Page 219 of The Cradle of Ice

Kanthe tried not to groan.

I truly have come full circle.

Aalia looked no happier, but she did not appear surprised. Tykhan must have already informed her, possibly with the promise that this would be a marriage in name only.

But Tykhan was not done. “What the emperor did not share at large but what he has known for over a decade—” He pointed at Kanthe. “There stands the true heir to the Hálendiian crown—not his twin brother, the heinous executioner of our beloved Prince Paktan.”

Mareesh jerked to his feet. “What new trickery is this?”

Kanthe stammered, agreeing with the prince, “That’s … It’s preposterous.”

Mareesh waved at Kanthe as if to say, See, not even this miscreant agrees with you.

Shield Angelon looked just as dubious. “We’ve all heard the whispers and rumors. It happens with every twin birth.”

Tykhan turned to the old woman. “Sister Amis came to X’or fourteen years ago, after years of hiding, seeking refuge and finding it under the gentle wings of Abbess Shayr. She had another name prior to the one she has now.” He stared across the faces. “Fay hy Persha, royal Hálendiian midwife of the Massif clan.”

Mareesh sank down.

Kanthe’s stomach did the same.

“Please tell us what you told the abbess and what she shared with the emperor.”

The woman nodded, looking relieved and casting Kanthe a sad look. “On the night of the twins’ birth, amid the blood and panic, I was between the queen’s legs. I saw who first squalled at the world. It wasn’t a bright child with curled locks, but a quieter babe with shadowy hair and skin like warm toffye.”

Kanthe swallowed, his legs weakening.

Surely this couldn’t be true. It had to be another ruse by the duplicitous Augury of Qazen, a man of a thousand faces. Kanthe stared around at the others, looking to them to refute this claim.

Aalia and Rami appeared equally stunned.

Tykhan gave the smallest nod toward the old sister. “Show him.”

With the novitiate’s help, Sister Amis crossed to Kanthe. From a pocket, the old woman removed a folded piece of silk. She unwrapped it to reveal a gold signet ring set with a crimson garnet. Inscribed into the gem was a winged horse, sigil of the House of Hyparia.

“It was your mother’s ring,” Sister Amis confirmed. “After learning that you were pushed aside as firstborn, the queen rightly feared your father would silence anyone who knew the truth. So she gave me her ring to buy passage away. But I could not part with it, as I loved your mother with all my heart. I kept the ring, hoping one day”—she took another step forward and offered it to Kanthe—“to hand it to the rightful heir.”

Kanthe accepted the ring, too stunned to do otherwise. He stared down at the garnet, at the symbol. He barely remembered his mother, just hazy glimpses, all full of warmth. He felt tears rising unbidden.

This is a piece of my mother.

“It has been authenticated,” Tykhan said. “While some may still dismiss it, we all here know the truth, as did Emperor Makar. Prince Kanthe, sworn to the Illuminated Rose, is indeed the true firstborn son of King Toranth.”

Kanthe found it harder to breathe, his world upended, both believing and disbelieving, both hoping and fearing. He shook his head. Rami came to him, hugged him, as if sensing his distress.

“I will be a truer brother than you’ve ever known,” he whispered in his ear. “This I swear.”

Kanthe hugged him back, hanging on him, rudderless for a moment.

A sharp clatter of boots rattled down the hall, drawing them all straighter. A shining Paladin burst into the room. He stared around at the assemblage, unsure of his footing or even where to look.

Aalia asserted her first dominance as future empress. “Out with it,” she snapped. “Why do you disturb us?”

While still breathless, he stiffened straighter at her command. “Word from Kysalimri,” he said, gulping twice more. “Hálendii is moving once again. Warships are being readied. Including their flagship.”

Kanthe knew of the Hyperium. Half a year ago, before he was deemed a traitor to the crown, the ship was still being finished. He remembered viewing its skeleton of beams and draft-iron. It was easily three times the size of a regular Hálendiian warship and twice that of the largest of the Klashean fleet.

Upon this announcement, chaos briefly broke out as everyone tried to speak at once. Aalia silenced it with a word. “Enough!”