"Be careful. If you want someone hit, let me know. I will break every bone in his body for you."

​"No," I huffed, leaning into Damar’s chest but keeping my eyes on the tigers. "You’ll just end up killing them, and I don’t want their pathetic blood staining my floors."

​I turned back to the group, my hand tight on my belly, my face burning with a cold, righteous fury.

​"You lot have some nerve," I spat. "You open your traps and talk to me about family? Screw family! You didn’t treat me like family when I was an uncouth female. You didn’t test me like family when I begged and cried for you. You treated me like trash. Like a criminal... A sinner." I hissed with bitter spite. "And now that I’ve built a Utopia, you want to use me because you’re still wallowing in the mud you created?"

​I looked at the pregnant females, including Veyra, who was staring at me with a mixture of terror and pure, undiluted hate.

​"The audience hall is heated," I said, my voice flat. "It is dry. It is safe. You’ve been sleeping on frozen dirt for weeks and you didn’t die. You’ll survive another few days on my floor. That is more mercy than you ever showed me. You can make do with this, or you can take your ’family’ and get the hell out of my kingdom."

​I turned my back on them, nodding to Thalor. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

​"If any of them tries to leave this hall and wander into the inner palace, throw them into the forest. I’m done with the audience for today."

The air in the hallway was cool, but my skin was prickling with the heat of my own anger.

I could feel Damar’s hand still firm on my shoulder, his presence protective and it didn’t let up until we were well away from the double doors of the hall.

​"They haven’t changed," Fenric muttered, his jaw so tight I could see the muscles leaping under his skin. "Even after losing everything, they still think they can demand things from you. The audacity of that old man to use his knees as a weapon..."

​"It’s the only weapon he has left, Fenric," I said, my voice finally steadying, though my heart was still hammering against my ribs. "He thinks because he’s ’lowly’ now, and I’ll feel guilty. He doesn’t realize that every time he begs, I just remember the times Arinya begged him and got nothing but a cold shoulder."

Fenric looked at me, probably understanding my words when I said ’Arinya begged him’.

​Thalor and Noah caught up to us, their expressions a mixture of awe and absolute grimness.

​"Arinya," Noah said softly, his dark eyes searching my face. "I knew they weren’t kind to you, but ’sinner’? ’Criminal’? What exactly did they do to make you feel like that in your own tribe?"

​I stopped, leaning against a cool stone pillar to take the weight off my aching back. The triplets were already sensing the shift in mood, Lyra clinging to Damar’s tail while Phina and Raiden hovered near Noah, looking unusually quiet.

​"They made Arinya’s existence a crime, Noah," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "Every mistake Veyra made was her fault. Every time she cried, Arinya was the villain. They didn’t just neglect Arinya, they actively tried to break her so she would be a submissive little breeding tool for the tribe. That ’father’ down there once watched her get beaten and called it ’discipline’ for a crime she didn’t commit."

"This happened before... you—" Fenric began and I nodded.

"Yes, it did, but I still feel all of it. The memories of this body are so vivid that they feel like my own. Even after I came to this world, they acted that way. While they tried to change, old spots don’t just wipe off." I explained and then looked at Thalor who was confused.

He hadn’t heard my story yet so he didn’t understand that I was another soul in this body. But he didn’t ask. To him, all those deeds were done to me. And I felt every single one.

​Thalor’s violet eyes turned cold instantly and his fists clenched hard. "They did all that and now they want the Guest Wing? They want the soft beds and the hot water?" He let out a sharp, dry laugh, one I didn’t know he could make. "I should go back in there and remind them that the forest is even colder than the hall floor."

​"No," I said, patting his arm. "Let them stay in the hall. Let them smell the roasted meat coming from the kitchens. Let them hear the laughter of our people. Let them see the luxury they’ll never touch. That is a far better punishment than the forest."

"Arinya," he looked at me, his gaze softening. He looked hurt, like the wounds in my heart were so visible he could count and touch them.

"Anyway, let’s get going. I don’t want them to stress me to the point that I give birth prematurely." I said. "Thalor, has your father returned?" I asked, shifting the topic back to something more tangible.

"He has not, Arinya. He said he would need some more time to rest in the sea before he comes up to assist in the final construction of the walls." Thalor reported and I nodded.

"I’m really thankful for his assistance and those from the sea." I said. "Thanks to them, everything moved smoothly and the wall is almost done."

"It is nothing, Arinya," he slightly nodded his head. "We are simply helping our Savior,"

I smiled and that smile turned into a chuckle.

"Your brother also seems to love it here. Are you sure he’s going to return to take over the sea king?" I asked, while laughing and he grimaced.

"He should not inconvenience you, Arinya,"

"Well, it’s not that much of an inconvenience if I don’t mind." I said and looked ahead. "He’s also family, so don’t treat him like he’s a nuisance for overstaying, alright?"

​As we walked toward the Sovereign Wing, I felt a sharp, familiar twinge in my abdomen. I gasped, my hand flying to my belly.

​"Ari!" All four of them were on me in a second, hands reaching out, eyes wide with panic.

​"I’m fine," I breathed, waiting for the cramp to subside. "It’s just a kick. Or maybe the kids are just as annoyed by the tigers as I am."

​But as I looked toward the window, seeing the sun dipping low over the West Way, I realized the clock was ticking. Six days. Six days until I’d be at my most vulnerable.

​I looked at my husbands—my real family.

​"We need to tighten the guard," I said, my voice regaining its queenly steel. "I don’t trust them. Not Rakan, not the brothers, and especially not Veyra. She’s the type to set a house on fire just to see the smoke. I want two guards on the hall doors at all times. No one goes out, and no one goes in unless it’s to bring them their rations."

​"Consider it done," Fenric said, his eyes glinting.

​I nodded, satisfied. I had fought too hard for this life to let a bunch of ghosts from my past haunt it. If they wanted a savior, they should have looked for one when I was still a little girl crying in the dark.

​Now? All they had was a Queen. And this Queen was fresh out of mercy.

Having the Stormhole tribe in the audience hall was like keeping a box of vipers in the parlor—you knew someone was going to get bitten; it was just a matter of when.

But at least it was better than having the vipers roam freely.