounted you an idiot long ago. But that merely places you in common company with most of the Republic.” Lily’s cheek twitched. “But next time, it might cost you a great deal. More than that, you could have kept your promise to your son, and nothing would have changed.”

Malachi downed the last of the brandy. Lily was right. Raven’s Eyes, but she was right. “I’m not the only idiot in the room. You married me.”

“And despite everything, I still think I chose well.” Rising to her feet, she took his head in her hands and kissed him. “You’re a good man, Malachi, and I love you for it. I just wish it were easier to respect you. You’re so busy trying to prove yourself worthy of my family and your friends that you reach for more than you can grasp.”