“Mina!”
Mina’s hand tightened on Lynet’s when she heard Gregory’s voice behind them just as they were nearing the east wing entrance. She knew Nicholas wouldn’t want Gregory near Lynet—and Gregory should have known that too. So why was he taking such a risk in approaching them? Should she tell Lynet to go the rest of the way on her own?
But now Gregory had already hurried across the courtyard to join them. Mina held tight to Lynet’s hand as he peered down at Lynet with great interest. Lynet, to her credit, was trying to hide behind Mina, away from his gaze.
“She’s perfect,” Gregory breathed. “Do you know who I am, child? My name is Gregory.”
“Lynet, do you know the rest of the way back?” Mina said, not taking her eyes off her father. She hadn’t considered that Gregory would have any interest in a child, but now she remembered that Lynet wasn’t just any child to him—she was his creation. So am I, she thought, but then again, she was a failure. Her bloodless heart was of no more interest to him than one of his sand mice. Lynet, though—Lynet was unique.
“Yes,” Lynet said, her voice muffled by Mina’s dress.
“Then I want you to go now. Go all the way back to your room and don’t stop. Can you do that?”
Lynet didn’t bother to answer. She let go of Mina’s hand and scurried inside. Mina kept watching until she was safely out of view.
When she turned back to Gregory, his eyes were still locked on the empty space where Lynet had been.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Mina said to him. “What if the king saw you?”
There was a flash of anger in his eyes, but then it passed, and he nodded in concession. “It was reckless of me, I know. I wasn’t thinking. But I saw you both passing by, and I … I couldn’t resist the opportunity.”
“She was scared of you, didn’t you see?” Mina said. She thought she would take pleasure in the wounded look on his face, but instead, she felt something closer to pain. She didn’t understand why she should be jealous, but all Mina could think was that he had never cared when she was scared of him.
Gregory scratched his jaw, thinking. “Yes, she did seem frightened of me, didn’t she? I’m a stranger to her, thanks to the king.” His eyes narrowed with contempt. “Doesn’t it seem unfair to you that I should be a stranger to the girl I made with my own hands?”
He continued to glare at the empty space in front of him, and Mina stared at her father’s profile with growing dread. “What do you want with her?” she said in a whisper. “Why is she so important to you?”
Gregory shook his head at her, seemingly confused by the question. “Isn’t it natural that I should want to know her better? Any father would ask the same.”
Mina decided she’d had enough of his sudden paternal feeling for someone else’s child, and she stormed across the courtyard, away from him. So this was another reason Gregory was so eager to see Mina be queen, why he had insisted on moving to Whitespring in the first place. He wanted Lynet. He wanted to be a father to Lynet. Let him have her, then, Mina decided. What did it matter to her?
Still, when she returned to her rooms, she thought of Lynet’s tiny hand grasping hers, of the understanding they had shared over her scrape, and her harsh thoughts melted away. She remembered how scared Lynet had been of Gregory, and she wondered if the only real way to protect Lynet was to remove herself and her father from the girl’s life entirely. But was she willing to make that sacrifice?
Mina pushed the thought aside and went to her bedroom; she had to decide what to wear tomorrow when she saw the king.
15
MINA
At the appointed hour, a servant arrived at Mina’s room to take her to the king in his private dining room. She wore her hair loose, without any ornament. Tonight she would have no designs, no artifice. She would go to him as the young woman that she was, and she would prove without doubt that Nicholas could love her for herself.
The servant led her to the end of a hall where two large doors were flanked by the king’s guards, and Mina felt like a bride being taken to her husband. Soon, she thought. Soon it will come true.
The guards opened the doors for her, and she floated over the threshold, only to be met with a ghost.
But no, it couldn’t be a ghost, because ghosts were of the past and this was a vision of the future, of Lynet as a woman. On the opposite wall, above an enormous lit fireplace, was a large portrait of the dead queen. Even though she’d heard plenty of times about the resemblance between the princess and her mother—and even though she knew the real reason why—she hadn’t been prepared to see the truth of it with her own eyes. She felt she might suffocate under the pressure of this once and future ghost, this woman who was dead and yet alive.
“Admiring my queen?” Nicholas asked.
She’d been so startled by the portrait that she hadn’t noticed Nicholas standing at one end of a long banquet table in front of the fireplace. A hearty northern meal of venison awaited them at the table, and Mina briefly wondered if Felix had been the one to bring down this deer.
“Good evening, Nicholas,” she said, ignoring his question.
He held the chair out for her, waiting for her to take her seat before moving to his own at the other end of the table. They ate in near silence, with Mina commenting every so often on the meal, or Nicholas offering her more wine. All the while, Queen Emilia stared down at them, watching as they ate. Mina shifted in her seat, trying to put the portrait out of her view. Something was troubling the king tonight, but Mina didn’t know if it had anything to do with her. A king could have any number of reasons to be troubled, after all.
When they were finished eating, Nicholas rose from the table and went to the fireplace, standing with his back to Mina, his hands clasped behind him. “You’re quiet tonight,” he said softly.
Mina almost laughed. “Only because you seem so thoughtful. I didn’t want to interrupt your own private contemplation.” He nodded, and Mina could see only his profile, shadowed against the flames. “I wish I knew what you were thinking,” she said, letting herself speak with more honesty than she’d usually dare.
He turned to her, and they studied each other, though Mina didn’t know what either one of them was looking for. “I was thinking of Lynet,” Nicholas said, “of what is best for her.”
Mina forced herself not to react, though her eyes couldn’t help flickering up to the portrait above Nicholas’s head. “And what have you decided?”