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Some small part of me had known, but still, doubts had plagued me.

He didn’t fall.

When he’d leaped to my defense, he had no idea he was a divine being.In that moment, he’d been prepared to die for me. How was that possible unless…

The mark on my throat. Was it some kind of sacred claim? Was Victor Custodis—the lost king—my mate?

My heart seized, and tears burned my eyes.

Oh, Yaga. Did you know?

The weight of Idris’s calculating gaze chewed into my flesh. Too late, I schooled my reaction.

“I know an illusion when I see one.” My voice wavered. “That image means nothing to me.”

Idris’s cruel smirk warned he didn’t believe my denial. “Tell me what he’s planning.”

“He doesn’t confide in me.” The false king couldn’t know about the temple.

Idris heaved a deep sigh of annoyance that had the hairs along my nape prickling. “I suppose you leave me no choice, then.” He stepped back. “Guards.”

As if they’d been instructed in advance, Idris’s milky-eyed guards relieved me of my chains, dragging me behind their false king, up many levels of stairs, and down dozens of hallways until at last we reached the throne room.

Standing beside the sacred arbor was Raelynn, confirming this must have been Idris’s plan all along.

Except the brief look of confusion on Raelynn’s face indicated she wasn’t in the know. As her eyes shifted from Idris to me, her scowl tightened with betrayal.

Ah, were mommy and daddy fighting? Too bad.

Idris settled his royal posterior onto the seat of his throne, and the guards dragged me before him.

Raelynn peered down her nose as if she’d stepped into a pile of bula dung. “What isshedoing here?”

Apprehension tugged at my insides. The presence of the ailing tree reached for me, and I was helpless not to answer. The kingdom’s power twisted around me. Its essence was bitter instead of sweet, tainted with darkness. With pain. Our great tree was sick. That illness spread into everything it touched. Even me.

“Now, now, dear.” Idris tsked. “Is that any way to greet your sister?”

Raelynn sneered in return. Once more, I found myself wishing her face would freeze. “That gutter rat is no sister to me.”

I forced my lips into the sweetest of smiles. “On this, we agree. I do not consort with traitors.”

Rage flashed in Raelynn’s milky-violet eyes. She raised her hand, allowing purple energy to crackle in her palm.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Idris taunted, clearly enjoying his queen’s reaction. “No need to fight, ladies. There is plenty of room for both of you.”

Breath seized in my lungs. He couldn’t mean…

Raelynn tensed as well, snapping, “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am,” Idris sang. “Runa has information I need and is proving uncooperative.”

Raelynn took an aggressive step forward, raising her clenched fists. “Then beat it out of her.”

“Oh, come now.” Idris fluttered a bejeweled hand. “We are more civilized than that. Besides, you know how stubborn she can be. She reminds me of you in that way, darling.”

Raelynn pursed her lips, tilting her chin. “What do you propose?”

“Only that we bring her into the fold,” Idris answered.