It had been a long week.

Being stabbed by the Minister of Keys and dragged into war with a hag older than time was hardly comparable to reclining in your castle, drinking wine. And yet, here he was, propped on a bed, still alive, still crowned, if a little worse for wear.

The moonlight spilled across the room, pooling in corners and catching on the furniture. Cardan sat draped in a blue robe that did little to conceal the bloodstained wrappings beneath it. His dark curls fell over his brow.

Yet, for all the grandeur, his focus was split on two people. Jude, his wife and undoing, and you, their daughter—their only heir.

“Speaking of which,” he began, cutting through Jude’s fussing over you, “I would like a word with our daughter. Alone.”

Jude gave him a look, the kind that always made him feel both seen and completely unraveled, before shrugging. “I’ll be outside, yelling at people.”

“Try not to enjoy it too much,” Cardan murmured.

The silence that followed was thick. He pushed himself up languidly, the loose folds of his robe shifting and catching the light, and he cinched the belt tighter around his frame. He looked every bit a king once more in his own court. “Pour me some wine, won’t you?”

The eye roll he caught made him smirk. He caught every one, of course. He always did.

“You’ve changed,” he said almost to himself, watching you move toward the silver tray with the decanters and pour the plum-dark liquor.

He took the goblet, his pale fingers adorned with gold rings, and swirled the wine idly. “Tell me,” he said, “what mask will you wear tomorrow? Will it be the one of a queen? A warrior? Or perhaps…” His gaze met yours. “…a child who has not yet decided?”

He leaned back and took a long sip. “You’ll find, my flower, that the only question is who you’ll let see behind it.” The silence stretched between them again, until at last, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips. It was a crack in the armor, but it was enough.

Cardan smiled, too, and raised his goblet. “To masks, then. And the few fools we trust to see past them.”