“A queen needs someone who will always tell them the truth. Even if they don’t want to hear it. Someone they can depend on utterly. A friend who will never betray them. We want you to be that person.
“It will be the task of a lifetime. You will hold no rank beyond the respect which you may earn. You will have no authority but that which you can create by the power of your own will. You will give advice that may go unheeded. You will draw a stipend from the treasury, which will be more than sufficient for your needs. You will have rooms in the palace, near Kitiara’s.”
“You will also,” her husband went on, as Eleanora went pale, “hold a seat on the royal council when you are of age. The counsel you give may help thousands of lives, Eleanora.”
“Or wreck them,” she continued, hating the iro
