"The king's visit," Louisa said, watching his face in the mirror as he worked. "The plan as it stood depended entirely on Kraven being what the reports said he was. A young man whose only notable qualities were his worst ones."
She paused.
"We cannot present Marcus as the preferable heir against an archmage. The King will ask questions we cannot answer without revealing things we cannot afford to reveal."
"I know," Liam said.
The last tie was secured. He dropped his hands and stepped back.
Louisa looked at herself in the mirror. The new dress was better—darker, more structured, the kind of thing that suited a serious afternoon in a contested castle.
"So what do we do?" she asked.
Liam moved back to the table and sat.
He looked at the backyard again, at the gardeners and the afternoon light falling all over the duchy.
