The morning light bled weakly through the palace windows, pale and cold, as though even the sun hesitated to touch the kingdom now soaked in tension. The walls no longer hummed with the proud energy they once carried under Liora's rule. Instead, they held something tight, something stiff, fear.
Liora stood by her chamber window, one hand clutching the frame for support. Six months of carrying Gonzalo's child had already weakened her. Birth had drained what little remained. And now, the emptiness inside her chest grew heavier by the second, as if someone had scooped out the parts of her that once made her powerful.
Her wolf once a blazing force, now whimpered somewhere deep inside her bones, too faint to even whisper. Behind her, the chamber doors opened. Gonzalo walked in without waiting for permission, his stride confident, almost leisurely. He looked at Liora the way a man looked at land he already owned.
Liora stiffened. She didn't turn around. She didn't speak first.
He did.
