She runs her tongue over red teeth. “She wasn’t anyone, just some girl from the lower Courts. Eldred never made her a consort, even after she’d borne him a child.”
I blink in obvious surprise.
She looks insufferably pleased, as though my not knowing has proved once and for all how unsuitable I am. “Now it’s your turn.”
“You want to know what I did to make him raise me up?” I ask, leaning toward her, close enough that she can feel the warmth of my breath. “I kissed him on the mouth, and then I threatened to kiss him some more if he didn’t do exactly what I wanted.”
“Liar,” she hisses.
“If you’re such good friends,” I say, repeating her own words back to her with malicious satisfaction, “why don’t you ask him?”
Her gaze goes to Cardan, his mouth stained red with heart’s blood, crown at
