Page 38 of The Kingdom's Crown

My hands clenched to fists in my lap, and I twisted to face Thao, shaking my head. "I don't know."

* * *

It tooktwo days and my grandmother's demand before the queen would leave her chambers.

She arrived to my grandmother's bedchamber nearly an hour late and with three of her Chosen surrounding her.

"Peony," my grandmother snapped, but her voice was growing wearier by the day. "We said this would be private."

My mother blinked and cocked her head, and it took her several moments before she turned and glanced at the men at her side. "Oh. But surely you didn't mean—"

"Surely I did," Grandmother said, eyeing her daughter impatiently.

"Her Majesty has been greatly aggrieved since her lady-in-waiting left her service," one of the men said.

Grandmother growled but fell into coughing, and I frowned at my mother, waiting for her to meet my gaze. "You mean since the Goddards ordered their maid to try and stab me to death?"

It had been days, and there'd been not one word of concern from my mother after the attack. I knew she'd been assured of my safety, but I'd expected…anything, any tiny show of her worry.

"Oh, we don't know that, Bryony," my mother gasped, striding forward. "That girl might say anything to place the blame elsewhere."

I opened my mouth to say I'd forced the truth out of the girl, Lily, and then snapped it shut again with a glance at my mother's Chosen. I wasn't sure I wanted them to know how I'd used the Hunger. Camellia seemed to misunderstand her power, my grandmother had and so surely my mother did too, which meant so might anyone else.

"Wait outside," my grandmother said to the men after clearing her creaking throat. "Vincent will entertain you, I'm sure."

My mother gasped in dismay, turning to watch her Chosen leave the room, clearly bereft. "You know I trust them implicitly," my mother said, frowning at us.

"I don't. I find myself less and less trusting by the hour," Grandmother muttered.

My mother huffed and rolled her eyes, glancing at me with something in her expression that said 'isn't she ridiculous?' I only turned away. I'd never expected to be aligned with my grandmother's strict and demanding personality. I'd always considered myself like my mother. Kindly and sweet. I was learning that my mother was sympathetic but not empathetic. She pitied those who were unhappy, but she didn'tfeelwith them.

She crossed to us, sitting on the bed at my grandmother's side, her knees bumping against mine. She reached for my hands, and I had a fleeting impulse to pull away, but then her soft touch was on me, squeezing gently.

"You poor thing, how stressful. And it just breaks my heart to see you this way, Mother. Everything has just been terrible for us lately, hasn't it? Bryony I am sogladyou have Chosen now to comfort you."

I wasn't sure what to say to the messy, weak sentiments of my mother, but there was one simple answer I could give. "I am very grateful to have found men who are so supportive to share my thoughts and troubles with."

"Oh yes! That's just what I hoped for you. But with a great deal less trouble of course. Howcouldsomeone ever wish to harm you, I can't imagine it!"

I glanced at my grandmother, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed on my mother. Emory had been my only solid proof against the council wanting me dead until now, and he was useless to the argument now that I'd killed him. And Head Guard Amos was right to doubt my sister's attempt on my life according only to Sam. But I knew before I'd left for the north that my mother had wanted me to be the one to take the crown. There had to be a reason for that.

"And Camellia? Can you imagine why any of her Chosen might wish to harm her?" I asked.

My mother went pale, her eyes flicking back and forth between me and Grandmother. "You know," she said, a soft and sorrowful sigh.

"I'm afraid I've learned a great deal about Camellia and her Chosen," I said.

My mother fixed her stare on Grandmother then. "I was mistaken on many matters. Hoping that Camellia would grow out of her spoiled nature was one of those," my grandmother admitted slowly.

"We did think…for a time, that she was only learning her control," my mother said, frowning with a hint of a pout.

"She was,is, abusing it," I said.

"Yes," my mother said, nodding, and I sighed with relief. "Oh, Bryony. You know, you must of course, that I am so relieved you've found your Hunger and your Chosen. There should be no obstacle for you now."

"Aside from attempts on her life, you mean," Grandmother grumbled.

"Well, yes, but I simply can'timagine—"

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