“This is what Hava and Giddon would’ve found,” she said, “had they known how to open the hidden drawers in my father’s desk.”

“Katu’s ring,” said Bitterblue.

Lovisa was astonished. “You know my uncle’s ring?”

Bitterblue glanced once, thoughtfully, into Lovisa’s face. “I know your uncle,” she said. “He visited my court a while back, for rather a long time. The first time I saw you, in fact, I thought of him, because of your hair.”

“Oh, of course,” said Lovisa, remembering Katu’s stories about visiting the Monsean queen. Irrationally resentful, suddenly, of their time together in a place Lovisa had never been. “His ring made that much of an impression on you?”

Bitterblue shrugged with one small shoulder. “Rings matter to the Lienid. Do you know what happened to him? Have you heard from him since he started traveling?”

“He hasn’t written,” said Lovisa, who no longer had any doubt about why. “And he’s been drawing money from his bank using checks in places like Kamassar and Borza, but I also found these in the desk.” She fished Katu’s identification papers and checkbook from her coat pocket and passed them into the queen’s hands.

The queen examined this new evidence soberly. “It doesn’t look good.”

“I’m sure he’s dead,” said Lovisa, her voice flat and hard.

“I’m holding out hope until we know for certain.”

“Oh? And how exactly will we ever know? Do you think they erected a sign over his body or something?”

Bitterblue’s eyes touched Lovisa’s with a kind of gentleness that irritated Lovisa further. “I intend to learn every single detail of what’s going on,” said the queen. “I believe it’s a story that touches my own kingdom, which means I need to know.”

“Why should Katu’s murder touch your kingdom?” said Lovisa, with a sudden, vicious stab of jealousy. “He’s not your uncle.”

“I think he was murdered because he knew about things that touch my kingdom.”

“What things, then?”

The queen hesitated. “Lovisa,” she said, “how much do you want to know?”

Lovisa’s fingers closed so tightly over Katu’s ring that it hurt her palm. “What you mean by that is that my parents have done even more bad things, besides kidnapping you, murdering Pari, and probably Katu.”

“Yes,” said Bitterblue.

Lovisa stared at her hand. At the way her knuckles showed a paler brown because of how hard she was holding Katu’s ring. She’d heard them arguing, after all. Her parents had had some kind of plan. Her father had been hiding something important in a banker’s box. The Estillan envoy had been involved.

“I’ll have to know eventually,” she said dully. “It’s not like I can live my life never knowing.”

“How about I promise to tell you what I know,” said Bitterblue, “but not right now?”