Page 166 of Grave Situation

“I gather Mother knows also?”

The queen shrugs, and it’s the third occupant of the room, the man sitting in an armchair, who replies. “Lady Silverbright is one of the queen’s closest advisors. We deemed it prudent to ensure she was aware of all the facts.”

I give Master Kathion a nod. I don’t know him well enough to have an opinion on him—he’s lived here at court my whole life, and the brief occasions we’ve met before were when I was too young to be intelligent. Talk at the academy paints him as a decent mage but mostly a political creature—there was never any doubt when he was there that he’d be going after a position as a court mage once he achieved mastery. But he’s been dedicated to serving Queen Nyana for more years than I’ve been alive, and rumor has it that he’s the one who introduced Mother to her. I wouldn’t say I’m ready to welcome him into the inner circle, but I can cautiously trust him.

I hope.

Of course, that’s all irrelevant if I can’t get Mother to stop crying long enough for us all to talk.

Bending my head to hers, I murmur, “Come now, it’s okay.”

She sucks in a jagged breath and looks up at me, her blue eyes wet and miserable. Tia and I got her coloring, but otherwise, we look more like our father’s family. Unfortunately for us. Mother is a noted beauty, and every spring, when young debutantes and courtiers flood into Harfarin, a whole new lot of poems and songs are written about her, even now that she’s older. Father is… not a beauty of any kind.

“She’s gone, Talon. How can she be gone? How do you bear it?”

I clench my teeth against the hot tears that rush to my eyes. The last thing this situation needs is both of us bawling. “I—” Istop and clear my throat, then look her squarely in the eye. “I bear it because she was dedicated to this mission, and I won’t disgrace her by giving up. I bear it because there is vengeance in my heart, and I will mete it out against those who are responsible for her death.” I take a breath. “I bear it because I have to, Mother. Because the alternative is to give up, to curl into a ball and wait for death to take me, and she would hate me for that. She would hate me for wasting the life she didn’t get to live.”

Her lower lip trembles. “It hurts, though. I-I wish I had been a better mother to her. I wish she’d known how I truly did l-l-l—” Her face contorts with another sob.

“It hurts,” I agree. “It guts me, and I can see it does you too. Tia knew you loved her, Mother. We both do.”

Her gaze searches my face, and finally, she nods. “You’ll avenge her?”

I’m surprised by the vicious intensity in her voice, but it makes me smile. “I have her dagger, and I’m going to use it on whoever is behind all this.”

Disentangling herself from my hold, she pats my chest. “Then I can leave it in your hands. You always were as stubborn as a rock.”

So much for our mother-son bonding moment.

As she reseats herself on the sofa and the queen takes her hand, Kathion clears his throat. “Your implication seems to be that you don’t believe your father and uncle are responsible for this.”

I turn to look at him. “They absolutely are responsible, and I’m confident my queen will deal with them as they deserve. But I don’t believe they aresolelyresponsible, or even in charge. My uncle isn’t motivated or skilled enough to learn this kind of magic on his own.”

“He’s as thick and lazy as a whole stack of bricks,” Mother says bluntly. “But he’s mean and greedy, and if someone came to him with promises of power and wealth and showed him what to do, he’d leap at the chance.” She grimaces. “Your father would as well.”

“Oh, I know. He did, in fact. I believe he knows more than what he’s told you.”

“So do we,” the queen says grimly. “But Kathion says I can’t torture him into talking.”

“That might work against you, ma’am,” I say as diplomatically as I can. Executing him once we prove his treason is one thing, but torturing her lover’s husband when he’s seemingly confessed to his wrongdoings would probably look bad in the eyes of the royal court. “Let me talk to him instead.”

All three of them turn doubting expressions on me. “You think he’s likely to tell you more? He knows about your mission—that alone is proof of his guilt, as he was never told by official sources,” Kathion points out. “Why do you think he’d be likely to spill secrets to the other side?”

“I don’t. But if I can get him talking, the stone will tell me what’s a lie and what we need to investigate further. I just need some hints.” I purse my lips. “I really want to know why the temples got involved in this.”

“The stone,” Kathion repeats with chagrin. “You have it with you?”

“It’s not the kind of thing I can leave lying around.” I reach into my shirt and pull out the pouch. “Would you like to see it?”

“Perhaps later,” the queen interrupts before Kathion can reply. “It might be best for you to speak with your father now, if you truly think you can learn something new. He won’t be prepared to see you, especially at this time of night.”

“That seems a wise move, Your Majesty.”

“Talon,” my mother says suddenly, “Commander Riverford said you flew here on a dragon. He was teasing, wasn’t he?”

Kathion’s brows rise. “I’m very interested to hear the answer to that myself.”

Fuck.

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