“Some were,” Dorrin said, looking at the crown again. “Paks, supposing I do go—why should I risk these treasures on the road? What of thieves and—for that matter—attack by my own kin? I should keep them safe, where they cannot be stolen—”

Paks shook her head. “Think again. What are your relatives likely to tell the prince about you?”

“That I’m vindictive and not wholly sane, not to be believed. They are innocent and loyal; I’m the family traitor and having broken troth with them am inherently unfaithful.”

“They will expect you to have the jewels, and they will expect you to keep them. That is what they would do. If they reveal the jewels and you are found with a crown … what do you think the prince will think?”

Dorrin scowled, then nodded. “That I am false, and planning to seize the throne. But I swear, Paks, it is not this throne the crown speaks of.”

“It matters not. Your relatives will insist it is.”

“And some will believe them, even though they distrust my relatives,” Dorrin said. “Just as some will always believe me false, because I am a Verrakai.”

“Exactly,” Paks said. “The king told me that most judge not by actual deeds, but by reputation. Remember, when you were there, how the master of horse in Chaya believed grays were dangerous because of their color?”

“Yes,” Dorrin said. “But I thought, sending my family to Vérella, as ordered, would prove my loyalty. I see now that someone might argue I had a grudge against those I sent, and did not capture those I liked.”

“Yes. If you are at the coronation, if you present the king with these things—especially the crown—and explain that you found them hidden—and give your oath in front of all, that will go some way toward gaining the trust of those who have long distrusted Verrakaien.”

Dorrin saw the logic of that, and yet—“These things belong somewhere else,” she said. “Not in Tsaia at all. I feel I must find out where, and—and take them there, maybe.”

“Not stay in Tsaia?”

“Not forever, I think. Kieri said—the king said—he thought the Tsaian king did not intend me to hold Verrakai forever, but to name an heir, one of those Verrakai who is found innocent of taint.”

“I met such a one,” Paks said. “On my way from the Duke’s Stronghold to Lyonya. Ganarrion, his name was; he’s in the Royal Guard. You might seek him out.”

“I am past bearing an heir of the body,” Dorrin said, “even if I wished to do so. I thought of one of the children here, but they have spent their whole lives in the influence of my uncle and his kind.”

“How are they now?”

“Better, I think, but who can tell, with children? Having none of my own, I never studied how best to train them; I must leave much of that to the nurserymaids, and trust I have weeded out the vicious from among those.”