I wasn’t sure what Mina had been doing before Elliot summoned her, but she looked more regal than ever. The train of her white gown flowed out over a foot behind her. Her hair was done up in twisted braids nestled at the top of her neck, and she’d donned a silvery fur stole that complimented the sapphire necklace.

Her crown—a platinum tiara encrusted with diamonds, including a massive one in the center—sat atop her head. Whenever she wore it, she seemed to carry her head a bit higher, lifting her chin slightly. I wasn’t sure if it was to counteract the weight of the jewels, or if she was just putting on airs.

“Elliot claimed that you need to see the King urgently on important business.” Mina walked around the table, eyeing Kasper and me with her cool gaze. She stopped directly across from us, beneath the painting of Evert. Instead of sitting down, she remained standing and rested her hand on the tall back of the King’s chair.

“Yes, we did,” I said.

“The King is very busy. As you can imagine, with the impending war, he has much to do and can’t possibly take the time to meet everyone who wants to see him,” Mina explained in a tone far frostier than the one I was used to hearing from her, and I wondered if she was suffering from a hangover that was making her so cross. “He has asked me to see you and find out if what you have to say is as important as you believe it is.”

I glanced over at Kasper, but he kept his gaze straight ahead. This already wasn’t going the way I’d hoped, and now I wasn’t sure what to do.

The Queen could be maddeningly night and day. Even without a possible hangover in play, she vacillated from warmth and kindness to ice queen on a regular basis.

Mina didn’t seem that open to hearing what we had to say, but I didn’t know how else we’d get to talk to the King.

“Thank you for taking the time to see us, my Queen,” Kasper said. “I know how busy your schedule must be.”

“I’m often busier than the King, so let’s get on with this, shall we?” Mina drummed her fingers along the back of the chair in impatience, causing the many rings on her fingers to sparkle in the light.

“We have reason to believe that Prince Kennet Biâelse is behind the events in Storvatten, not his brother King Mikko.” I plunged right in, deciding that we had a better chance of getting through to her if we played it straight.

Mina arched an eyebrow but her expression remained otherwise unmoved. “Is that so?”

“We have a great deal of evidence to back up our claims, and we’d be happy to go over all of it with you and the King,” Kasper said.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Mina told him. “I haven’t heard anything yet that would make me want to summon the King.”

“In order to stage the kidnapping of Queen Linnea Biâelse three weeks ago, Prince Kennet enlisted the help of Viktor Dålig and Konstantin Black,” I explained. “As a result, we believe that Prince Kennet may be funding Viktor Dålig and Konstantin Black’s terrorist activities.”

“Terrorist?” Mina nearly scoffed at the idea, totally overlooking the part where I connected Kennet to Konstantin. “Is that what you’re calling them these days?”

With war preparations fully underway, I was floored by the Queen’s response, but I pressed on. “They have used violence and fear by attacking our changelings, presumably to gain some sort of control over the Kanin, so yes, I would say that that’s an accurate descriptor,” I replied, matching her icy tone.

“Well, then, what’s your great evidence that Kennet is connected to Konstantin? How did they meet each other?” Mina snapped. “These are high claims you’re making, so what do you have to back them up?”

“We don’t know how they met each other yet,” I admitted. “But we know that Konstantin Black warned Queen Linnea of a plot against her, presumably because he and Viktor Dålig were hired to hurt her in some way. Possibly even kidnap or kill her.”

“That proves that Konstantin was involved, but we already knew that. What more do you have to place blame on Kennet?” Mina persisted.

“He had the means to enlist Viktor and Konstantin’s help,” Kasper said. “He had access to all the same things as King Mikko, but unlike the King, the Prince had a motive—he wanted the crown. So he framed his brother to get it.”

Mina pursed her lips and inhaled deeply through her nose. “You’re sure of this?”

I nodded. “I know he did it. And if you were to interrogate him, I think he’d eventually reveal his connection to Konstantin Black and Viktor Dålig.”

“All right then. If you’re sure.” Mina looked past me to where Elliot stood by the door and motioned to him. “Let the Prince in.”

“What?” I exchanged a looked with Kasper.

Kasper swallowed, trying to hide his nerves. “This is highly unorthodox.”

I’d expected the King to interrogate Kennet himself, most likely with the help of the Högdragen. With that kind of pressure, I thought Kennet had a good chance of caving and confessing what he knew.

But with just Kasper and me accusing him, I couldn’t imagine why he’d be honest in front of Mina.

“The Prince and I happened to be having lunch together when Elliot got me, and being the gentlemen that he is, the Prince offered to walk me down here,” Mina explained. “And now it turns out be very fortuitous.”