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Exhaustion took Ahnna immediately to bed, though it was not her body that was spent but her mind.

And her heart.

What had she done?

Aren was right to fear that she was making things worse, because what else could be said about what she’d done with James?

The wrong prince.

The wrong brother.

Yet in the moment, no part of it had felt wrong. Though she willed herself to sleep, it was impossible when her mind was filled with the feel of his lips on hers, his tongue in her mouth. His hands on her body, and the weight of him as he’d driven himself into her. The remembered sensation turned her skin hot and body liquid, because though it should never have begun, it had ended too soon.

Seeing the faint glow of dawn around the curtains, Ahnna rolled facedown on the pillow, hunting for a solution to her predicament. Racking her brain for a path forward that didn’t have consequences she didn’t wish to pay. Her warning to Ithicana would be on its way, and she knew Lara would see it for what it was. Would understand that whatever conversation Aren was having with Katarina of Amarid was no secret, and Ithicana would prepare accordingly.

But what terrified Ahnna most was that she didn’t know what Ithicana was preparing for. Aren had said that he believed Harendell was turning on them. She’d thought that had meant from the standpoint of business and trade, a severing of ties. But what if it was something worse?

War?

The word echoed through her thoughts, except it made no sense. Why would Harendell declare war on them? What could possibly drive Edward to take such an action?

It felt as though a box of wooden puzzle pieces had been dumped before her, but one piece was missing to make them all fit together.

The Harendellians were master schemers, and she was deeply out of her depth. Her skill was in combat. In leading soldiers. In controlling a battlefield. Not trying to understand the plots and ambitions of dozens of nobles who seemed to be working for and against one another interchangeably, all trying to achieve different goals.

But what Ahnna did know was that if she believed Ithicana was in danger of attack, she’d be doing everything in her power to solidify defenses and to ensure that Ithicana’s soldiers had what they needed to fight. That the people had everything they needed to live through a northern blockade, given that Maridrina and Valcotta were in no position to help.

And God help her, it made too much sense that her brother was turning to Amarid, despite all that Katarina had done, to do just that.

The door clicked, and Hazel entered. Out of the corner of her eye, Ahnna watched the maid walk to the window and open the drapes, light streaming in. She turned to the bed and said, “You’ve been summoned, my lady.”

“By whom?”

“I don’t know.” Hazel walked to the wardrobe. “Only that you are to come to the throne room immediately.”

—

Dressed in a simple blue gown with her hair woven into a tight braid, Ahnna walked through the halls of the Sky Palace until she reached the throne room. She’d never had reason to go inside before, but she regretted not exploring it as her eyes landed on the soldiers standing to either side of the entrance.

The doors were opened, and she stepped inside, instantly blinded by the beam of dawn sunlight streaming in through the windows at the far end.

Thud.

Twitching, Ahnna glanced at the closed oak doors behind her, but her attention snapped forward again as Edward said, “I understand you had an encounter with one of Harendell’s storms.”

She dropped into a curtsy. “Your Grace! I wasn’t aware you’d returned to Verwyrd.”

“Ahnna…” His tone was chiding. “What have I said about titles?”

A laugh tore from her lips, wild and slightly panicked, and she bit down on it. “Apologies…Eddie, what are you doing in Verwyrd?”

Boots thudded against marble, and he approached, face hidden in shadow as he was backlit by so much brightness. “To see you, as the case may be.”

He caught hold of her elbow and tugged her back the way he’d come. “Tonight is the night, Ahnna. I’ve just dispatched invitations to everyone within riding distance to attend a banquet where I intend to declare my intentions. Make things official, as they say. I wanted to tell you myself before the big event; I aim to make you queen, Ahnna. A queen who will go down in Harendell’s history books, mark my words.”

Her chest hitched, but Edward led her onto the dais, where a monstrous throne of spiraling metal sat.

The Twisted Throne.

“It holds more meaning than it did this time yesterday, doesn’t it?” Edward asked. “Now that you’ve met the storms. They have a habit of changing things. Setting one off in a different direction than intended. Tonight will be a similar such storm. Now, sit.”

Ahnna sucked in a breath, twisting to look at him. “I can’t sit on this throne. Only the king can sit on this throne.”

“I’m the king and I give you permission.”

She didn’t move. “Your Grace…”

Edward sighed. “It’s just the two of us here, Ahnna.”

“Eddie, it’s not right for me to sit on Harendell’s throne.”

“There has never been anything more right.” He gestured to the silvered metal, light glinting off the twists and spirals. “I want to see you on it.”

Ahnna clenched her teeth, her instincts screaming, but she didn’t dare disobey. Moving in front of the throne, she adjusted her skirts and sat. Cold seeped through the silk and into her flesh, the throne hard and unyielding. Every part of her wanted to leap to her feet, but then Edward retrieved a crown and approached, setting it on her head.

Alexandra’s crown.

The crown of the queen of Harendell.

Tension sang through her body, partially because if anyone saw her wearing the queen’s crown, it would be a disaster. But mostly because it felt as though if she wore it in truth, every goddamned struggle she faced would cease to exist, for the power of Harendell’s throne would be hers to wield. “Eddie, I…”

But the look on his face froze her tongue, and Ahnna fell silent.

“You remind me so much of her,” he finally said. “Seeing you on this throne makes me think of what might have been if the stars had been in our favor.”

Ahnna frowned, unease filling her because she was nothing like Alexandra. But then she understood. “You mean Siobhan? James’s mother.”

“Yes.” His response sounded strained, as though hearing her name caused him physical pain. “Your commitment to Ithicana reminds me of her. The willingness to do whatever it takes for the sake of your people.”

She held her breath, no part of her understanding what was going on here.

“Siobhan was the love of my life,” he said gently. “There was nothing I wouldn’t have done for her, no lengths I wouldn’t have gone to. I think, Ahnna, you’ve seen love like that more than once. Seen the consequences of a man loving a woman so much he forsakes all else.”

Ahnna swallowed hard, but then gave a tight nod, for she knew the toll of that sort of love all too well.

“There were times I wondered if higher powers took Siobhan from me as punishment for making her first in my heart. If God believed taking her away from me would correct my course. Would make me walk a different path.” His head tilted. “If that was the case, he erred, for her death only ensured that I’d dedicate my life to achieving everything that mattered to her.”

Ahnna’s breath was coming rapidly, too rapidly, because she had no idea what was happening. Why he was telling her this. “Do you know who killed her?”

He gave a slow nod. “And I intend to destroy her and everything she holds dear.”

Did he mean Alexandra? Someone else? “Who?”

“An individual who feared Siobhan’s dream and stood to lose a great deal if it were achieved.” Reaching out, Edward removed the crown and set it back on its cushion. Then he took her hand and pulled Ahnna to her feet. “She was right to.”

He had to mean Alexandra. He had to.

A thousand questions rolled through Ahnna’s head, not the least of which being what this confession meant for her and Ithicana. Yet the question she found herself asking was not for herself but for James. “If you loved Siobhan so much, why haven’t you changed the laws allowing the persecution of astromancy? Why do you allow her people to be burned?”

“Because changing a deep-seated belief in Harendellian people is no simple task, and if I’d tried to force it, there’d have been a revolution against the crown.” He hesitated, then added, “The people had to want the change.”

“What would make them want to change?” she demanded.

He smiled. “The perfect storm.”

It was no answer, but the look in his eyes made her skin crawl because it spoke to layers of designs that he had yet to reveal. “Eddie, I don’t understand your intentions. Please speak plainly.”

“All will become clear when the time is right.” He clasped both sides of her face with his hands. “Tonight we will change the trajectory of Harendell’s future, Ahnna. It will be a moment that will go down in the history books.”

Letting go of her, Edward started toward the entrance of the throne room, but Ahnna called after him, “Does the queen know your plans?”

He looked over his shoulder and gave her a sad smile. “The queen is already dead.”

Shock radiated through Ahnna’s core, but before she could ask him what had happened to Alexandra, Edward exited the room.

Alexandra was dead?

Except how was that possible? The whole palace would be in a frenzy.

A sudden certainty struck her. “Oh God,” she whispered. “He plans to kill her. Intends to have his revenge for Siobhan.”

Ahnna stared at the closed doors, sickness rising in her stomach because she suspected having justice was only part of what Edward intended to achieve tonight. She needed to get answers, because every instinct in her soul screamed that clouds were circling, a storm brewing.

And not just over Harendell.

Ahnna broke into a fast stride across the throne room, only for her toe to strike something, sending it rolling across the marble floor. Frowning, she bent down and picked it up.

It was a bird skull, a small hole drilled in the top of it.

Cardiff.

Ahnna stared at the tiny skull in her palm, unease pooling in her stomach because Cardiffians wore skulls as part of their ceremonial garb. Someone from Cardiff had been in this throne room, and it had been for something important enough to risk wearing the symbols of astromancy.

Changing a deep-seated belief in Harendellian people is no simple task. Edward’s voice filled her head.

What would make them want to change?

The perfect storm.

All the pieces fell into place. Edward was, after all this time, making peace with Cardiff.

The revelation came with a stab of pain to her heart because James knew. James goddamned knew what his father was planning, and despite knowing, he’d…he’d…

The agony of it almost made her vomit, but Ahnna shoved aside the emotion and broke into a run. She needed to get a warning to Aren. Needed him to know that the rug was about to be pulled out from underneath him, because there was no doubt in her mind what sort of perfect storm would make the Harendellians let go of their right to persecute astromancy.

Edward intended for trade to flow north.

But just before she reached the doors, they opened, revealing Georgie and a dozen guards.

“You can make this easy or you can make it difficult, Ahnna,” he said. “Either way, you’re going back to your rooms.”