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Every word, every inflection designed to manipulate the room, to shift the blame, to cast doubt on what had happened at the Moon Pond. And worse, he was addressing the Queen, with that same nauseating calm as if he believed he could persuade her.

I wanted to scream, to tear through his thin veil of deception. Ithra had nearly killed Adrian. She had disobeyed direct orders, violated sacred laws, and endangered everything we were trying to protect. Yet Thalor was standing here, twisting her brutality into an act of patriotism.

My jaw tightened, the tension coiling through me like a serpent ready to strike. I forced myself into something steady, something controlled, but the rage churned beneath the surface, violent and insistent. It gnawed at the edges of my restraint, daring me to let go.

Above, lightning split the airspace with a deafening crack, the once-clear blue sky now twisted into a storm-wracked abyss.

Dark clouds unfurled like a shroud, smothering the sunlight, casting shifting shadows across the ocean’s surface.

Below, the currents writhed in response, restless and unpredictable, mirroring the chaos inside me.

My divine blood surged, answering my fury, and for a fleeting moment, I wanted to let it. To stop holding back. To unleash the power that pulsed in my veins and watch the world tremble for it.

But not here. Not now.

I swallowed the storm whole, forcing my power back into submission. I couldn’t lose control, not in front of them. Not when they were already looking for cracks in my armor.

My grandmother’s gaze met mine, steady and neutral, but it didn’t fool me.

Beneath that carefully composed mask, I sensed her scrutiny, the unspoken warning in the slight narrowing of her eyes.

She felt it too, the shift in the room, the undercurrent of unease threading through the council like a spreading sickness.

Thalor’s words had done their work. Doubt had slithered into their minds, subtle but insidious, and I could not allow it to take root.

I straightened, letting the full force of my presence settle over them like a tightening noose. If they hesitated now, if they dared question my authority, I would not offer reassurance. I would remind them exactly who I was.

“Lady Ithra wasn’t defending the kingdom,” I said, my voice cold but controlled. “She was acting out of a personal vendetta, disobeying the queens’ command, and risking everything in the process. This wasn’t an act of duty, it was reckless and dangerous.”

Thalor’s gaze flicked to mine, his pale blue eyes narrowing slightly, and for a moment, I saw the glint of something dark and predatory lurking behind his calm demeanor. Those eyes were the same predatory blue I saw four years ago and startled me.

How?

“The human invaded our territory, saw our sacred Moon Pond, and during Astralis.” His tone was sharp and cutting, each word dripping with venomous intent.

My insides twisted as he emphasized “human” with such disdain, as if Adrian’s mere existence was a personal affront to him.

The way he framed the situation, it was as though everything that had transpired was Adrian’s fault, as if it were some unpardonable sin that he had stumbled into our world, a world he did not know of, a world that had already changed him in ways beyond his understanding.

The mention of the sacred Moon Pond, and worse, Astralis, sent a ripple of unease through the council members.

Tension rising in the room as the gravity of the situation sank in.

Thalor was exploiting it, using the sanctity of the Astralis to turn them against me, to make it seem as if the actual crime was Adrian’s presence.

I fought to keep my expression neutral, but inside, anger and frustration raged.

“He didn’t invade our territory, Thalor,” I bit out, my voice sharp.

“We both know the breach in the barrier was not by his hand. Lady Ithra attacked him without provocation, during a time when the laws mean to protect, not to punish.” I turned to my grandmother.

“She broke the law, and that cannot go unpunished.”

Thalor wasn’t done. His eyes, sharp and gleaming with malice, flicked back to me.

“And yet he remains an intruder, Your Highness,” he continued, his voice laced with a dark, almost mocking tone, lips curled into a sneer. “And Lady Ithra was protecting the kingdom against said intruder, something you should’ve done four years ago, Princess.”

His words sliced through me like an icy blade, the insinuation clear. My fists clenched at my sides, and my pulse quickened, but I refused to let him see how deep his words cut. How dare he mention my parents’ murder?

“He wants to throw you off. Don’t let him, Iryen.” My grandmother’s voice sang in my mind and I compose myself again.

“You can’t be serious,” I shot back, my voice fierce and unwavering. “She went against the Queen’s ruling. It doesn’t matter what her motive was. It doesn’t matter if he’s an intruder. She broke the law, and the law will punish her.”

My tone was cold, vicious even. I was sick of Thalor’s games, his constant manipulation, twisting everything to suit his ambitions.

Let the councilmen agree with him all they wanted, but the law was the law.

It wasn’t open to interpretation or manipulation, not with an outright defiance of the Queen’s orders.

Thalor’s gaze darkened, and a tense silence settled over the chamber.

The council members shifted uneasily in their seats, their eyes darting between us.

I saw their hesitation, their reluctance to speak against him.

Thalor had a way of instilling fear, of bending people to his will with just a few well-placed words.

But not this time. I wouldn’t let him win.

“The law is there to protect us all,” I continued, my voice steady but laced with a cold finality. “Not to be twisted in favor of whoever has the loudest voice. Ithra’s actions were reckless, dangerous, and they went against the Queen’s ruling. There’s no justification for that.”

“Very well then, we must follow the law,” Thalor said, his voice deceptively calm, though his words dripped with malice. I narrowed my eyes, sensing the trap he was laying out before us. “But Lady Ithra couldn’t have done this alone. ”

A sharp, glacial irritation coiled in my chest, spreading through my veins like frost creeping over glass. Every calculated word that left his lips was a deliberate push, a test, a provocation wrapped in the pretense of diplomacy. The venom was subtle, almost imperceptible, but I felt it.

I saw it in the way his lips barely curved, the way his gaze lingered just a fraction too long, gleaming with the quiet satisfaction of a predator toying with its prey. He was stirring the waters, daring me to bite.

“Where were the guards?” he asked, feigning innocence. His expression was an infuriating mask of false curiosity, but I wasn’t a fool. He knew exactly what he was doing, trying to shift the focus from Ithra to the royal guards, perhaps even to me.

My jaw clenched, and I felt a sharp energy rising in my chest. He was planning something with this line of questioning, and I wasn’t about to let him manipulate the narrative to his advantage. His entire approach was a dangerous game of politics, one designed to cause chaos and weaken my position.

“The guards were acting on my orders,” the lie rolled smoothly, my voice steady but laced with cold fury. “They were not involved in Lady Ithra’s actions, and you know that, Lord Thalor. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

He smirked, and it took everything in me not to react. This was his game, prodding, poking, looking for a weakness. And I refused to give him one.

My grandmother sat in silence, her piercing green eyes cutting through the rising tension like a blade. She wasn’t just listening, but dissecting, calculating, weighing every word with the precision of a beast waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“Then perhaps we should punish them for abandoning their posts,” Thalor suggested, his smirk widening as if he had already won some twisted victory.

Of course, this was his plan all along, to shift the blame, to drag the royal guards into this mess, and weaken my position by punishing those who were loyal to me.

“They acted under my orders,” I said again, each word precise, honed to a razor’s edge. “If you question their actions, you question me .”

Thalor’s lips curled, not quite a smile, more like a serpent baring its teeth before the kill.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare challenge you, Princess.” His voice was smooth, practiced, an illusion of civility wrapped around something far more venomous. “I only intend to ensure that justice is carried out fairly. Surely, you wouldn’t stand in the way of that, would you?”

His audacity was almost admirable. Almost.

I curled my fingers into fists beneath the table, nails biting into my palms to tether the desire of shattering his mind burning inside me. He wanted a reaction, an attack against him. He wouldn’t succeed.

“Justice will be served, Thalor,” I said, my tone cool, unyielding.

“Lady Ithra violated the sacred laws of this kingdom, my laws. That is the matter at hand, and that is what we will address. Any attempt to twist this into one of your pathetic political games is nothing more than an evasion of the truth.”

I leaned forward slightly, just enough to make the water shift between us, a silent warning.

“But you already know that, don’t you?”

His smirk wavered, just for a heartbeat, but I caught it. A crack in the mask. The smallest slip, yet it fed something dark and satisfied within me.

Good. Let him realize, truly realize, that this was not a debate. Not a game.

The law would stand. My law .

Ithra would face judgment, and there would be no leniency, no mercy. Not for her. Not for anyone who thought they could cross me and walk away unscathed. Never again.