But even as she spoke, doubt trickled beneath the words. Kasamor had said something to her about the vranakin, hadn’t he? He’d known the kernclaw for what it was, and what its arrival denoted. And his manner in the moments before his death . . . like he’d expected it.

“I can only assume he sought to protect you,” said Ebigail.

“But Viktor? He’s the best of us! Kasamor must have been mistaken.” Rosa clung to the words, drawing strength from them. “Viktor’s my friend.”

“And he was Kasamor’s too, for all the good that did him. How well do you truly know him?”

Rosa glowered at her. She’d known Viktor nearly a decade, ever since she’d been a lowly squire and he the commander of the 7th. In all that time, she’d learned few intimacies. Yes, she counted him among her closest friends, but Viktor had always stood apart, his life shrouded from her sight. No. Viktor had saved Kas, hadn’t he? From Aske Tarev’s soured pride. Why do that, only to kill him later? Because he’d known Aske wouldn’t have finished things? Because he wanted to be sure?

Or had something changed? She hated that she even considered the possibility.

“No,” she said. “I don’t believe it.”

“Kasamor did,” said Ebigail. “He told me he had proof. And where is Kasamor now?”

More doubt trickled in, cold and insidious. Kas. She’d failed him on the road. Could she fail him now? “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you demanded I do so.”

Rosa closed her eyes. She had, hadn’t she? “What is to happen?”

Ebigail grimaced and set her cup and saucer aside. “I don’t know. Not for certain. I cannot let this matter rest, but whatever proof Kasamor had is lost. Poor Hadon will not readily believe unfounded claims.”

Queen’s Ashes, could it be true? Rosa exhaled. Yes, Viktor was her friend and Ebigail a creature of uncertain motive. But there were duties beyond friendship. To the Council. To the precepts of Essamere. And to Kasamor most of all. If there were truth to be found, it was for her to seek it out. However painful the answers.

“What would you have me do?”

Ebigail’s eyes widened. “Nothing! My dear child, until you told me of the kernclaw, all I had were suspicions and a mother’s regrets. My thoughts are a maelstrom. When they’ve settled I can perhaps find some way through this thicket of tears. Until then, you must promise me you’ll do nothing foolish. Viktor may be in the Southshires, but the vranakin are everywhere. One hint – one whisper – could be enough to doom you.”

Rosa flexed her fingers and stared down at her forearm. The wound from Malachi’s paper knife had left no scar and was hidden by her sleeve. It served as a reminder nonetheless.