Chapter 2

By seven that evening, every entrance to Sofia's rooms is watched.

I don't tell Adrian.

I don't tell Sofia why.

Not yet.

At eight twenty, one of the palace servants carries a tray toward her study.

Hot chocolate.

Sofia drinks it almost every night while she studies.

One of my guards stops the servant before the tray reaches the door.

A physician I trust tests the drink.

His face changes.

"Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"Poison."

Sofia goes still beside me.

I made her stay.

Maybe that is cruel.

But in my first life, I protected her from the truth until the truth killed her.

Not again.

My men follow the servant who brought the tray.

He leads them to Daniel Cole, a junior officer in the Palace Guard.

Daniel is caught near the servants' entrance.

They find money in his coat and messages arranging the delivery.

The number belongs to Isabella's personal maid.

By the time Adrian arrives, everything is waiting for him.

Isabella comes with him.

She sees the evidence and immediately begins to cry.

"I know nothing about this."

I look at Adrian.

"Your daughter was almost poisoned."

His eyes move across the table.

Then to me.

"How did you know to stop the drink?"

For a second, I think I misheard him.

"What?"

"You changed Sofia's security this morning. Hours before this happened."

Sofia stares at him.

"You think Mother poisoned me?"

Adrian exhales.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

Isabella takes a step forward.

"Sofia, your father is only trying to understand what happened."

Sofia looks at her.

"Don't."

Isabella blinks.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't speak to me like you're my mother."

"Sofia," Adrian warns.

"She isn't."

Sofia's voice shakes.

"She could have killed me."

"We don't know that."

The room goes silent.

There is poison on the table ten feet from his daughter.

And Adrian still cannot say Isabella might be responsible.

He turns to me.

"Daniel could have been paid by anyone. Messages can be forged."

"Of course."

My voice stays calm.

"You would rather believe I staged an attempt on my own daughter's life than believe Isabella wanted her dead."

"I said I want proof."

"You have proof."

"I have pieces."

Isabella wipes her tears.

"Elena has hated me for years. Maybe she knew Sofia would never actually drink it. Maybe she only wanted—"

I cross the room before she finishes.

Adrian steps between us.

"Enough."

I look past him.

At Sofia.

This is the moment.

Not ten years from now.

Not when she is twenty-two and locked in a cell waiting for her father to decide whether she lives or dies.

Now.

"Sofia."

She looks at me.

"Never assume the Crown will protect you just because your father wears it."

"Elena."

I ignore him.

"Your safety cannot depend on someone loving you enough to do the right thing."

Sofia swallows.

Then nods.

Adrian orders Daniel and Isabella's maid confined separately while the Royal Guard investigates.

I know what that means.

Time for evidence to disappear.

Time for witnesses to change their stories.

As Isabella leaves, she looks back at me.

She isn't afraid.

She smiles.

The paper hidden inside my sleeve turns hot.

I pull it out.

The old words fade.

New ones bleed across the page.

Daniel has an eight-year-old sister. Isabella is using the girl to control him.

Another line appears.

Three nights from now, Isabella will announce that she is carrying the King's child.

I keep reading.

She will drink from a glass connected to you.

She will collapse before the King and the court.

Her physician will say she lost the baby.

Then:

They will say you murdered the King's unborn son to protect Sofia's claim to the throne.

One final sentence appears.

Isabella Russo is not pregnant.

I look toward the door she just walked through.

"Captain."

One of my guards steps forward.

"Your Majesty."

"Find Daniel Cole's sister."

He waits.

"Quietly. Before Isabella realizes we know she exists."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And start with Isabella's physicians. Every clinic she has visited. Every medical record connected to the Russo family."

He bows and leaves.

For the next three days, I trace every lie Isabella has built around this pregnancy.

The clinic records lead to an old medical file.

The file leads to a woman the Russo family has spent years pretending doesn't exist.