“You can’t mean that!” Mayu cried. The soldier she’d been might have stayed quiet, would have known her place, but the sight of that laboratory had forever banished that girl to the past, and someone had to speak for the victims of Makhi’s violence. “Makhi violated your wishes even before she was queen. She’s the reason jurda parem exists. She’s the reason my brother … None of those people will ever be the same. They were soldiers who served your family and this country. They deserve better.”

“The laboratories will be shut down,” said Queen Leyti, “and Makhi will no longer have authority over the dispersal of funds. She will not be able to start up the program again. The khergud will be offered sanctuary.”

“Sanctuary?” Mayu said. “You mean exile, don’t you?”

“They must remain a secret. For now, they will stay here at the summer palace to rest and recover while we continue on to the capital.”

Mayu couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Bergin was right. He said there would be no justice. That Makhi and her lackeys wouldn’t face punishment.” She turned her anger on Ehri. “I told him you were better than that.”

But it was Tamar who spoke. “If what Makhi has done becomes widely known, chaos will erupt. Each of the Taban sisters will become contenders for the throne.”

“They’re murdering Grisha!” Mayu shouted. “Your own people! Don’t you—”

Tamar didn’t flinch. “I am Grisha and I am also Shu. I don’t want to see this country torn apart by civil war the way Ravka has been.”

“You don’t care about Shu Han. You just want an ally to help fend off the Fjerdans. Makhi should face trial.”

“There will be no trial,” said Queen Leyti. “Makhi will claim she’s ill and will gratefully serve the crown alongside her sister.”

Mayu threw her hands up. What had been done to her brother, to the Grisha, to her, to Isaak, did none of it mean anything? “You know she won’t settle for that. Makhi can’t be trusted.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Queen Leyti. “That is why I have arranged for insurance.” She gestured to her guards and Minister Yerwei entered, the man who had served as doctor to three Taban queens.

“Him?” Mayu said in disbelief. “Yerwei is her closest confidant.”

But Makhi didn’t look triumphant. For the first time her serene expression faltered and her face paled. Queen Leyti watched her granddaughter with sad eyes. “I hoped there was no truth in it,” she said. “But I see now that Minister Yerwei did not lie. Ehri was meant to be your mother’s heir.”

“That … that can’t be,” said Ehri.

Makhi’s lips pulled back in a sneer. “She said I had been born with all the Taban guile but none of the Taban heart.”