“Here’s a theory,” she said through her fingers. “Micah and Fiona returned home and told their father that I’d left Oden’s Ford and might be on my way back. That forced Bayar’s hand. He couldn’t take the risk that I’d show up and ruin everything. So he murdered the queen, my mother, and set a trap for me. If I stayed in the south, Mellony would have been crowned and married to Micah. Even if I showed up later, they’d have time to dig in so they’d be impossible to dislodge. If I were stubborn enough to stay and fight, they would have found a way to do away with me then. But, naturally, the best outcome was to make sure I’d never come back.”

“We have no proof of that, Briar Rose,” Willo said softly.

Raisa shook her head. “Just humor me here. If I were dead and there was no alternative, the clans would have to accept Mellony. So the Wizard Council probably assumed it was a good bet to proceed.”

“Your Highness, we would never—” Elena began.

“What choice would you have?” Raisa interrupted. “Who else would you get? My cousin Missy Hakkam?” Raisa shuddered. “Mellony would be the only surviving heir to the Gray Wolf line.”

They’d been outfoxed all along the way. They’d underestimated the ruthlessness of their enemies. If not for Edon Byrne and Hanson Alister, they would have won already.

They they they, Raisa thought. I have to be careful. As Willo says, we have no proof it was the Bayars. Not yet.

But who else could it be? Who else had an interest in seeing Mellony on the throne? Or was there another motivation she wasn’t seeing? Did she have enemies of her own? Gerard Montaigne, for instance. He would benefit from a vacuum of power in the Fells.

And if it was the Bayars, which Bayars? Was Micah involved?

Into the charged silence, Raisa said, “What are people saying? In the palace and in the streets?”

“There is some gossip,” Averill said. He stopped, searching Raisa’s face for permission to go on. “There is talk within the close, Your Highness, that the queen took her own life,” he said. “There is talk that she had been drinking to excess. This talk is widespread and persistent.”

I wonder how that got started, Raisa thought bitterly. Listen and learn. Show any sign of weakness, and your enemies will pounce.

“And…outside the close?” Raisa asked.

“People are worried,” Averill said. “They know that you are missing, and they wonder what will happen now. They don’t know anything about Mellony, while you have considerable support among the working classes. Because of the Briar Rose Ministry.”