Chapter 8
The Queen in the Laundry
Liora traded her coronation jewels for access to the west granary, then followed Mara through the laundry where servants had preserved erased names.
She found their mother's name sewn inside a sheet.
Their mother had not died of fever. The crown had taken her recognition of her daughters until she walked into winter believing she had no family.
Liora removed the gold collar she had trained twelve years to wear. She ordered it melted into witness seals.
Elara saw the cost of the gesture and did not praise it. "Tomorrow you may want it back."
"I will," Liora said. "Melt it before then."
A messenger burst in. The west granary was open, but Venn had marked every sack with Elara's new seal.