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the same of Robert,” Victor said.
         “I know.”
Jana stared at her hands, twisting the gold ring on her finger. “Yet he wasn’t
as bad as people made him out to be. You of all people know that. Perhaps he
was not the best king. He made mistakes. But Richard would be far worse.”
         “Did
Robert tell you he meant to name me his successor?” Charles asked. Victor had
told him as much, but it surprised him to think his uncle would have shared
such intentions with his wife.
         “He did.”
Jana lifted her head to meet his gaze. “Shortly before he fell ill, he informed
me that within the month he intended to formally set Richard aside as his heir
in favor of you. Only he never got the chance to follow through.”
         Charles
and Victor exchanged a look. They had discussed at length the nature of
Robert’s mysterious, incurable illness and both had come to the same conclusion
as to its origin. Charles had been wary of the idea of sharing this
supposition, for which they had no tangible proof, with the queen. Victor,
however, was adamant they must tell her, if for no other reason than to
forewarn her of a possible danger to her life.
         “Your
Majesty,” Victor said, “I have something I feel the need to discuss with you.
This may not be the most opportune of times, but we must talk of my suspicions
concerning the circumstances surrounding the king’s death.”
         “ Our suspicions,”
Charles said, not wanting Victor to take all the blame if Jana was upset by his
words.
         Jana rose
from her seat and approached the hearth, where a crystal carafe of wine sat on
the mantle surrounded by matching glasses. “If your suspicions concern my stepchildren,
then we have nothing to discuss.” She poured herself a glass of wine. “I am
well aware Daniella poisoned her father.”
         Charles
sat back in his seat. He looked to Victor whose expression bore the same shock
as he was feeling. It was one thing for the two of them to suggest such
suspicions and another altogether to hear Jana come right out and accuse the
princess of regicide.
         “How do
you know?” Charles asked.
         “Richard as
much as told me.” Jana stared at the glass. “Oh, not in so many words, but in
the gloating smile on his lips every time I have the great misfortune of being
in the same room with him. He hasn’t the nerve nor the wits to pull off such a
plot on his own. It had to be Daniella .” She sipped
her wine.
         “Everyone
in this castle knows her interest in witchery is far from academic,” Jana
continued. “Even if they won’t speak of it. The Hawthorne family all deal in
illegal witchcraft. It’s hardly a secret. Robert should have had the lot turned
over to the Magi instead of marrying two of them. If he had, he’d still be
alive.”
         It
startled and disturbed Charles to hear Jana speak so bitterly. “Did Robert tell
Richard what he planned to do? Is... is that why they killed him?”
         “Yes.”
Jana brought her wine back to her seat. “I told him it was a fool thing to do,
but he said he couldn’t make such an announcement without informing Richard
first. He paid for his sense of graciousness with his life.”
         “Do they
know Robert spoke to you first?” Victor asked.
         “I doubt
it. Otherwise I too would have ‘taken ill.’ Or perhaps suffered some
‘accident’. But I have no illusions about my fate once Richard is king. So you
see,” she sat her glass on the table beside her chair, “it is not for purely
unselfish reasons I intend to help Charles take the crown.”
         “It won’t
be easy,” Victor said. “Richard is the recognized heir and that stands strongly
in his favor.”
         Jana
nodded. “We’ll have to go about subverting his claim carefully.”
         “Richard
won’t be happy about this,” Charles said. He didn’t want to admit fear of his
cousin, but a man who would