“We know that, daughter, but some might ignore that, for political reasons,” Averill said. “The jinxflingers would like to do away with the Nǽming. How better to accomplish that than to put a wizard on the throne of the Fells, claiming that he is the lineal heir?”

“I suspect that some of the Bayars would like to do away with the line,” Raisa said. “But Han despises the Bayars, and the feeling is mutual. I can’t imagine they would collaborate on this. The Bayars want power for themselves. There’s no way they would allow Han to claim what they want so badly.”

“Are you sure of that, Briar Rose?” Elena said. “The Demon King was a skillful liar. He even fooled Hanalea for a time. Why shouldn’t we expect that his descendant shares his talent for dissembling?”

“Does Han even know about this?” Raisa asked. “How can he be plotting and planning if he doesn’t know he shares my blood?”

“He knows,” Elena said heavily. “We told him when we removed the silver cuffs I put on him when he was just a baby. I removed them when he agreed to serve us. I had to—he couldn’t use high magic otherwise.”

“You took them off ?” Nightwalker shook his head in disbelief. “It would have been better to kill him as soon as you knew he was gifted. I told you at the time that recruiting a wizard to fight wizards was a bad decision.”

“You did,” Averill said. “And you were right.”

No, Raisa thought. No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no.

It too closely mirrored what Fiona had said—that Han claimed to be a marriage of royal lineage and magic. But there was no way Han would conspire with the Bayars.

A voice in her head said, Then why would he tell them, and not you?

“So,” Raisa said, bile rising in her throat, “he’s known this story for a year, and he never told me.”

“We ordered him not to tell anyone, Briar Rose,” Averill admitted grudgingly. “But we should have told you. We shouldn’t have allowed you to walk blindly into danger like this.”

This is unfair, Raisa thought. This is unfair to Han, who isn’t here to defend himself.

But she couldn’t help herself. It did kindle a question in her mind. Han had once as much as told her he loved her. Shouldn’t the fact that he was her distant relative have surfaced at least once in a conversation?

Why wouldn’t he tell me? If he loved me, why would he keep this from me?

Looking back from this new angle, she saw a whole sequence of lies told to her by Han Alister. And very little truth.

Cat had told her that Han was good at keeping secrets. Apparently, she was right. Could Raisa afford to trust someone who had so much to hide?