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Stavros leads me to the opposite apartment. Tinom nods to us from where he’s sitting at the table in the front room with a couple of the nobles who’ve joined our cause, but I feel his wary gaze follow me as we walk by on our way to the bedrooms.
He tried to insist that the royal children should each have a room to themselves in honor of their status, but Princess Klaudia and Prince Jacos preferred to share so they wouldn’t have to spend any time alone. Petra has taken the room across from theirs, though I suspect she spends a lot of time with her siblings all the same.
Right now, we enter after knocking and find the younger princess and prince standing with her at her vanity. She’s unfurled a map of the city and its surrounding area there.
At our entrance, all three look up—and Prince Jacos doesn’t quite stifle his wince when he catches sight of me. Princess Klaudia’s lips purse tighter.
My stomach clenches. They’ve never spoken against me in my presence, but it’s obvious they’re still not comfortable with me.
And I can’t blame them. It’s just a stark reminder that if it wasn’t for Petra, it’s unlikely I’d be welcome in this resistance movement at all.
Petra gives both of her siblings an affectionate squeeze of their arms and nudges them. “Why don’t you go back to your room and give all of this some more thought? We’ll discuss it again after I’ve heard Ivy’s report.”
Klaudia’s stance stiffens for a moment as if she means to protest, but any interest she has in being part of the conversation must be won over by her desire to get farther away from me. She and Jacos hurry out of the room.
Petra sits down at the vanity. Her dark eyes take me in, steady but pensive. “What news do you have?”
The regal tones I heard her bring out during her proclamation in the square have lingered. She’s becoming more a queen with every passing hour—and suddenly I’m not certain that’s a good thing.
I drag in a breath. My body tenses instinctively, but if I can’t be honest with her, there’s no point in supporting her at all.
“You may have an uphill battle to winning over most of Florian. I’m not sure you realize—you must have been somewhat isolated from the common folk even as a supposedly more distant royal…”
When I trail off, groping for the right way to phrase what I need to say, Petra’s voice softens. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, Ivy. I need to know.”
I can’t help folding my arms over my chest protectively. “In a lot of ways, your father… neglected the people whose support he didn’t need all that much. I saw it myself firsthand many times over. It was particularly bad in the outer wards—the Crown’s Watch would look the other way when corrupt merchants exploited the poor families there, because what mattered was who paid the most taxes. Most people who weren’t rich or noble born didn’t feel they could count on the Melchioreks in times of need.”
Some of the color fades beneath Petra’s tan skin, but she inclines her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know some of those things he simply washed his hands of, leaving decisions to the discretion of people like the leader of the Watch. But he should have paid more attention, and he should have been there when all his people needed him.”
Stavros clears his throat. “It’s a difficult balance, of course. Royals need to maintain some distance, or they’ll be pulled apart by all the demands. He did a lot of good, as many mistakes as he also made.” He shoots me an apologetic glance.
I wave my hand dismissively. “I’m not saying he didn’t. There have obviously been worse rulers. But, Petra, you need to convince everyone—or a lot of people, at least—that having you in charge would be better for them than waiting to see how the scourge sorcerers will rule.”
She grimaces. “They’re having children carved up to fuel their magic—they slaughtered all those clerics and devouts?—”
“They’ve been keeping the first part well-hidden,” I cut in. “And every ruler has killed their enemies. They’re convincing people that they’re only destroying those who were threats to our country.”
Petra’s jaw tightens. “I was born for this. I know I can do what’s best for Silana—for everyone in it. I can learn from Father’s mistakes. If they’ll give me a chance…”
She pauses and appears to compose herself again. “I suppose that means we need to come at the problem from two angles. One is exposing the truth about the scourge sorcerers so they’ll lose support, and the other is proving that I’m a better option so I’ll gain it. I think you may be better equipped to handle the former. For the latter, I’ll have to spend some time beyond the inner wards myself, seeing what’s become of our kingdom with open eyes.”
Stavros stiffens. “You can’t wander around the streets on your own. Lothar will have his people?—”
Petra holds up her hand to stop him. “I can use one of Tinom’s charms so no one will spot me. I’ve spent my whole life learning how to keep myself safe, Stavros. It’s about time I learned what the rest of my citizens need for their own well-being.”
She sounds confident enough that the worst of my doubts melt away. I don’t know how well she’ll hold up as she faces everything involved in ruling a country, but at least right now, she understands the problem.
She does care, no matter what people believe of her family.
Petra turns to me. “Whatever we find out, however we decide to approach this, we’ll need to bring more people onto our side to spread the word before we can hope to convince all of the city, let alone the country. You’ve lived in Florian your whole life, Ivy, and mingled with every level of society. Do you have any friends you could call on who’d be willing to take that first step of trust?”
Friends? I restrain a laugh, and a flicker of inspiration passes through my mind.
I hesitate before venturing a careful answer. “Not friends, but I am acquainted with some people of influence who’d be very handy allies… if I can persuade them that it’s in their best interests to stand up to Lothar and his Order.”
If they don’t slit my throat for simply daring to ask.
Twelve
