The Reluctant Queen (The Queens of Renthia #2)(73)

Softly, the queen said, "I know. But Ven, don't you see? There's hope now. I can't let it slip away. I have to do everything I can."

"I know," he said. "And we will."



Telling Ven her suspicions hadn't been so hard. Asking Alet to spy on the heroes of Aratay would be harder. Daleina wasn't going to order her to do it. She wanted this to come from a friend, not a queen. She didn't know why that mattered to her, but it did. It was such a ridiculous idea that she couldn't make it a royal command.

Given that, she didn't want to talk to Alet in the Sunrise Room. She'd rather discuss it in her quarters. Coming back, she'd expected to find her sister, but Arin hadn't returned. Just as well, she told herself, because this conversation isn't for her ears. Still . . . maybe she shouldn't keep sending Arin away. She missed her. She's safer if she's not with me, Daleina reminded herself.

Captain Alet shut the door behind them. Daleina saw her eyes sweep over the chamber, cataloguing the points of entry and searching out any dangers. Ven did the same thing every time he entered the room-it must have been something in their training, a constant alertness. Daleina did it too, but she scanned for spirits, not humans. That may have been her mistake. 

She wondered where the poisoner had caught her. Had the poison been in her food or drink? Had she been pricked by a poisoned blade, so slight that she didn't notice? Was it spread on a surface that she touched, like her pillow? It could have been dusted into her dresses. She could have breathed it in. Others could have been infected as well.

She'd ask Hamon later if his mother knew how the poison had been delivered. She'd have him look into any other cases of False Death that had been reported recently . . . That was actually a good idea. If others had been poisoned, perhaps they could find a pattern . . . The poisoner could have experimented, or simply had other targets as well.

"You're thinking," Alet said. "I know that look on your face. I will be outside if you need me."

Daleina shook her head and suddenly all the thoughts felt as if they were screaming inside her mind. She crossed the room to Alet's side. "Don't leave." In a rush, she said, "I'm not sick."

Alet's eyes widened, and her mouth parted.

Daleina suddenly realized how that sounded. "I'm still dying. But I'm not sick, not naturally. I've been poisoned."

Alet's mouth shut and then she asked, "Are you certain?"

"Experts told me it was true. And I want to believe it's true."

"You do?"

"Because poisons have antidotes." She suddenly felt herself smiling, as if the sun were beaming down through the trees. She pulled Alet across the room to the balcony into the sunlight. Only a sliver of it had beat its way through the thick canopy of leaves, but that patch was enough. "Look, it's a metaphor for hope! Feel that!"

Alet was staring at her. "I'll fetch Healer Hamon. Delusions could be a side effect-"

"Hamon told me this himself," Daleina said. "Don't you want to believe it's true?"

"What I want and what is true seldom have anything to do with each other," Alet said, pulling away. "It's too good to be true, especially if Hamon has the antidote. Does he?"

"Not yet. First we need to find the poisoner. Determine exactly what kind of poison was used. We don't even know yet how it was delivered. Still . . . there's hope." Daleina pointed to the ray of sunshine again, and when Alet didn't step into it, she tugged on her friend's hand again.

"I don't want you to have false hope," Alet said, not moving. "That can be even more painful."

"If it's false hope, I'll be dead," Daleina said, "and nothing will be painful anymore." She wasn't going to let go of this feeling. She was going to chase every idea she had, follow every clue, do everything she could to keep living. "So I'm going to proceed as though it's not false. And I want you to help me."

"Always, my queen."

Daleina took a deep breath. "The royal investigators are speaking with everyone who had access to me who could have had motivation . . . but there is one group they won't be approaching: the champions." She held up a hand to forestall any objections. "I know, it's ridiculous to even consider suspecting them. But I can't leave any stone unturned."

Alet merely nodded. "All right."

She blinked. "You don't want to hear my reasoning?"

"Just tell me what you want me to do," Alet said. "If it's within my power to do, I'll do it." She reached out as if she wanted to touch Daleina's hand, and then dropped back. "I don't want you to die." There was an unspoken echo: What I want and what is true seldom have anything to do with each other.