Page 112 of Reign

“If you don’t hate me, why did you send all those emails?” Daphne demanded.

“Whatemails?”

“The ones where you threatened me to break up with Jefferson or you’d tell everyone about me and Ethan!”

Daphne’s self-control had finally snapped, and those last words came out a bit too loud. Silence echoed through the room.

“You hooked up with Ethan?” Sam asked. “Before you and Jeff started dating?” Surely that was what Daphne meant, because if not…

Daphne’s face fell. For the first time she seemed uncertain. “I tracked the emails to your laptop.”

“I haven’t used my laptop in months. I do everything on my phone,” Sam protested, flustered.

Daphne braced her palms on the seat next to her. “Well, then, your laptop must have been stolen. Because whoever has it is harassing me.”

Sam paused, thinking back. “I last saw it in my car beforethe League of Kings conference, and my car has been here in Washington the whole time. I lent it—”

She realized that she should stop, but somehow her mouth was working faster than her brain, and the next two words came out before she could swallow them back.

“—to Nina.”

Nina had come to the palace early, just in case everything she’d set in motion finally imploded.

She’d told Jamie that Samantha had asked her to keep her company, and he hadn’t questioned it, just dropped a quick kiss on Nina’s mouth and said he would see her later. She was on a permanent preapproved list with palace security, so even though she showed up two hours before her invitation commanded, they just waved her through.

Only a few minutes after her arrival, one of the footmen came over with a request that Daphne would like to see her.

Nina walked down the endless hallway to the Brides’ Room, her heels seeming to echo a soft chant in time with her thoughts:It’s here, it’s here, it’s here.The epic confrontation that the angry, wounded part of her had craved for months.

When Nina pushed open the door, she saw that Sam was in the Brides’ Room with Daphne. They both whipped their heads toward her, Daphne’s features sharpening with anticipation, Sam’s with disbelief.

“Nina I’m so glad you’re here Daphne is under this awful impression that you’ve been threatening her.” The words came out in a single breath, running together incoherently.

“You can go, Sam.” With that statement, Nina spoke volumes.

She tried to ignore the horrified shock on Sam’s face. Shewould explain everything to Sam later, but right now the person Nina owed an explanation to was Daphne.

“Okay,” Sam replied, her voice small. “I’ll just, um…I’ll be down the hall, if you need me.”

And then she was gone, and Daphne and Nina were in the Brides’ Room alone.

Daphne clearly noticed Nina’s dress—the plum-colored one she’d selected at the department store—but she said nothing.

“You look beautiful, Daphne,” Nina murmured, because it simply had to be said. Daphne looked like a bride from a magazine, which of course, she was: her hair was pinned half up, with perfect red-gold curls falling to frame her face, and the cascading volume of her white tulle skirts seemed to go on and on.

Maybe the emails hadn’t done all that much, because she certainly looked like a girl who was getting married today.

“I know you sent those emails, so don’t bother denying it,” Daphne snapped.

“I don’t deny it. I sent them,” Nina said evenly.

Her placating tone made Daphne stumble. Clearly, the other girl had been geared up for a fight. “You’re jealous, obviously. You’re mad that Jefferson chose me, and you’re still in love with him—”

“You’re wrong about that part,” Nina cut in. “I sent those emails becauseyouaren’t in love withhim.”

Daphne’s hands balled into fists at her sides. “I could have you arrested for this. You blackmailed me and manipulated me!”

“Wonder where I learned skills like that,” Nina said drily.