I held silent for a moment, letting her ponder. As a reigning monarch herself, I could understand why the concept of overthrowing a ruler might make her uncomfortable.
“It is true that the prince’s claims align with reports we have heard,” she said at last. “Our intelligencers have long relayed rumors that Cassius promises to step aside for his son. And his efforts to delay the prince’s commencement at the Academy would certainly support this idea. Cassius has held on to his throne by his torn fingernails for more than twenty long years. He is not the sort to cede power willingly.”
“And he does not have reason to love Ardann.” I chose my words carefully. “During my year in Kallorway, I was left in no doubt that King Cassius’s hatred for us, and for my mother in particular, weighs too strongly with him to allow his forging closer ties with our kingdom. If Ardann wants to build stronger ties with Kallorway, then we would be well served to see Darius on the throne.”
My aunt weighed me with a piercing gaze. “And you are confident that the son does not share his father’s prejudices?”
“Entirely,” I said with too much feeling, immediately regretting my eager response when I saw the speculative look that sprang into her eyes.
“King Cassius and Queen Endellion attended the Midwinter Ball that I hosted at the Academy on Ardann’s behalf,” I said quickly, hoping to cover my lapse. “I had the opportunity to observe the princes with both their parents. There is no love lost between Darius and his father.”
“And what of Jareth and Cassius?” Aunt Lucienne asked, instantly latching on to another topic I preferred not to discuss.
I hesitated. “Jareth appeared…changed around his father. Less comfortable than I had seen him previously. But, on the surface at least, he appeared to be on reasonable terms with his father—and even better ones with his grandfather.”
I didn’t mention that I had spent a significant amount of time suspecting the prince of colluding with his grandfather to seize power from both Cassius and Darius. But it had turned out in the end to be the king, not old General Haddon, who was behind the attacks on me. Attacks that I still believed Jareth had a part in perpetrating.
“We have certainly always heard that he is the more sociable of the brothers,” my aunt said.
I barely suppressed a snort. I doubted sociable was a word that anyone had ever thought to apply to Darius.
“Do you believe Prince Jareth is a contender for the throne?” Aunt Lucienne asked. “I have received no such reports, but then I had also received no reports that Darius was intending an imminent coup.”
I shifted slightly. “I don’t know that I’d use the word imminent.” I hesitated again. “And I couldn’t state Jareth’s intentions with any certainty. But I know that his brother believes in him implicitly.”
It was strangely painful to report this weakness in Darius—the blindness with regard to his brother. But if I wasn’t going to tell my aunt the truth of the attacks on me, then I had to find a way to convince her that Jareth was not an option for the throne as far as Ardann was concerned.
“I do believe that if he ends up on the throne, it would only be through great duplicity,” I continued. “In winning such a place, he would demonstrate he possessed the sort of character Ardann could never rely on. If we wish to see a strong and reliable ruler on the throne in Kallmon, a ruler who will hold his kingdom together and look to Ardann as an ally, then we must back Darius. I truly believe that.”
I held my breath, waiting for her response. I wanted to believe that everything I had told Darius was true, and that Ardann did want to see a strong ruler in Kallorway. But there was always the possibility that my aunt’s feelings on the matter were not so straightforward. Decades of war had left deeply entrenched mistrust of Kallorway in all layers of Ardannian society.
Once again, my aunt’s eyes weighed me. I tried to look older and wiser than my actual years.
“You have impressed me, Verene,” she said after a moment. “You achieved more than I thought probable in a single year. I am surprised that I find myself inclined to trust your judgment in this.” She sighed. “But then perhaps I am merely believing what I wish to be true. It is certainly hard to see how—after more than twenty years—Ardann has any hope of moving forward with either Cassius or old Haddon.”
“So it is truly a priority for you to see Ardann more closely allied with Kallorway?” I asked tentatively.
She sighed again. “Weakening Kallorway was a necessity when they were determined to use their strength against us. But in the long run it is in no one’s interests to see the southern kingdoms so divided. Kallorway’s weakness weakens us all.”
I frowned. It almost sounded as if my aunt had some specific threat in mind. She read my expression easily.
“You have proven you can be discreet, niece, so I will admit that there are unsettling rumors coming from the north.”
“From the Sekali Empire?” My brow creased in sudden worry. “Don’t tell me the Emperor has turned against us!” Was this the reason for my aunt’s sudden talk of a marriage alliance for Lucien?
She shook her head. “Nothing so drastic. But it is my job as ruler to see beyond the immediate problems of today. I must see the dangers waiting to spring at us down the road. And you may call me fanciful, but my instincts tell me it is time for Ardann to mend the breaches with Kallorway.”
I had never in my life considered my aunt fanciful. And I wasn’t about to do so now. Unease sprouted inside me. The mission I had taken on the year before suddenly assumed new significance in my mind. Ardann had benefited greatly from the borders with the Empire opening, but there was danger to us there too. If unrest was coming to the great northern lands, who knew what might spill over into the south?
“So what answer shall I take to Darius?” I asked.
“You may tell him Ardann supports him,” she said, her tone brisk now that her decision was made. “But we will not do so openly until he has earned legitimacy for himself. There will be nothing in writing. You will be my representative in this matter.”
I drew in a breath. I hadn’t expected her to trust me with so much responsibility.
There had been further conversations over the course of the summer as she instructed me on what help I might promise or provide Darius in different scenarios, but her basic decision remained unchanged. To aid me in my expanded role, she had even gifted me further communication compositions with a powerful enough range to reach from the Kallorwegian Academy back to the palace.
“It is a natural enough gift for me to give my niece,” she said. “No one will think it remarkable to hear that her family misses her and wishes for more frequent communication.”
I frowned down at them, knowing what a composition of such strength cost.
“It’s true, you know.” Her soft voice made me look up, startled. “Your family did miss you, and your father was more than willing to accede to my request. He considered the occasional day in bed to be a small price.”
I sighed. I had been careful not to say anything that might push him into expending so much energy on my behalf, especially when I saw the crown already had him working so hard. Now I knew these had been what he was working on all along.