“Eight to four in favour of a state visit,” said Savine, making a neat little note. “High Consul Flassenbeck, would you summon the Styrian ambassador so we can advance a formal invitation to King Jappo? Then Lady Selest, could you liaise with my private secretary Zuri on an agenda for the talks—”

“What the fuck?” snarled Leo, spraying spit.

Another silence, even more awkward than the last. Savine went on writing for a moment, then looked up from her papers. “Perhaps the Closed Council might give His Highness and I a moment to confer?”

By the speed they scrambled from their seats, they were desperate to do exactly that.

With one nervous backward glance, Selest dan Heugen pulled the door to the White Chamber shut, leaving Savine alone with her husband.

She could not help shifting in that uncomfortable bloody chair at a sudden pang. With impeccable timing, her menses had come for the first time since she fell pregnant and just as painfully as ever, the familiar dull ache through her belly and down the backs of her thighs with an occasional sharp twinge into her arse by way of light relief. As she always used to, she struggled with every muscle to look perfectly relaxed, and forced her grimace into an expression of quiet dignity.

“Do you think I’ll let you steal this from me?” whispered Leo, white with fury.

Savine had no doubt that he had become a very dangerous man. She remembered seeing him stab Lord Marshal Forest in the chest without a hint of hesitation. But she had faced dangerous men before. Preparation was the key. That and never backing down.

“Steal this? The Union, you mean?” Savine spoke slowly, precisely, like a schoolteacher explaining arithmetic to a pupil prone to tantrums. Perhaps that would only enrage him further. She rather hoped so. “It is not yours, Leo. It belongs to our son, the king. We are merely the caretakers. The joint caretakers.”

He clawed at the table, catching some papers and crushing them in his trembling fist. He might only have the one that worked, but she knew how strong it still was. “Get out,” he snarled through gritted teeth.

Savine set her jaw. “Let me be blunt. You will beat me in a foot race before you remove me from this chamber.”

“I am in command here—”

“Are you sure? I begin to think you did not read the Open Council’s Grand Declaration very carefully. I wrote it carefully, I promise you that. It gives me exactly the same rights, privileges and powers as you. Matters of policy are decided by votes in this council and, as you see, the strong majority are on my side.”

“Then I’ll remove them.”

“Until His Majesty reaches his majority you cannot remove them without my approval, as I could not appoint them without yours.”

“Then I’ll march a company of soldiers in here!” He had become even paler. The skull-like rings around his eyes reminded her more than was comfortable of her father. But while her father had done awful things, he had stopped short of having heroic paintings made of them. “We’ll see which way these bastards vote with drawn swords at their necks.”