Their Hidden Princess novel · Chapter 26 of 32

Chapter 26: Crown Moon Eve

Maudie didn't lower the candlestick.

"Say that a bit louder," she said. "I don't think the whole tower heard."

Clarice stepped inside and shut the door herself.

Up close, the handprint was worse. Her uncle had a ring on that hand.

"He did that?" I asked.

"In the passage behind the high table." She touched her lip. "He said a niece who can't keep an Ingleby is a niece he doesn't need."

"Sit down," I said.

"I'd rather stand."

"Sit down before you fall down, Clarice."

She sat on Maudie's bed.

Maudie made a face, but she let it go.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Everybody wants something. You told me that at the gate."

"I wanted a name and a husband and my uncle's good opinion." She laughed, and it hurt her lip. "Look how well that went."

She looked at the window.

"In two nights he marries you, or he burns this place down looking. Either way he's King in all but name by spring. And I'm the niece who knew and didn't tell him."

"So you'll tell the Council what he is," I said.

"I'll tell them what I saw."

"What did you see?"

She took a breath.

"The night the taster died, my uncle went up the west stair after the midnight bell. I was on the landing below. He came down alone, ten minutes later, carrying a little leather case."

My skin went cold.

"Where is it now?"

"In the cedar box on his desk." She looked at me. "Under your scarf."

Nobody said anything.

"And in return?" I asked.

"Nothing," Clarice said. "I told you. I want nothing from you."

"Then you'll get it," I said. "No pardon. No place at court. Nothing."

"Fine."

"And you'll tell all of it. Not just the case. The draught from Lysander's sill. The apron in Maudie's trunk. In the great hall. In front of everyone who watched her tied to that post."

Clarice's jaw tightened.

She looked at Maudie.

Maudie looked back, the candlestick still in her hand.

"You put me on a post," Maudie said quietly. "In my bare feet."

Clarice's eyes dropped first.

"Yes," she said. "I'll say it."

She left the way she came.

Maudie stood at the door until her steps were gone.

"I don't trust her," she said.

"Neither do I."

"Good. Then we agree. I'm going to sleep with a hammer."

The next day was the last one.

Crown Moon Eve.

Nobody ate breakfast. Varrick's guards stood at every door. The Council lords kept to the guest wing, and the cooks were roasting a whole ox for a wedding feast.

My wedding feast.

At dusk I found Lysander and Roan on the cliff path above the boathouse.

The lake was going purple. The moon was coming up over the far shore, one night off full.

"We've talked," Lysander said.

"Without me?"

"About you. It's allowed." He tried to smile and didn't quite manage. "Roan has a plan."

"It's not a plan," Roan said. "It's the law."

He looked at me.

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