The chamber was soaked in low firelight, its heavy drapes muffling the distant hum of music still echoing from the ballroom. Nova reclined on a chaise carved from ebony, her silk robe slipping off one shoulder, wine glass held lazily in one hand. Her long legs stretched out across the plush velvet, and her expression was one of bored satisfaction.
She twirled the remaining liquid in her glass, watching the crimson swirl lazily like blood.
Roan would call for her soon. He always did. He needed her. Not for comfort he'd never admit to needing that but for control, for grounding. For the familiar.
Arin was a disruption. A placeholder. A symbol draped in velvet and stitched into power like a delicate patch to hold Roan's crumbling alliances together. But she wouldn't last. She couldn't.
The door opened without a knock.
Nova didn't even look up. "Mother."
Usera entered like a shadow, her silk-clad figure slicing through the warm light like a blade wrapped in perfume. Her face was tightly composed, but Nova could see the tension in the corners of her mouth.
She closed the door behind her softly, too softly. That was always a sign.
"Why are you here?" Usera asked sharply. "Why are you not with him?"
Nova sighed, deliberately slow. "Because he sent me away. Temporarily."
Usera stepped further into the room, her heels silent against the carpet. "Temporarily?" she repeated, voice as flat as glass. "Nova, that was the time. Tonight was the moment we've been working toward."
"I know," Nova said, tipping her head back and draining the rest of the wine. "But he will have no other choice than to seek me."
Usera's brows lifted. "You should have made him drink it immediately you got into the room."
Nova smirked. "He drank it. That's all that matters. And soon enough, he'll feel that lovely ache. That craving. The kind only I can satisfy."
"You are playing a dangerous game."
"I always do," Nova said breezily. She reached for the decanter and refilled her glass with a casual flourish. "But let's not pretend the stakes are high. It's Arin we're talking about."
Usera's eyes narrowed. "Don't."
Nova blinked at her, mock-innocent. "Don't what?"
"Don't underestimate her."
Nova laughed, a rich sound that echoed through the room like music on the edge of cruelty. "The wolfless bitch? Please. She couldn't even look Roan in the eyes during the ceremony. She's a ghost with a crown. An embarrassment."
"She's a woman," Usera said, voice colder now. "And he's a man."
Nova's amusement flickered, the light behind it dimming. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've lived longer than you," Usera said, crossing to the chair opposite the chaise. She didn't sit. She stood over her daughter, towering in her own elegance. "Long enough to know what happens when men are pushed too far. They seek softness. Solace. Things they don't admit needing until they're already entangled."
Nova's fingers tightened slightly around her glass.
Usera saw it.
"She may be pathetic. Weak. But weakness has power too. Men want to fix what's broken. They crave being the one who saves."
Nova scoffed. "Roan doesn't want to save anyone. He destroys."
"And yet," Usera said, turning slowly to glance toward the window, "he chose not to spend this most important night with you."
Nova's jaw clenched.
"He didn't choose her," she bit out. "He didn't kiss her. He didn't even look at her during the bonding."
"But you are not his queen," Usera said, voice soft now, dangerously gentle. "You can not afford to allow cracks or else, you will lose him."
Nova didn't respond.
Usera smiled, all silk and teeth. "Roan may be ruthless. But Arin… Arin is an opportunity. She is a relic of old bloodlines. She is a pawn in the council's game, sure but that makes her powerful. Whether she wants it or not."
"She won't survive long enough to enjoy any of it," Nova said darkly.
"Not unless you lose control of Roan."
"I haven't," Nova hissed. "I never lose control."
"Then keep it that way."
The words cut the room in two. The flickering fire suddenly felt colder.
Nova set her glass down slowly, rising from the chaise. "You think I don't see the stakes? That I don't understand what's at risk?"
Usera arched a brow but said nothing.
"She is a symbol, nothing more. And if she ever becomes more than that…" Nova's lips curled, sharp and beautiful. "Then I'll shatter her."
A pause.
Usera studied her daughter, eyes calculating. Then she nodded. "Good."
Nova crossed to the window, tugging the curtains aside just enough to glimpse the silhouette of the gardens below. The wind stirred the hedges like whispered warnings.
"So, she is in the garden?" Nova asked quietly.
Usera's gaze didn't move. "She is."
The silence between them deepened.
Nova turned back. "You said we had to move quickly. I agree. But how? The council would never accept a public challenge right now. Not so soon after the bond."
Usera's smile was slow. "Everything has already been set up to ensure her removal."
Nova blinked. "What have you done?"
Usera turned, the firelight catching the deep red of her gown. "I simply nudged some pieces on the board."
Nova demanded impatiently, "Tell me."
Usera's gaze hardened. "Arin will not leave the garden a virgin and the whole kingdom will find out that she is a terrible choice as queen."
Nova's eyes narrowed. "What have you done?"
"Soon you will find out." Usera answered.
"Why won't ypu tell me?" Nova whined
"Because, daughter of mine, the less you know, the less you can betray if this goes wrong."
Nova opened her mouth, but Usera raised a single hand.
"We are on the edge, Nova. One wrong step, and the entire plan collapses. So for now hold the line. Keep Roan close. Keep him needing you. But let me handle the rest."
Nova didn't like it.
She hated not knowing.
But the look in Usera's eyes left no room for argument.
"Fine," she said stiffly. "But this doesn't drag out. I won't watch her steal what should be mine."
"She won't," Usera said. "Not if we don't give her the time to."
Nova's eyes returned to the garden, where the moon had finally emerged from behind the clouds.
She watched the shadows below.
She wondered what her mother had planned with Arin, whatever it was, it would not be pretty