Slumping against the wall, Reid considered the ramifications of assassinating the king. “Colbert, your father doesn’t want to be king.”

“No, he doesn’t. But we don’t always get what we want.”

Leaning closer to Colbert, she whispered, “Why don’t we bring the king’s legitimacy into question? Wouldn’t that be easier than killing him?”

“We don’t have proof.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “We just have to plant a seed of doubt. And you never know—those letters may show up.” If Ackley had them as Reid suspected, he might have a plan to use them when the right time presented itself. The other option was to ask Leigh to tell the truth about Eldon’s father. However, that would cause two problems. One, Leigh had lied about who his father was in the first place, so why would anyone believe she was telling the truth now? And two, it forced Leigh to choose between her children. Telling the truth would strip Eldon of the crown, therefore making Gordon eligible for the throne.

Reid raised her hand again. When the room quieted, she said, “I think we should send letters to the dukes informing them Eldon is not Hudson’s legal heir.”

The room erupted in chaos.

“If we decide to go that route,” Dexter said, reclaiming everyone’s attention, “we need to do it now. Before everyone arrives for the wedding. The issue with that route is it allows for the possibility of two rulers—Prince Henrick versus Prince Gordon.”

“The dukes would interpret the law, ultimately deciding who is crowned king,” Reid added.

“We don’t know what the outcome would be,” Dexter said.

“What of the assassination?” someone asked.

“Maybe we should wait?” Reid suggested.

“We can’t,” Dexter replied. “This opportunity is too perfect. We won’t get another chance like this.”

“Once Eldon is dead,” Reid said, “how do we know Prince Gordon won’t ascend to the throne? After all, Prince Gordon is King Eldon’s heir.”

“She has a point,” someone shouted.

“If the king accidentally dies while he’s here, and all the dukes are present, then maybe we can contest the throne then?” someone said.

“What if the dukes decide to crown Prince Henrick, but he steps aside again?” someone else said. “The crown will go to Prince Gordon. Maybe we need to talk with Prince Henrick to see where he stands on the matter?”

In other words, these people wanted confirmation Prince Henrick would cooperate. Unfortunately, Reid didn’t think he would.