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“She had a huge funeral for my father, too.”

“You… you think she killed him?”

Eirwen raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Cole shook his head. “No. No. She loved your father. He died in a hunting accident. There’s no way that she–”

Eirwen scoffed. “You can’t be such an idiot, surely? When two members of a royal household die in suspicious circumstances, that’s not bad luck.”

“But mother–”

“Is too much of a saint to get her hands dirty? You’re right. She had someone else do it. Luckily for me he grew a conscience before he could finish the job.”

Cole gulped. “But why... why would she do that?”

“Gee, I don’t know,crown prince, what could her reasoning possibly be?”

“You think she wanted you gone so she could rule?”

“Well, that does seem to be working out very nicely for her…”

Cole stared down the end of her blade. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could put that down, is there?”

Eirwen jabbed it closer.

“I see,” he said. “Are you going to kill me, then?”

“I don’t particularly want to,” she returned. She’d never killed a human before, and she didn’t want to start with someone she knew. “But if you tell your mother I’m alive–”

“I won’t, I swear–”

“What are you doing here, Cole?”

“Looking for that,” he said, gesturing to the necklace wrapped around her wrist.

“What for?”

“I have my reasons.” His eyes twinkled. “Come, Snow, can’t we just sit down and have a nice little chat about old times?”

“You and I clearly have very different memories regarding our time spent together.” She huffed. “And don’t call me Snow.”

Something dinged in the great hall. Eirwen swore, dropping her blade away from him.

“Did you just curse?” Cole asked delightedly. “How unladylike. Daddy would be horrified.”

She flipped his blade off the floor and handed it back to him.

“You’re arming me again.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Come. Quickly.”

“What is it?”

“Did you seriously make it all the way down here without finding out anything about this place?”

“Um… my research might have been alittleone-sided…”

Eirwen groaned. “I don’t have time to explain this to you. Stick beside me if you want to live.”