Page 111 of Rule of Wolves

“Only because I’m trying to find the right peach silk for my gown.”

Yenye lifted a brow and ran her hand through the white streak in her hair. “It’s because Makhi’s presumed heir died in that horrible blight.”

Princess Ehri gasped. “She was only eight years old.”

Yenye touched her hand to her hair again. “I … I didn’t mean to be callous. I only meant…”

Kheru swallowed a bite of plum. “You meant that I would take a child’s death as an opportunity for Makhi to name me her heir.”

“Don’t tell me it didn’t cross your mind,” said Yenye.

“It did,” Kheru admitted. “But Makhi won’t name any of us.”

“There are rumors, though,” Yenye said slyly. “About you, sweet Ehri.”

Ehri kept her eyes on her unfinished plums. “Oh?”

“Rumors that you’ve returned without a Ravkan husband because you wish to challenge Makhi.”

“What foolishness,” said Ehri. “You all know I’ve never wanted to rule. I would happily sit on a hilltop on the coast and watch the waves roll in and tend to my garden like Grandmother.”

“Then why try to marry the Ravkan king in the first place?”

“Because Makhi is the queen and she commanded me to.” She met their gazes, one then the other. “And we must all do as the queen commands.”

There were murmurs of agreement, and in time, the sisters finished their tea and went on their way, no doubt to dissect every word that had been exchanged.

When the door closed behind them, Ehri leaned against it with a sigh. “I can tell you don’t approve, Mayu.”

Mayu had no reason to deny it. “This was your chance to court them, to win them to your side and tell them what the queen attempted.”

“Mayu, my sisters have even less influence than I.” Ehri contemplated the vase full of orange roses that she had placed at the center of the tea table before her sisters arrived. “They would either take Makhi’s side or they would use the conflict between us to make their own bid for the throne, and that would leave Shu Han vulnerable.”

“Are they so ambitious?”

Ehri considered. She plucked a petal that had begun to lose its freshness and crumpled it in her palm. “No. None are born schemers. None were groomed for the throne. But power is compelling, and we’re better off keeping our secrets.”

Mayu watched the princess. “Are you close to your sisters?”

“The way that kebben are? No. I love them, but we’ve never fought.”

“Never?”

“Not really. Oh, we squabbled. I think all sisters do. But we’ve never had a proper fight. Because we never trusted the love we had to carry us through. We have always been very polite with one another. What are you smiling at?”

“I’m thinking of Reyem. The way we used to scream at each other. He bit me once. Hard enough to draw blood.”

“Bit you?”

“I did deserve it. I shaved one of his eyebrows off in his sleep.”

Ehri laughed. “What a monster you must have been.”

“I really was.” But thinking of Reyem was too painful. “He was never mean to me, and he had every chance to be spiteful. My parents favored him, but he always shared—his books, his sweets. He wanted to see me happy.”

“That’s kebben,” Tamar said, entering the room and helping herself to a slice of plum. “One of us cannot be happy if the other is suffering.”

“Then … you understand what I had to do? Why I took Makhi’s mission?”