“And now she is as he imagined her to be.”

I grimaced. “Even so.”

“And how did you know it was Lessa?” He sounded genuinely curious, as though this were all a game with no lives at stake.

“There are few with power enough to manage it,” I said. “Fewer still who could go so long without their absence noted. And only one capable of this level of duplicity.”

His eyes gleamed. “I was curious as to when you would figure out the half-bloods’ talent. Did they tell you directly, or did one of them slip up?”

“A slip, of sorts.” I searched his face, trying to gauge him and failing. “And you? How did you discover that those with human blood can lie?”

Emotion flashed across his face, too swift for me to identify, but enough for me to know I’d struck a nerve. The light behind him dimmed. “Lessa’s mother. She lied to me. I caught her. I killed her.”

There was much, much more to that story than anyone knew. “What was the lie?”

My father shook his head once. Even in this rare moment of honesty between us, some things he would not tell, so I started down another path. “What did you do with Anaïs’s… body?” It was still hard to say it, hard to relegate my friend to an inanimate corpse.

He snorted derisively. “Of all the questions you might ask, you choose a sentimental one like that? Why do you even care?”

I hoped all the powers in this world and the next would strike me down if I stopped caring. “Humor me.”

Something in my voice wiped the mockery away from his. “Fire. Hot enough to burn away any trace that she ever existed.”

I bowed my head, not bothering to hide my grief. It was part of what made me different from him, and I wanted him to see it. I thought he would say something – mock me for my sentiments. Tell me that they made me weak. He didn’t disappoint.

He leaned back and rested his head against the gold throne.

“Everything had come to pass as I had anticipated. You had foolishly allowed your emotions to guide you and played your hand. Attacked me when you thought I intended to harm Cécile.” He sighed. “If you thought clearly and logically, you would have known that I’d never allow harm to come to that girl. She is more precious to me than perhaps even to you, which is why I had the witch they call La Voisin brought to Trollus the moment she was injured. Once I had her assurances that Cécile could be saved, I decided to take advantage of the situation as it had presented itself. You acted predictably. Your sister did not.

“Lessa was supposed to prevent Anaïs from interfering, but for her own reasons chose not to.” He grimaced. “Lessa came into your rooms moments after you left with Cécile. And in that moment, I thought I was done. That all my plans, and plots, and work, and hardships had been for naught. And for a moment, I wished that you…” He broke off. “But instead of killing me, she dispatched your loyal little friend. And then she offered me a bargain.”