The Queen's guards return with her mobile throne, carved teakwood inlaid with gold filigree, cushioned in a seafoam velvet that almost disappears against her robes. She looks smaller today, frailer somehow, like the years are finally daring to weigh on her. But her eyes; those icy, calculating eyes, haven't lost a shred of their edge.
She doesn't rise. She doesn't need to.
"Let him speak," she says quietly.
Lord Johnson is brought forward. I notice the faint sheen of sweat on his brow despite the morning chill. He bows low, deeper than usual, and clasps his hands like a man on trial. Well, he is. He just doesn't know the jury already has a verdict.
"Your Majesty," he begins, his voice slightly tremulous, "I come seeking protection. My personal guard, Bako has turned on me. He's spreading lies."
Cassian takes a subtle step closer to me. I feel the tension rolling off him, but his face is unreadable.
"What sort of lies?" the Queen asks, resting her hand lightly on the gilded head of her staff.
Johnson clears his throat. "Accusations, Your Majesty. He's claiming that I've been plotting against the Crown Prince. It's utterly false."
"Is it?" she asks, her voice as soft as a blade slipping between ribs.
His head snaps up. "God forbid, no! I would never conspire against the royal house. I've served loyally for decades."
Cassian and I exchange a glance, pretending to be as surprised as the moment calls for. He raises a brow slightly, his signal that Johnson is giving us more rope to hang him with.
"And where is this Bako now?" the Queen presses.
Johnson falters. "I… I don't know. I dismissed him days ago. He disappeared. Took nothing with him."
Cassian's jaw tenses, but he says nothing. I, on the other hand, have to bite down the smirk that almost escapes me. You're lying, Lord Johnson. Bako didn't disappear. He's exactly where we put him.
"Interesting," the Queen murmurs. "A treasonous guard vanishes. And you say nothing until now?"
"I didn't want to stir panic or invite suspicion. And to make matters worse, my daughter… Nancy… she's gone too. I haven't seen her in days."
The air shifts.
Did he just say daughter?
The Queen's brows lift in genuine surprise. "You… have a daughter?"
I mirror her shock, letting my lips part just enough. Cassian blinks slowly beside me, his version of stunned silence. Johnson notices our reaction and falters.
"She's… been away for studies. I didn't think it relevant. But now that she's missing… I fear she might have fallen under Bako's influence as well."
"So you're telling me," the Queen says, her voice now cold and measured, "that your guard has disappeared, your daughter is missing, and you've come to the palace for protection only after the situation has reached crisis point."
"I feared for my life, Your Majesty. I had no choice."
Liar.
Coward.
Cassian steps forward, voice calm. "If what you say is true, we'll increase security around your estate. You'll remain under observation until Bako is found and the allegations are investigated properly."
"Of course. Thank you, Your Majesty."
As he's escorted away, I lean close to Cassian, whispering just loud enough for him to catch: "He's folding. And too quickly."
"He knows we're closing in."
We both glance toward the Queen, who hasn't taken her eyes off Johnson's retreating form. Something glitters behind her calm expression. Not sympathy. Not suspicion.
It's strategy.
She's going to weigh every lie he just told, and when the truth finally lands, it will crush him completely.
And as for us? We're done pretending.
I wait in our chamber, sprawled across the bed with a book open on my lap and my mind nowhere near the words on the page. The fire crackles low, shadows dancing on the gilded edges of the walls I've recently reclaimed as mine. Esther had lit the scented candles without me asking; bergamot and sandalwood, the scent Cassian always notices first when he steps in.
But he's been gone for a while.
He left the moment we returned from the Queen's wing. I saw the tension in his jaw, the way his hands curled into loose fists at his sides. There were words he needed to say to her that I wasn't meant to hear.
And I respect that.
Still, I count every minute.
When the door finally opens, I sit up too quickly, the book tumbling to the carpet.
Cassian steps in, shedding his royal coat in one swift movement. His shoulders look heavier somehow weighted with decisions already made.
I rise from the bed and meet him halfway. "How did it go?"
He exhales, brushing a hand through his hair before pulling me gently into a one-armed embrace. "It's done. The Queen has set the date."
I pull back to see his eyes. "For the hearing?"
He nods. "Four days from now. The full Royal Council will be present."
My heart lurches. "That soon?"
"She's not wasting time," he says. "Lord Johnson's actions touched the Crown directly through me, through you. She's furious, though she hides it well. When the Queen's voice drops that low, it means heads will roll."
I blink slowly, absorbing it. "What did she say about Bako?"
"She authorized his interrogation to continue under the Crown's direct authority. No one from the council is allowed access to him. Not even the commander of the palace guard. She wants no leaks."
"And Nancy?"
"She remains your guest." A slight smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Which is a polite way of saying she's under voluntary house arrest until the council decides what to do with her."
I glance away, mind racing through implications. "This hearing… it could expose everything. The fake pregnancy, the forged letters, the attempt on my life."
"It will," he says simply. "That's the point."
I nod slowly, then look up at him again. "Do you think they'll strip him of his title?"
Cassian's eyes harden. "If they don't, I will."
Silence stretches between us, not empty but thick with anticipation. I reach for his hand and squeeze it.
"I want to be there," I whisper. "At the hearing."
"You will be," he says. "At my side."
Then he lifts my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. "Four days, Celeste. That's all the time Lord Johnson has left to breathe easy."
And something about the way he says it tells me the Crown isn't just preparing for justice, it's preparing for reckoning.