Six months later, the kingdom had changed.
The moon still rose silver above the palace every night, but the air beneath it carried a strange silence, the kind that followed domination too long unchallenged. The guards spoke in hushed tones. The maids walked faster, eyes lowered. Even the council, once filled with confident voices, now echoed only with the sound of obedience.
And in the heart of it all walked Liora, her belly was round beneath the flowing silk of her gown, every step slow but deliberate. Two maids trailed behind her at all times, not to assist, but to watch. Gonzalo had ordered it himself. Wherever Liora went, eyes followed. Wherever she stood, silence followed.
The halls were her kingdom, but no longer her own.
