She stared at her hand, as though she felt no pain at all. The patter of blood slowed, and finally stopped, leaving her palm coated with gore. She frowned and wiped it against the front of her nightdress, leaving crimson streaks on the pale fabric. Then she held the hand out for Marcus’ inspection. The skin was unbroken, perfect and smooth, as though the wound had never been.

Marcus looked from the queen’s hand to her face. There was still resolve there, but also fear, the tension of someone expecting a blow.

“How did this happen?” Marcus said.

“Orlanko.” Raesinia let her hand fall to her side. “There was a time when I was very sick. The Last Duke sent word to Elysium, to—”

“—the Priests of the Black.”

Raesinia nodded. “I don’t remember much. One of them came to see me, before I . . . expired. He brought me back, with this thing. Ever since then . . .” She shrugged. “I can’t be hurt, not for long. I can’t die. I’ve been shot, stabbed, fallen from more tall buildings than I can count, had my brains blown out and my limbs broken. None of it sticks.”

“Balls of the fucking Beast,” Marcus said, forgetting himself enough to swear in the presence of his monarch.

“More or less. Orlanko wanted a regency when Father died. He planned to marry me to some Borelgai prince; then I would conveniently ‘die’ and be spirited away to Elysium to spend the rest of eternity in a cell. He and his cronies would have ruled Vordan, and made us all kneel to the Sworn Church.” She sighed. “You and I tossed that plan out the window, obviously. So now the Church wants to take Vordan by force. After all, it has a demon for a queen.”

“Who else knows?”

“Janus. Sothe. Cora. Orlanko, obviously. My father did, though I only found that out too late.”

“The king knew?”

“He was the one who asked Janus to try to find a solution.” She looked down for a moment, face shadowed. “He was trying to protect me, and I had no idea.”

It was easy to forget, with all the talk of the death of the king, that to Raesinia he’d been a father instead of a sovereign. Marcus hesitated, uncomfortably, then said, “Why tell me?”

Raesinia closed her eyes. “I once had a dear friend who thought I was in danger. He did something foolish, and now he’s dead. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone is always so . . . so ready to sacrifice themselves for me, and they have no idea it’s all pointless.” She opened her eyes again, unshed tears glittering in the silver light. “I’m finished with that, you understand?”

“I . . . think so.”