“But—”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about wraith and magic now. I’m going home. That’s all I want to think about.”
“Then you’ll be thinking the same thoughts for a long time, Your Highness.” Prince Colin’s voice came from behind us. Everyone turned. “We won’t reach Aecor City until tonight.”
“So I’ve heard.” I nudged Ferguson to one side as Prince Colin rode even with me. “And the proper honorific is Your Majesty now, in case you’d forgotten how to address a queen.”
“That is actually what I wanted to speak to you about.” He looked better than one might expect, given his brush with death just last night. His cheeks were flushed with cold, but he was as immaculately dressed as ever, his chin high. The cut Patrick left had been cleaned and stitched. “You have no idea what you did last night, do you?”
“Give me some credit, Your Highness.” I forced my voice to stay calm, but tension knotted in my shoulders and neck. “I did what was necessary to stop the fighting and save lives.”
“You told the Aecorian people that you’re their queen. You undermined my authority as overlord, which I’ve worked to build for almost ten years. You acted rashly—”
I lifted a hand. “Patrick already undermined your authority.” My throat was tight, roughening my words. “While you were in Skyvale, he led a revolution in Aecor. If I hadn’t joined you on this journey, the Red Militia would have overwhelmed your forces, and you would have been brought to the courtyard in Sandcliff Castle to be executed. Even if your troops had managed to get through to Aecor City, the whole city would have fought your return, and they’d have won.”
“No. They would not have. Aecor Territory is filled with my soldiers.” Prince Colin thrust a finger at me. “This was you. You gave in to his demands and declared yourself queen. Maybe that was your intention all along.”
I kept my voice low and cool. “I did it to save your life.”
The crown prince leveled a long, threatening glare at me. But unlike in my bedroom and the other day by my wagon, this one didn’t feel like a slimy touch and grope. This one felt . . . stronger. Deadlier. A hand around my throat, maybe.
“It seems, Your Highness,” James said, “that you owe Queen Wilhelmina your life.”
Prince Colin’s face turned darker. “It seems so.” He tore his eyes from me at last, looking back at James. “It would be wise for you to remember, Captain Rayner, that what Wilhelmina did last night might have appeased the peasants following the traitor, but it wasn’t legal. She is still a ward of the Indigo Kingdom, and Aecor Territory is still a territory. It is mine.”
“Not for long,” I whispered. “They are my people. They always have been.”
“Oh, we’ll make a good show tonight.” His eyes were back on me. “When we ride into the city, it will be as one. A united front. Overlord and queen. Two rulers who care deeply for the well-being of Aecor.”
“You’re afraid they will attack you.”
“With you at my side, I have no need to fear an uprising.” His smile curled up like drawing a knife from a sheath.
My fingers turned white around the reins. “Jump off the bridge and die, Colin.”
He released a sharp laugh and rode ahead, followed by a half-dozen indigo-coated guards.
“I hate him,” I muttered as Melanie returned to her position next to me.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.” She rolled her shoulders and readjusted her seat. “But there is good news: riders were sent ahead. There will be dinner and baths waiting for all of us.”
“Sandcliff Castle has been updated with many of the same modern conveniences as Skyvale Palace,” Ronald added. “Apparently, Prince Colin refused to live there until gas lamps had been installed in every room he might enter, and plumbing in all the kitchens and washrooms, not just in the royal wing.”
I twisted in my saddle. “That castle is seven hundred years old! How could he rip it apart like that?”
The boys shook their heads. “It doesn’t hold the same meaning to him,” said Oscar. “But it doesn’t look as bad as you’re imagining.”
Skyvale Palace was only two centuries old, and updated severely when magic was outlawed. Prince Colin had always had the comforts of gas lamps and hot, running water, as well as a hundred other minor conveniences because of his rank and place of birth. He’d never known an orphanage or run-down castle in the mountains. He’d never been truly hungry.
His privilege didn’t excuse his behavior toward my ancestral home.
“Will you have the lights and pipes torn out?” Melanie asked.
“It’s already done, and we have more important problems to address.”
“Like what to do with Patrick.” Her voice was almost lost under the cry of gulls and hum of wagon wheels on steel. “And what will happen when you return to Aecor City with a small army from the Indigo Kingdom at your back.”