Maximilian had thought about it.
"Maybe she was angry with me."
He was quiet for a moment.
"At the time, Alexander was already pulling away from her. Perhaps he was unhappy in his marriage. He stopped listening to her. I had never listened to her in the first place."
A faint, humorless smile touched his mouth.
"Perhaps she wanted control. Or perhaps she wanted the reassurance that, when she grew old, at least one of her sons would still listen to her."
Catherine listened quietly.
"And she was jealous of you," he continued. "That jealousy may have turned into resentment. You were going to inherit the throne. Once we married, she probably believed I would always come second to you."
He sighed.
"The seers simply told her what she wanted to hear. They gave her a reason to believe that what she feared was true."
His gaze remained fixed on the horizon.
"But I don't think even she expected it to end with your mother's death. Or with everything that followed."
He shook his head.
