SOLVED. YA Fantasy series? Female courier/messenger returns home to find her father dead/missing (craftsman/blacksmith) & the unstable king favoring his illegitimate son over his legitimate heir. Read early-mid 2000s. Potential Spoilers below. [s]

[Nina]

Don't remember many more details. The girl's father is some sort of craftsman/blacksmith who created a hidden room/chest for the king and so they have a close relationship with the royal family. Her father left her a mysterious message about the contents of that room/chest and she spends the book trying to understand it. The king has a legitimate son and an illegitimate son, who are very close brothers, but has recently starting favoring his illegitimate son so the legitimate heir has left the palace. The court is nervous because they don't like the illegitimate son and the protagonist is annoyed because he won't give her any answers about what happened when she was gone. Think it's the first book in a trilogy and somewhere later you find out the legitimate son joined a group of rebels trying to overthrow his father. Vaguely feel like there was a scene with wolves and a creepy forest nearby in connection with the rebels.

[Becca]

I don't think all the details match, but maybe The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan?

[Nina]

Becca wrote: "I don't think all the details match, but maybe The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan?"

It is!! Yeah, definitely might have been fuzzy on some of those details. This is brilliant, thank you!!