Ana’s gaze flicked to the pictures on the table. ‘What did happen next?’

‘How does one force a man to realise that he’s taking away the future of a people?’ Casimir said bleakly. ‘It’s very simple, really. You take away his future and you try to make him compromise. But they made a mistake, the people who came for Claudia and for me. They only took one of us.’

‘Why?’

‘Because they couldn’t find me. Such a stupid thing, really. They had someone on the inside, a palace guard, and had chosen their time carefully. It was dusk. We were always allowed to play in the maze garden in the hour before dinner, and dinner was always served at dusk. The kidnappers expected to find me and my sister both. Unfortunately for them, I’d gone to the kitchen to get a jar to put a dragonfly in. Claudia had caught one and wanted to show Tomas before releasing it again. She was a gentle soul, my sister. She was seven years old, I was ten and I should never have left her alone in that garden.’

‘Surely no one blamed you?’ Ana couldn’t comprehend anyone blaming Claudia’s abduction on him. ‘Where were all the other palace guards?’

‘Absent. In on it. Diverted from the scene. Take your pick.’

Oh.

‘The first ransom demand came within hours. Generous water rights for the mountain tribes in return for my sister’s release. My father refused to negotiate. The next demand was accompanied by Claudia’s hair. They offered to return Claudia in return for him. He refused. The demand after that was accompanied by Claudia’s dress. Me for my sister. My father laughed at that one, and refused them yet again. And then they got creative.’ His voice held an echo of old despair. ‘That’s not common knowledge.’

‘Those choices weren’t choices,’ she said bluntly.

‘The first one was. He wouldn’t even negotiate. All the recommended procedures. He didn’t follow any of them.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I was there.’

‘You were ten. I can’t imagine you were included in every briefing.’

Casimir smiled bitterly. You’d be surprised. My father was big on having me learn by example.’

‘And what did you learn?’

‘That I will never be like him. No matter how hard he tried to mould me in his image, I am my own man. I would have traded water rights for Claudia and to hell with my pride and my fury. I’d have negotiated.’

He stood, head bent, as if staring at the photos and newspaper clippings on the desk, but she didn’t think he was seeing any of it. ‘What did your mother think?’

‘I’ll never know. She took to her rooms the day Claudia’s dress arrived and reappeared six months later, brain addled and addicted to sedatives. Didn’t even manage to get out of bed the day of my sister’s memorial service.’

Ana tried to imagine sending Sophia out to face a day like that while Ana stayed in bed and pulled the covers over her head. One child was gone, sure enough, but the other one had been right there and hurting, and very much at the mercy of a ruthless king.

‘She wasn’t a strong woman,’ Casimir offered quietly. ‘But I loved her very much.’

God. She didn’t know how to comfort this man, didn’t think he’d accept it if it wasn’t cloaked in sex. But she wanted to help him, truly she did. And she wanted, more than anything, to spirit him away from all of the grief spread out in front of him.

‘I’ve waited a long time for the crown, Anastasia. I aim to create a bright and prosperous future for all of Byzenmaach’s children, and if that means dealing once again with my sister’s kidnappers I’ll do it. If it means admitting how I wronged you all those years ago and offering to do what I can to fix that now, I’ll do it. It’s not wrong to want to fix what is broken.’

So fierce, this new king for a new age.

So very, very alone.

‘I think you should release these three pictures to the press.’ She pointed towards three photos that had already been set to one side. ‘And then I think you should get someone, or several someones, to put this stuff away. Then I think you should help me wrap Lor’s pastries in a picnic basket and take me halfway up the mountain to where the watch fire used to burn. I want to sit on a rock in this Godforsaken place and look around me and see everything there is to see. I want you to show me the beauty in it.’