“Is this true?” asks the Minister of Justice.
Queen Damascena shakes her head. “He’s in denial—”
“Tell the truth,” Prince Kevon barks.
The room falls silent, but some of the ministers exchange nervous glances. Prince Kevon steps back into the room, holding me to his chest. “I apologize for the outburst, ministers. My mother is clearly distraught and clinging onto her dwindling power. I found Mr. and Mrs. Calico, along with their twin sons, detained in Fort Meeman-Shelby.”
That was on Lady Circi’s orders, as she was trying to keep them safe from any uprising following the awful things Queen Damascena ordered me to say to Rugosa.
The guards attempt to walk around the general, but he pulls out a baton that glows with blue power.
“I can prove that Zea-Mays Calico killed your father.” Queen Damascena backs toward the door.
Everybody stiffens, including Prince Kevon. A breath catches in the back of my throat. I’ve only seen the king alive once, and that was in the hospital infirmary with Prince Kevon when the older man was already on the brink of death.
“Mother.” Prince Kevon’s voice is breathy with exasperation. “Of all the outrageous accusations—”
“Arias liked to disguise himself as a guard to roam Phangloria.” The words spill from her lips faster than I have ever heard her speak. “He was the guard who slew the father of Ryce Wintergreen. Miss Calico was the witness.”
The guards march Queen Damascena toward a side exit, but General Ridgeback blocks the doorway.
“Wait.” The Minister of Justice rises from her seat. “I wish to hear this theory.”
“As you wish, but our future queen seeks medical attention.” Prince Kevon continues out of the room into a vast entrance hall.
Morning sunlight streams in through glass windows located close to the ceiling of a four-stories-tall lobby that takes up more floor space than four Harvester homes and their gardens.
On our left, marble floors and stone walls lead to a huge archway where guards in black armor man the entrances and hold scanners to the Nobles’ Amstraad ear cuffs.
The Nobles passing us bow to Prince Kevon, and a few furrow their brows.
“Your Highness.” A woman wearing the white coat of a doctor appears from our right, holding a remote. “Please return to the observation room.”
Prince Kevon walks past her without a word, so I don’t get to see her face. Garrett walks at his side, and I let my eyelids flutter closed. I’m safe for now, but Prince Kevon will discover the truth, and I don’t know how he will react.
His pulse calms, making me also relax. The worst outcome would be a life in the Barrens, just as he banished Vitelotte for stabbing him through the heart, but I’ve hurt him so many times that he might not show me mercy.
“I’m sorry, Zea.” Prince Kevon gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “If you can persevere for three more days, the Hierophant will perform the wedding and elevate you above—”
His body goes rigid, and the arm hooked under my hamstrings goes slack, and my feet hit the hard floor. He bends over double and groans, balancing my upper body on his arm.
My breath quickens, and I swallow several times in quick succession. What’s happening?
“Your Majesty.” The doctor lowers herself to eye level and stares at us through gray-blue eyes set within delicate features. It’s Berta’s mother, Dr. Ridgeback, and she has the same ash-blonde hair as her daughter. “Please return to the observation room at once.”
He raises his head. “Take Zea away.”
Garrett pulls me into his arms.
My gaze darts to the doctor, who keeps a hand in the deep pocket of her white coat. Her fingers move, making Prince Kevon groan even louder and fall to the marble floor. She’s doing this. I want to scream at Garrett, at the guards to go after Dr. Ridgeback, to notice what she’s doing and snatch the remote from her fingers, but they gather around Prince Kevon.
Bullets ring through the air, and each of the guards surrounding the prince fall. Garrett spins around. A group of masked women in black rush toward us, each pointing machine guns. They drag Prince Kevon back into the room.
My stomach heaves. They look just like the assassins that visited my home.
One of them points her gun at Garrett. “Get inside and bring the girl.”
“Sorry, Zea,” Garrett mutters and walks back into the room.
Someone else slumps in my former seat, but his head is bowed and I only catch a glimpse of his features as one of the women forces Garrett to sit at a seat in the back row next to Prince Kevon.
“Welcome back,” says Queen Damascena. “You’re in time to hear from our next witness. This is Tauric Krim, Miss Calico’s supervisor in the tomato fields.”
My heart races. I don’t know if Krim is a Red Runner, but he knows all about that guard I attacked.
The queen turns to the ministers and beams. “The second time Miss Calico met King Arias, he visited her tomato field and tried to abduct her friend.”
A breath hisses through my teeth. She’s lying. That guard I poisoned couldn’t have been the king. Krim would have noticed. Forelle would have mentioned something. The guards would never have wasted time on arresting illegal brewers of alcohol if a Harvester had hurt King Arias. Queen Damascena is patching together snippets of truth to create a lie because she can’t prove I leaked information about palace security.
Prince Kevon groans, and Garrett shifts in his seat to check on his cousin. I finally get to see the prince, who slumps on a chair, still clutching his chest. Huge beads of sweat cling to his brow, and his breaths quicken.
“Prince Kevon needs help,” Garrett shouts.
A few of the ministers sitting in the seats in front glare at Garrett over their shoulders, but they don’t raise the alarm. My heart shatters. Maybe they think he’s better off dead. At least I now understand why Queen Damascena permitted the surgeon to graft synthetic
