"She knows who poisoned the wine?" Anna demanded, gripping the messenger's arm. "Are you certain that is what she said?""Word for word, my Lady. She said she knows who did it and why, and that you need to hear the truth before she dies."Jacob was already forcing himself to sit up despite Doctor Foster's protests. "We go now.""You can barely stand!""Then I will crawl. If Elizabeth knows something about the poisoning, we cannot wait."They reached Tate Manor within the hour. Jacob leaned heavily on Anna the entire carriage ride, still weak but determined. The mansion looked dark except for lights burning in Elizabeth's chambers on the second floor.Ben Tate met them at the entrance, his face haggard. "She has been asking for you for hours. The doctors say she might not last the night.""What happened?" Anna asked. "She was stable two weeks ago.""The illness accelerated suddenly. Almost like—" Ben stopped himself."Almost like poison," Jacob finished. "Someone got to her too.""We d

"We need to talk," Aria said, catching Anna in the hallway after Elizabeth's funeral three days later. "Please. Just five minutes."Anna had been avoiding her sister since learning the truth about her heritage. Too much was happening too fast, and she did not have energy for Aria's usual drama."I am very busy—""I know. You are always busy saving the world or running the government or fighting demons." Aria's voice cracked. "But I need to say something before I lose my nerve."Anna stopped and turned to face her sister. Aria looked terrible, eyes red from crying and face pale from grief. But there was something else there too. Genuine remorse."Five minutes," Anna agreed.They walked to the garden where they had played as children, back when their relationship had not yet been poisoned by jealousy and cruelty. Aria sat on the stone bench and Anna remained standing, arms crossed defensively."I was awful to you," Aria began without preamble. "For years. I said terrible things, did ter

"You look miserable," Anna observed, finding Leo in his new office surrounded by stacks of paperwork and looking overwhelmed.Leo glanced up from the security reports he was reviewing. "I am fine.""You are a terrible liar. What is wrong?"He gestured helplessly at the chaos around him. "This. All of this. Being Head of Security for an entire nation is different from being Jacob's personal guard. I have seventeen departments reporting to me, three hundred personnel under my command, and decisions that could get people killed if I make mistakes.""Welcome to leadership.""I am not qualified for this. I am a soldier, not an administrator."Anna sat down across from him, pushing aside a stack of budget proposals. "When I became Lady of Seron, I felt the same way. I was a merchant's granddaughter suddenly running a government. I had no idea what I was doing.""But you figured it out.""With help. Lots of help." She pulled one of the reports closer and scanned it. "Who is your second-in-co

"I found them," Leo announced, entering Jacob's office the morning after the prisoner's warning. "The Forno family remnants."Jacob looked up from his breakfast. "Where?""Port city called Harren, three days journey south. Michael Forno had three nephews we did not know about. They fled there before the trials started.""Are they planning anything?""Not that we can tell. They have been running a shipping business quietly. No contact with Seron, no recruitment of loyalists, just living normal lives under assumed names."Anna set down her tea. "Then why are we concerned about them?""Because the prisoner was right. The Forno family has resources and connections we never fully mapped. These three nephews might be lying low now, but eventually they could become threats."Jacob considered this. "What do you recommend?""We could send agents to eliminate them quietly. Three targets, isolated location, minimal risk of discovery.""Or?""Or we negotiate. Offer them permanent exile in exchang

"President Zhao is requesting a meeting," Leo informed Jacob. "Says it is about Verons Heis's surviving family members."Jacob looked up from the reconstruction reports he was reviewing. "I thought we addressed that issue. They were granted clemency and protection.""Apparently there are complications. Zhao wants to discuss them in person."The meeting was arranged for the following week at the border between Seron and Argo, neutral ground that both leaders could reach easily. Jacob brought Anna and Leo. Zhao arrived with Ambassador Thorne and a nervous-looking social worker."Thank you for coming," Zhao said, gesturing for everyone to sit. "We have a delicate situation regarding Verons's children.""What kind of situation?"The social worker, a middle-aged woman named Holland, spoke up. "After Verons's death, his three children became wards of the state. Two boys aged twelve and fourteen, and a daughter aged eight. We placed them with foster families who had no connection to the form