“I wanted to tell you,” Han said. “But I was afraid to. I didn’t know…I had enough strikes against me already. I thought you might send me away.”

“Yet you put on the Waterlow colors. Why would you, if you wanted to keep it a secret?”

“I can’t really explain that, except that for the first time I felt like I had a history, a bloodline. I wanted to claim it.”

“Blood. And. Bones!” Raisa burst out. “Why would you want to claim that history? We descend from the greatest villain who ever lived.”

“It wasn’t really like that,” Han said. “You don’t know the whole story.”

“And you do?”

He nodded. “Pretty much.” He met her gaze frankly, inviting the next question.

Raisa wasn’t going to allow herself to be distracted. “You told Fiona Bayar, though, didn’t you? About your ancestry?”

Han hunched his shoulders. “I sort of did,” he said.

“Sort of?”

“It was a mistake. I lost my temper. She asked me to crew for her, to go in on shares.”

“That’s not what she said.”

Han raised an eyebrow. “Really? What did Fiona say?”

“She said you told her you carried Gray Wolf blood and you intended to become king.” She paused, cleared her throat. “She said you tried to talk her into being your consort.”

“That’s not true!” he flared.

“You never said that?” Raisa lifted her chin.

“Well.” Han looked down at his hands. “I did say something like that.”

“And yet I should trust you?” Despite her best efforts, Raisa’s voice cracked.

“She wanted me to kill you and your sister so she could make a play for the throne, all right?” Han said. “She’d be queen and she offered me consort. I just suggested maybe it should be the other way around. I didn’t mean for any of it to actually happen.”

The encircling wolves stirred, yipping softly.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Raisa growled. “Does Micah know Fiona wants to be queen?”

“I have no idea what Micah knows,” Han said. “You spend a lot more time with him than I do.”

Raisa bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Fiona said you gave Micah permission to court you.” Han cocked his head. “As long as we’re telling truths.”

Raisa came to her feet, cheeks burning, fists clenched. “I have no intention of marrying Micah Bayar.”

“Oh? So you’re allowed to believe what Fiona says about me, but I’m not supposed to believe what she says about you.”

“But you just admitted that you told her—”

“I figured if I said no, she’d just find somebody else to do the deed. I wanted to be on the inside so I’d have a chance of stopping her.” He paused. “Anyway, I thought I needed her help to be elected High Wizard. Something you asked me to do, Your Majesty.”