On the afternoon after her meeting with Micah, Raisa sought out Mellony in her suite of rooms in the Queen’s Tower. She had to talk to her sister about Micah—sooner rather than later. It was a conversation she dreaded.

Leaving her guard in the corridor, Raisa entered her sister’s sunny sitting room—only to find Mellony and Missy Hakkam at a table by the window, playing cards.

Bones, Raisa thought. She was in no mood to deal with Missy.

“Your Majesty!” they chorused, rose and curtsied. Missy returned to her seat, but Mellony crossed to Raisa and embraced her, kissing her cheek. Ever since the news had come about Han’s death, her younger sister had treated Raisa like a fragile piece of Tamric spun glass.

“Would you like to play with us, Raisa?” Mellony asked eagerly. “It might take your mind off…everything.”

“Magret won’t even play with us anymore,” Missy said, throwing down her cards. “And if we make Caterina play, she cheats.”

“What does it matter if you aren’t playing for money?” Raisa said.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Missy said.

“Everybody’s tired,” Raisa said. “Magret and Caterina have been taking shifts on the walls. If anybody has any spare time, they spend it sleeping.”

“I worked in the kitchen yesterday,” Missy said, with a martyr’s air. “My father insisted, said I had to set an example. It was ghastly hot, and I broke a nail scrubbing burnt barley out of the cooking pot. There’s no way to make barley palatable anyway.”

Stung into honesty, Raisa muttered, “Well, you won’t have to worry about that too much longer. We’re nearly out.”

“Thank the Lady,” Missy said. “I don’t care if I never eat barley again.”

Until you’re starving, Raisa thought. She’d just heard a series of bleak reports about their food supply. It might last another week if they were careful. And then what?

“I rather like working in the kitchens,” Mellony said. “I’ve never done much cooking, and I’m learning a lot. Mistress Barkleigh is a good teacher, if you show that you’re willing to work. She says that anyone who oversees a household should know her way around a kitchen.”

Missy rolled her eyes. “Mistress Barkleigh is an ill-tempered witch. Anyway, maybe surrender wouldn’t be so bad. Arden is a civilized country, not so very different from us. King Gerard may honor the claims of landholders here. He’ll need thanes to manage the—”

“When Montaigne took Tamron Court, there was a massacre,” Raisa snapped. “His soldiers rampaged through the city, raping and pillaging. The southern attitude toward women is different than what you are used to.”

Missy’s eyes went wide. “I don’t believe that! Anyway, General Klemath will prevent that from happening. He wouldn’t possibly—”