I reached for the food, for no other reason than to occupy my hands. Anouk sprinkled an autumn spice blend atop a soft cheese spread over a piece of toast. “Don’t call him that.”

I almost laughed—I’d always called him that. Anouk still defended him? “So . . . he’s innocent then?”

Murderous Mattias—the Murder Prince now turned Murder King—had been third in line for the crown. Then his eldest brother mysteriously disappeared and showed up dead a year later. His second brother died in a hunting “accident.” His own mother—the queen!—died giving birth to Mattias. And then mere months ago his father went to sleep healthy and was pronounced dead in the morning.

Mattias took the crown.

He had no respect among the people nor likely his own militairen, and it was no wonder.

Anouk returned her toast to the plate without taking a second bite. Her hand trembled and she swallowed twice before facing me with a grim exhale. “He married me because he thought I was the Wishtress. He thought I was you.”

My own toast tumbled to my lap. “Me?”

“The day you ran after Sven in the markt, militairen scouted out our booth. Someone had tipped them off that Oma was dealing in wishes. You weren’t there. For some reason they concluded that I was the Wishtress.”

King Mattias wanted a wish. More than that, he wanted to own the Wishtress . . . as his wife. Where he could use me as often as he desired. An endless supply of wishes. “Does he know you’re not . . . that I’m . . . ?”

“He knows now.” Anouk touched her cheek almost unconsciously. “For a while he thought I was simply trying to protect my secret. But then he found a Talented who could read other people’s Talents. The man confirmed I had none.”

“And he . . . kept you here?”

“I’m his wife. The new queen, Wishtress or not. There are still advantages to that. He married a commoner to gain the trust of his people and his council. An alliance of sorts with his own kingdom. It’s a wise move to start rebuilding trust.”

Yet he was still searching for the Wishtress. “Why does he want a wish?”

“I can only guess, but there are several reasons that make sense. I think he wants to find his father’s murderer to prove to the people he’s innocent. A wish would make that easy.”

The same way Coralythe used a wish that led her to her sons’ murderer. To me. Of course Anouk would think King Mattias wanted to clear his name—she was always inclined to think the best about people. I was not.

“I also think Mattias wants to destroy the Well of Talents,” Anouk added.