“Tristan, Pierre is the most intelligent and learned troll I know. I want you to listen to the things he says and to learn from him, do you understand?”

I blinked away the vision of my father’s face and shivered against the cold wind cutting through the thin cloth of my shirt. The Dowager Duchesse’s words troubled me deeply. Trump card. Trump card. The word repeated in my head, and I knew it could refer to only one thing: Anushka’s identity. Angoulême knew who she was, and once my father and I were dead, he intended to use the information to secure his power.

Grinding my teeth, I heeled my horse up alongside Cécile’s. She held her reins with one hand, the other curled loosely against her thigh. I took hold of her fingers, and they were cold even through the leather of my gloves. “You’re freezing.” Pulling my glove off with my teeth, I enclosed her hand in mine, trying to chase away the chill.

“Cécile, are you all right?”

It was a stupid question. I knew she wasn’t, but I needed her to say something. Anything.

She turned her head to look up at me. “Will they hurt her?”

Élise. It took a lot of effort not to look away. A year ago, I would’ve answered without hesitation that Angoulême wouldn’t dare cross my family by hurting one of ours. But so much had changed since then, and I strongly suspected that Élise had not escaped unscathed.

“My aunt will do what she can for Élise.”

Cécile pulled her hand out of my grip. “That isn’t an answer.”

“Élise knew the risk she was taking,” I said. “You didn’t force her to do anything.”

“Didn’t I?” She shoved her hand into the pocket of my coat. “It was my idea to go to Trollus. My decision to linger in the Duke’s home to eavesdrop when I could have walked away without trouble. If I had only left, she wouldn’t have needed to put herself in danger.” Her face tightened. “I should have listened to you when you told me it was too dangerous. If anything happens to her, it’s my fault.”

“That doesn’t mean it was a mistake. You gained valuable insight that we never would have known if you hadn’t made those choices.” I said the words knowing they sounded callous. Anaïs would have argued that the reward was well worth the risk. Marc would have said that the choices had been made and that we’d need to live with the consequences. My father would say that hard choices were part and parcel of being king.

But what did I think?

“I know that the last thing you ever want is for someone to be hurt,” I said. “I know that given the choice, you’d forfeit your life to save that of a friend. But you know what would have happened if you had interfered when they came for Pierre. If you hadn’t let Élise help you escape. If you’d sacrificed yourself for them, what of everyone else? You don’t have a thousand lives to live or give; and as much as you might hate to think it, fate and fortune and whatever other powers are at work have made it so that your life is more important.”