Page 83 of A War of Crowns

Young Seraphina frowned.“But how can I win if I can’t see what card you played, Mama, until I’ve already played my own?”

Hamon groaned,“Thisisa girl’s game.”

Silvia chuckled at them both. It was to young Seraphina she directed her next words, though, when she reminded her,“If you know your opponent, my love, you will always be able to anticipate what card they will play next.”

“But I won’t know what cards they have in their hand unless I peek,”young Seraphina complained.

“And that’d be cheating,”Hamon declared, ever the stickler for the rules.

Their mother smiled.“Yes, thatwouldbe cheating. But if you can’t guess what cards they might have in their hand, just play the strongest card you have, sweetheart. You’re guaranteed to win if you do that.”

The memory faded about the edges, the colors bleeding into one another like a watercolor painting caught in the rain. But Seraphina watched on as long as she could, desperately drinking in every detail.

The way the sunlight spilled in through the window and caught her mother’s chestnut hair. The way she laughed. The way she smiled. The way she dealt each hand of cards while they played Sovereign long into the evening.

Who are you?

That question flitted through her mind yet again as the world slowly returned to Seraphina’s view. She was back within that painted pavilion on Nerina Reef, standing next to Sir Tristan’s cot with her Queensguard and godparents surrounding her.

“Your Majesty?” Duchess Edith asked from where she stood directly before her, gentle hands cupping her cheeks. “Are you well?”

Seraphina felt a single tear slip from the corner of her eye as she met her godmother’s green gaze. Concern shone there as the older woman searched her face.

Seraphina did her best to muster a smile. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m well.”

But she wasn’t. Not truly.

Seeing her mother again had ripped open wounds she thought had long since healed. Her heart ached all over again with the hole Silvia de la Croix’s passing had left behind. It had been so long ago. Surely, it shouldn’t hurt this badly still.

But there were some wounds that no amount of time could fully heal.

Drawing in a deep breath, Seraphina set aside all those old hurts. She delicately pulled herself from her godmother’s hold and wiped her own cheeks clean.

“Perhaps you should sit down,” Duchess Edith softly suggested.

But Seraphina shook her head. She couldn’t rest now.

There was too much work to be done.

“Your Grace?” Seraphina prompted, looking to her godfather next. Duke Percival raised his eyebrows, concern plainly written on his own features. “Send for my lawyers, please. And tell them to prepare for a long night.”

Duke Percival shared a quick look with his wife. “Does this mean…we have a plan, Your Majesty?”

Seraphina glanced past her godparents and affirmed, “Yes, we have a plan.”

Across that small distance, she met Tsukiko’s gaze. And though no further words were exchanged between them, she felt as though they had finally reached an understanding.

A shared, unspoken sorrow.

There they stood, two women who had lost their mothers at too young an age. And yet, their mothers had sought to impart powerful lessons to them both before their deaths.

That of strength.

And that of strategy.

She knew who she was. She was the daughter of Silvia de la Croix, the greatest Sovereign player she had ever known.

And she knew how to best Edmund Hargrave at his own game.

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