Akeylah narrowed her eyes. “I was up here making a deal with our enemy to give up the throne in order to keep the two of you safe. That hardly sounds like the decision a future queen should make.”

“On the contrary, it sounds exactly like what a queen would do.” Ren smiled. “Stall long enough to find a way to defeat your opponent.”

“And above all, protect your people,” Zofi added. “Family included.”

Akeylah glanced back and forth between them. Finally, she exhaled, shoulders sagging. “Well, I guess that covers at least one thing we need to speak to the council about.”

Zofi cast her a sideways glance. “Mm. Well, while we’re setting topics for this meeting, I have another one to bring up.…”

31

Zofi

This is an outrage,” Lord Rueno shouted when Zofi, Akeylah, and Ren entered the solarium. The council of lords and the regional council had already crammed around the map table, too many bodies squeezed into the tight space. Ambassadors Ghoush, Perry, and Kiril looked by turns infuriated, worried, and annoyed. Danton, on the other hand, had eyes only for Ren. He nearly collapsed from relief the second she crossed the threshold, and Zofi had to stifle a smile.

Whatever else he might’ve done, Danton was loyal to her sister. Zofi liked him for that.

Rozalind was there, too, still in the wheeled chair, though she flashed all three girls a reassuring smile when they entered.

Akeylah turned toward Rueno, poised as ever. “The attacks upon my family?” she asked. “I quite agree, Lord Rueno, it is outrageous.”

“What are they doing here?” he spat, gesturing wildly between Zofi and Ren.

“I presume you have a reason for allowing your sisters, one of whom was recently under house arrest and the other of whom was banished by your father, to walk in here free of restraints?” Ambassador Ghoush added, a little more politely than her brother.

“I do.” Akeylah swept a look around the crowded room and strode sedately to her seat next to Rozalind’s chair.

Danton rose while Akeylah sat, and then he offered his own seat to Ren. A few other lords and ladies peered at one another, embarrassed they hadn’t remembered to rise for the king’s daughters.

Zofi ignored them all and perched on the windowsill, one leg swinging beneath her.

“For the past several weeks, our family has been dealing with crisis after crisis, beginning with my aunt’s tragic death,” Akeylah began, the way they’d rehearsed. “Afterward, my father fell ill, we believed from grief. But when he died, the truth came out.” Akeylah laid her palms flat on the table. Half the audience leaned in with her, breaths held. “My father was not ill—he had been cursed. Cursed by the same daughter you met today, who tried to force my sisters and me to take responsibility for her crimes.”

Zofi noticed Ren flinch, just for a second, before her face smoothed.