“Don’t tell the King, Cailin. Please.” She fumbles for my hand, squeezing it. “I would make a good queen. You know I would.” “It was you, wasn’t it?” I say quietly. “You told the Ash King about me somehow. Not personally, because then he would have suspected a connection—no, you hired someone else to tell him about me. You wanted me in this position, so I’d feel obliged to keep your secret if I discovered it.” She closes her eyes. “I hoped you would keep it, yes. I consider us friends.”
