Chapter 2

2: 2

"Rosie, why are you sweating so much?"

I gripped the edge of the table, barely steady on my feet, as Susannah lifted a handkerchief to dab at my face.

I flinched away on instinct and wiped it myself with the back of my hand.

"It's probably... the steam from the buns just now, it was so hot. It's nothing. Do you like them?"

Susannah chewed, cheeks stuffed round, and nodded.

Leigh Rowe flicked the tip of her nose, doting.

"You're a mother now, and you still act like a child."

Then he took her slender wrist in his hand and bit into the half-eaten bun she was holding.

"Mm, they really are good. The Queen delivered the crown prince today, and Lady James steamed pumpkin bread with her own hands—that counts for something too!"

"Rewards! Rewards for everyone!"

At his word, endless gold and silver and jewels were carried in.

Leigh Rowe pressed a kiss to Susannah's forehead.

"I have some state matters to attend to. With Lady James here to keep you company, I can leave with an easy mind."

The vast Queen's Chambers were left to the two of us, sisters with our private things to say.

Susannah patted the bed beside her carelessly.

"He's finally gone. Rosie, come here, sit down and tell me whether the prince looks like me or like Leigh Rowe."

She called the king by his given name, as she had for all eight years.

But the moment I thought that the person in front of me might no longer be my Susannah, the hand I reached out trembled beyond my control.

"Rosie, what are you shaking for? I just had a baby, and you're this worked up? Pathetic."

She passed the child to me, a tiny bundle.

My eyes stung all at once. If this were truly Susannah's baby, would it have been just as sweet?

I dragged an ugly smile onto my mouth, fighting back tears that instead looked like a best friend weeping for joy.

"Susie, you finally got the son you've wanted to give Leigh Rowe all these years. I'm happy for you."

At that she nodded and sighed, musing aloud.

"I know. A son on the first try, so I won't have to suffer through it again. You have no idea how much it hurts to give birth!"

She chattered on beside my ear like a lark, full of little complaints.

But my thoughts drifted far away, my fingernails digging into flesh until they drew blood.

Susannah had never wanted a son.

The day after she was crowned Queen, she'd thrown the royal decree aside, indignant.

"Why must I give them a crown prince? I won't. Daughters are so lovely! This whole business of favoring sons over daughters has to go!"

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't bear a son at all. Even if I have a princess, I'll name her heir!"

Every frown and every smile of the woman before me was exactly Susannah's, yet she was absolutely not her.

But she could speak our male-model code phrase, which meant Susannah must have said it once and this woman had overheard it.

Where on earth was Susannah? Was she alive or dead?

That night I cast ten divinations for Susannah, one after another, and every one came back dire.

I sank to the floor, and then, all at once, I saw the clouds that had hung dark for days pull apart.

Of the twin sister-stars that had always stood for the two lives Susannah and I shared as one, one had gone utterly dim.

I sucked in a breath, shaken. Could Susannah really have been killed...

But who could she possibly have wronged?

A queen who contended with no one, a harem that held not even a single other consort.

Leigh Rowe loved her more than his own life. He could never have hurt her.

I held my head in my hands and thought. A living, breathing person can't be swapped out without leaving a crack somewhere.

I had to find her. Alive, I would see her face. Dead, I would see her body.

When exactly had things gone wrong?

Three months ago, seven months into her pregnancy, Susannah had said she felt unwell and needed to rest in the Queen's Chambers.

Since we came to this world, I had never been apart from her for so long.

Three whole months, until today, when she delivered the crown prince—that was the first I had seen of her again.

Something had to have happened in between.

I drove my fist into the railing. I should have seen it long ago.

Susannah dreaded being alone. There was no way she would have shut herself inside the Queen's Chambers for three months.