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“You’re all in a relationship, but you were all in the dungeon for months as well. How are you still so close?” Falcon asks.

Grayson braces his arms in front of him as he leans forward to address Falcon. “We aren’t all together exactly,” he begins to explain as he raises his hand and loops it in a circle to encompass those at the table. “The five of us are all in a relationship with Silla, but some of us are also in a relationship with each other. Attraction isn’t forced here. Before we met Silla, we’d all been working together for years, but we really banded in a united force for her. Dumb fights and insecurities don’t belong here. We all thought Silla was dead for months, so when Cinder sent her to the camp with a mission, we thought we were seeing a ghost.”

“In a lot of ways, I was a ghost,” Silla mutters. “Cinder knew the only way they’d agree to her mission would be if I asked.”

“The Queen wasn’t expecting us to insist that Silla come with us,” I add. Falcon nods, but I can see more questions in his eyes. “We’ve all experienced horrible things at Cinder’s behest. She enjoys other people’s pain. This is none of your fucking business, but I need you to understand that consent is very important to us. Don’t touch Silla or my sister without express permission. They’ve both had men take things that don’t belong to them, and we all are working through our memories. Don’t trigger us because of your ignorance.”

Taking a ragged breath that looks oddly cleansing, Falcon glances up at us. His hands are comfortably laying on his thighs, and doesn’t look as if this position is bothering him. “Silla, I’m sorry for teasing you. I was really fucking nervous, and I’m an idiot sometimes. I shouldn’t have tried to keep you in a dark area when you were showing signs of being uncomfortable, and prejudging you as a spoiled brat was stupid of me.”

My hand fists as I wonder if I could get away with punching him. Silla’s foot rubs my calf, and she shakes her head as I look at her. Growling in frustration, I nod. I really want to beat the shit out of this man. Silla has lived through too damn much to deal with ignorance like this.

“I don’t like you,” I say instead. “You told her you wanted a pretty figurehead to pull her strings. Too many people have been telling her what to do for her entire life. That’s not the kind of queen that she’ll be.”

“I… was talking out of my ass,” Falcon groans. “It terrifies me that there’s so much power in one person when they take the throne. I want a strong queen who will actually do what they say they will. Charming’s parents weren’t much better as monarchs. Cinder is just a bloodier queen.”

“If I take over, it won’t be a clean break,” Silla says carefully as she watches him. “You appear to be a bit naive and a pacifist. Cinder won’t quietly leave the throne, her guards will protect her because they enjoy their privileges awarded to them by her, and everyone else is too damn corrupted by their greed.”

“What does that all mean?” Falcon asks. The poor man really doesn’t understand the Queen’s support system.

“I need chocolate for this conversation.” Silla sighs, her head on her hand. She doesn’t look right to me. Her elbow is on the table supporting her, but she’s listing to the left.

“Kitten, do you have any cramps?” I whisper, leaning over. I want to give her the guise of privacy, but I’m a little worried about her.

“Ummm. Kind of? There’s a warmth in my stomach, but it doesn’t hurt yet,” she says.

Sidney stands, kissing her forehead. “I’ll be back, Pet. I’m just running out to the pharmacy, alright?”

“Thank you,” Silla mumbles. Forcing her eyes to focus on Falcon, she tries to find the thread of conversation. “Cinder has an unspoken agreement with Charming. He has a home on the other side of the kingdom with his latest girlfriends, and Cinder can fuck whoever she wants. She has specific sexual proclivities, and enjoys listening to the screams of her prisoners while she is fucked. The guards clean up her messes when things get too rough.”

“Wait…” Falcon interrupts, but Silla plows on, ignoring him. I can tell she needs to get this out before she has us remove him from the apartment.

“The guards are rewarded for their silence and work for the Queen by being given women who are unwilling to have sex with them,” she continues. “It’s why Cinder cut the funding to FRC when Grayson refused them access to Section B. These men could have mutinied on her if they didn’t think they were getting their just rewards.” Falcon is quiet as he listens to Silla with his eyes wide. I want to tell her that she doesn’t need to do this, but clearly she feels as if she does.

I refuse to silence her.

“They’re called the Queen’s whores in Section B because they’re taught how to pull information from men and women with their bodies. I was in that section, and Cinder’s guards wanted to rape me,” Silla rasps, her voice beginning to thicken with pain. “The Queen’s Guard received what they wanted for months, and if I have to go back to that, I’ll find a way to end it all.”

“Silla,” I murmur, trying to send her love in that one word.

“I know.” Silla sighs. A phone rings from the bedroom and her eyes widen as she wipes tears from her eyes. “Oh fuck. It’s like talking about her makes her call.”

Jumping up, she sprints to the bedroom, but I notice that she’s favoring one side of her body.

“Don’t say a word,” I growl.

“She likes to video call,” Andrya says, panicked. “Go to the kitchen, or you’ll be a dead man.”

We’re only bothering to help him because no one deserves to live at the mercy of the Queen. Getting up, Falcon races to the kitchen just as Silla walks out of the bedroom. She’s wearing loose joggers and a tank top from when she changed, and a sweater thrown over it. I notice that she’s zipped the sweater all the way up, trying to avoid Cinder’s wandering eyes.

“Have you accomplished anything yet?” her step-sister whines. “I’ve been in meetings since you’ve been gone, so it’s been good that you haven’t been at the castle. I wouldn’t know what to do with you or how to explain your presence with so many important people here.”

We’re all equally happy she’s not there for different reasons. Andrya begins to pick up dishes on the table as she listens, and Isaac stands to help her.

“I’ve been gathering intel on people who work with the Underground, and I reached out on the dark web to them in hopes that they would pass on my interest in meeting,” Silla begins, mixing truths and lies easily. I know that she started gathering information on the two men who brought her here, finding that there was nothing corrupt about them.

“I also attended a masquerade last night, which is where they—”

“You went to a party, Silla?” Cinder asks, her voice dripping with malice. “I’m not paying for you to buy frilly dresses and dance the night away.”