I was afraid of him.

Everyone was, to a greater or lesser extent, with the lone exception of my Aunt Sylvie, who mocked him merrily with only the slightest provocation, her safety guaranteed by the fact she was conjoined to the Queen. Most counted his power, which was greater than any troll living, as the reason he inspired such fear, but I believed otherwise. It was his mind. The way he seemed able to delve into one’s deepest thoughts and discover the slightest weakness, then exploit said weakness when one was most vulnerable. He never used his magic – at least not to its fullest extent – but his mind controlled Trollus with its endless hoard of information. With deception and manipulation. He understood people: trolls, half-bloods, and humans alike. His only equal was Angoulême, and sometimes it felt like Trollus was an enormous game of Guerre set between them, every one of us a pawn.

“Nephew.”

I jumped, then bowed again. “Your Majesty.”

He was silent, and I stared at the carpet – imported from the very far east of the continent – listening to him shift his bulk on the chair, taking my measure.

“You stole from me.”

“Yes.” Not only did the Élixir belong to the crown, I’d abused my access to the glass gardens in order to steal it.

“You broke my laws.”

“Yes.” I’d taken the key and gone into the labyrinth without my father’s permission. Had bonded Pénélope without the assent of the crown. Even if I had the capacity to lie, there was no point. The truth was written in silver across my hand.

“Care to explain yourself? That you’re besotted with her is obvious, so you may skip that portion of your explanation.”

“I…”

“You will look at me when speaking, boy.”

Dragging my eyes away from the carpet, I pushed back my hood. “It was the only way to save her, Your Majesty.” I didn’t bother mentioning that his unwillingness to help Pénélope had forced my hand, because in truth, it had only sped along my decision.

“To save her?” One of the King’s eyebrows rose. “It seems to me that the individual she most needed protection from was you.”

“Pardon?” The word slipped from my lips, not because I didn’t understand him, but because… because…

“With caution and a bit of luck, the girl might have lived to an old age but not for the pair of you falling between the sheets.” He tapped his chin with his index finger. “Magic is curiously unreliable as a safeguard in such situations, and I speak from experience.”

Lessa. It was the first time I’d heard of him acknowledging her parentage, but my thoughts were too scattered to focus on that now.

“Regardless, the fact remains that it was those activities – of which you were an integral part – that ensured her demise. So tell me: how was stealing from me and breaking my laws saving her life?”

My mouth opened and shut, my teeth clicking together. Nothing he said was untrue, and yet it twisted everything. My throat burned with bile as I struggled with what to say, before finally choking out, “The threat to her life was more imminent than that, Your Majesty. You see, her father…”