Osiris took one step toward Glimora as if he still had some foolish idea of taking the meat back.

Glimora immediately stopped chewing.

Her eyes narrowed.

Her tail lifted one tiny bit.

Osiris froze.

This time, he did not even try to pretend he was brave.

He took one large step back.

Zyran bent forward again, nearly choking on his laughter. "He learned. Look at that. Pain truly teaches."

Osiris’s face turned red with anger. "I am preserving my clothing."

"You mean the skirt she already marked."

"It is not marked."

A thin line of smoke rose again from the edge of the fur.

Zyran looked down at it.

Then he looked back up.

Osiris slapped at it again with fury. "It is winter. Things smoke."

Isabella wheezed.

Cyrus had to help her sit properly because she was laughing so much that her whole body leaned sideways. He supported her with one arm around her back and the other near her stomach, and when he felt a small movement under his palm, his face immediately softened.

Isabella felt it too.

Her laughter slowed, and she looked down with surprise. "I think I laughed the babies awake."

Cyrus’s pink eyes lowered to her stomach, and all the amusement on his face softened into that warm, helpless affection he always got whenever the babies moved. His palm rested there more carefully, his thumb brushing slow patterns over the curve of her stomach as if he was greeting them.

Zyran saw that and let out a dramatic sigh. "There he goes again. Melting."

Isabella glanced at him. "Are you jealous of unborn babies now?"

"I am jealous of everyone who gets your attention."

"That is pathetic."

"I am a shameless man. I accepted that long ago."

Osiris, still guarding the front of his skirt with one hand, muttered, "I am the victim here."

Glimora chose that exact moment to yawn.

A tiny, lazy yawn.

Osiris flinched.

The entire room noticed.

For one second, nobody spoke.

Then Isabella stared at him with wide eyes before laughing again. Zyran nearly hit the stone shelf with his forehead from laughing too hard. Cyrus looked away, but his smile was obvious now. Even Kian’s mouth moved again, and this time he did not manage to hide it fast enough.

Osiris looked around the room with the face of a man abandoned by justice itself. "I was being cautious."

Zyran nodded gravely. "Of course. Very wise. Nobody knows when the next divine rear flame will arrive."

Glimora growled.

Zyran immediately lifted both hands. "I said divine. I gave it respect."

Glimora stared at him for a long moment, then went back to eating as if she had decided to spare him.

Zyran slowly released a breath. "See? She is merciful."

Osiris stared at him. "You are afraid of her too."

Zyran’s smile vanished. "I am experienced."

"That means afraid."

"That means wise."

Isabella pointed at both of them while leaning into Cyrus. "You two are arguing over a beast who is currently eating stolen meat and ignoring you." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Both men looked at Glimora.

Glimora did not look back.

She was too busy enjoying the meat.

That somehow made it worse.

Kian finally spoke again in that calm, cold voice of his. "The next person who loses food to Glimora will handle it without disturbing the whole room."

Osiris immediately looked at him. "So you agree she is a thief."

Kian said, "I agree that you are loud."

Zyran covered his mouth.

Isabella made another broken laugh.

Osiris looked like he wanted to fight everyone but could not decide who deserved it first.

For a while, the room stayed warm and foolish and full of laughter that had no right to exist with so many terrible things waiting outside. The fire crackled in the hearth, the smell of smoke and roasted meat lingered in the air, and the snow beyond the walls kept falling like the world had no idea what had just happened inside.

Glimora finished chewing with the satisfied face of a beast who had won everything she wanted.

Then she licked her mouth.

Slowly.

Like a villain.

Osiris stared. "She did that on purpose."

Zyran nodded. "She truly is one of us."

Isabella looked at Glimora, then at Zyran, then back at Glimora again. "Do not corrupt my beast."

Zyran smiled. "She came like this."

Glimora rested her chin on her paws and blinked up at Isabella with the softest, sweetest face in the world, as if she had never stolen meat, burned a phoenix, threatened two grown males, and escaped punishment through pure cuteness.

Isabella stared at her.

Then she sighed. "You are lucky you are adorable."

Glimora’s tail gave one tiny pleased wag.

Osiris looked devastated. "So she gets away with it because she is cute?"

Isabella looked at him. "That is how many things work."

Zyran leaned closer and said, "Finally, she admits it."

Isabella shot him a look. "That rule does not apply to you."

"It should."

"It really should not."

Kian glanced at Zyran and said calmly, "It does not."

Zyran looked wounded for the third time that morning. "This family is cruel."

Cyrus smiled softly while rubbing Isabella’s back. "You enjoy it."

Zyran opened his mouth, then closed it because Cyrus was annoyingly correct.

And for that one small stretch of time, the danger waiting outside the palace loosened its grip on them. Zara, the attack, First City, the demon blood, the coming birth, all of it still existed. It was still there in the shadows, waiting. But inside that warm stone room, with thick furs underfoot, smoke curling in the air, Cyrus holding Isabella steady, Kian pretending to be stern, Zyran laughing like an underworld prince with no manners, Osiris protecting his wounded dignity, and Glimora resting on stolen glory like a victorious little queen, Isabella felt her heart grow lighter.

Honestly, if the world insisted on throwing disasters at her every two breaths, then it could at least keep sending stupid moments like this to keep her from losing her mind.