Page 98 of His Realm

“Yes. Even though his children are free to return to the palace, Messina gives them no office, no place at his side, no promise to rise at court.”

“You thought, maybe, with Varic dead, Messina would have no choice but to look to his other living sons.”

“But that doesn’t help her,” Cirillo chimed in. “Chryos is Cassius’s son.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, keeping her secret, shooting her a pointed look. “And if Messina ever did look to his bastards to rule, there is always Alrek first.”

“Alrek would need to be found first,” Carice said, “and I suspect he never will be.”

“You’re in error,” Cirillo corrected her. “Varic brought him back to the palace.”

She appeared stunned. “I hadn’t heard.”

“It seems to me,” Keres said with a wry smile, “that unless you are the prince’s consort, there at his side, there is much to miss.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Varic,” I told Carice. “You saw Ødger shift. You think he could ever challenge the prince?”

“No, but the cadoc states that any of the royal line may call for a challenge to the prince before he sits on the throne. That could be Decimus himself or even Balon. I don’t know if the cadoc was called, and I am sorry for my part in all this.”

“Just so you know, if Varic ever died, perhaps they would look to Alrek, but I doubt it, and Chryos is Cassius’s son, true, but no one would want you as regent,” I assured her. “The king could present a new heir, but the council will have to approve. The queen advises the council, and you know her feelings for you. Not to mention, Countess Sabira Minsi, who directs the council, has her own concerns regarding courtesans.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “All that should have been considered before I acted so rashly, but all I could think of was that had Cassius lived, as his only child, Chryos would have sat upon the throne before Varic.”

“Had Cassius lived, he would have returned to Nerilla. I know this absolutely because of what he told Varic as he lay dying.”

“He was lost in sentiment,” she railed at me.

“Yes. For his true love. He made certain that she, not you, would receive the ashes of his heart. You have to see that for what it was.”

“No.” She was adamant.

“Yes,” I reiterated. “Chryos would have never sat on the throne. Cassius’s child with Nerilla would have been the true heir.”

“Nerilla might not have borne a child,” she shot back at me.

“That’s madness,” Cirillo scolded her. “He gave you Chryos. Had Cassius returned to Nerilla’s bed, of course there would have been a child.”

Caught in a web of her own making, she stared at me. “You said you will never like me. I feel the same.”

“Good. It’s important to know where we both stand.”

She pressed her hands together tight. “Speak plainly now. Will Chryos always be welcome in Varic’s court?”

“Always,” I promised.

“Even if my punishment is more than banishment?”

“Always,” I repeated. “He’s Varic’s nephew.”

“He’s more than that,” she whispered, and we both knew that to be true. Chryos was the king’s son, not Cassius’s, which made him Varic’s half brother, just as Alrek was.

“May I sit with the rest of you?” Carice asked.

“Of course. You don’t need to ask.”

She squinted at me. “But we’re not friends.”

“Neither are we enemies.”