Her eyes had gone hard, flat, the specific cold hardness of disgust curdled all the way into hatred. "You're not a soldier. You're not even an enemy worth respecting on a battlefield. You're a desecration wearing legs."Gull's smile didn't waver.If anything, it deepened the specific pleasure of someone who found being called a monster far less insulting than most people intended.……."How many more of you." Rita said.Her voice hadn't lost its edge, but something else had crept into it now,the specific tightening that comes when fear and fury are running the same track and competing for which one gets to steer."How many more spies are wearing faces that don't belong to them in this capital." She took a slow step forward, every line of her body coiled and ready. "And what is it you want with my son?"The question about the spies, Gull waved away with a lazy flick of his wrist."Oh, that.” He said. "Wouldn't want to spoil all my surprises now, would I? Where's the fun in that."

The Head Guard's jaw clenched so hard it ached."FORMATION!" He bellowed, his voice carrying the full weight of two decades of command behind it. "EVERY MAN, NOW!"The chaos snapped into something resembling order almost instantly,soldiers scrambling into defensive lines along the wall, the disciplined motion of years of drilling overriding the raw fear flooding through every one of them. Twelve flame mages stepped forward from the ranks in unison, their hands rising together, the air between their palms shimmering as twelve individual wills began weaving themselves into a single, massive shield.The barrier rose between the gate and the open field beyond, a wall of orange-gold light, shimmering and dense, already straining under the mere anticipation of what was coming toward it.The Head Guard rounded on four of his men."You four.” He barked, pointing toward the city streets behind them. "Get into the streets. Civilians indoors, NOW. Every house, every shop, doors locked, nobod

The grass swallowed the sound of the flame ball's arrival before anyone inside it had time to brace for the landing.One moment there was nothing but an open field, the wind rolling gently through tall green stalks under a wide, indifferent sky. The next, a sphere of gold-orange light had simply appeared above the grass, not torn open like a portal, not summoned with any visible circle or incantation, just there, hovering for the space of a single heartbeat before its surface rippled and dissolved into nothing, scattering into a thousand harmless sparks that died before they ever touched the ground.Five bodies hit the earth at roughly the same moment.Mira went down hardest, her knees buckling completely, both palms slapping flat against the dirt as her stomach performed something it had never attempted before in her entire life. Roderick staggered sideways and crashed directly into a patch of wildflowers, sending petals scattering. Yuki dropped to one knee, breathing hard, one hand

"Reine." He said. "Reine.’Gods above, it has been years. Far too many years." He straightened, still holding both her hands, his eyes bright with the particular warmth that only comes from genuine, unguarded affection. "When I last heard word of you, you'd just been seated as Elite Commander. Look at you now."Reine's expression had softened the moment his lips touched her hands, a small, fond smile breaking through the formal mask she'd been wearing since the doors first opened."Your Majesty.”She said. "It's been too long."…….Behind them, two of the Lady Knight's subordinates had gone very still.The first one, a younger man, barely past his apprenticeship by the look of the fresh shine on his armor, leaned in close to the second, his voice dropping into the kind of whisper that thinks it's quieter than it actually is."I told you she looked familiar." He hissed. "I told you, back at the perimeter, I said she had that look about her…""Shut the hell up." The second knight

"Please." She said, sweeping one hand toward the table, “Everyone, take a seat."……The group settled in slowly, the warmth of the room cooling by several degrees despite the fire still crackling in the hearth. Asta took the seat beside Flora, who slid in close enough that their shoulders touched. Roderick, Yuki, Mira, Elara, and Eren filled in along the rest of the table, Reine taking the seat of honor near the Queen.The King broke the quiet first, reaching for the carafe of wine in front of him."So."He said, pouring himself a generous measure, "What exactly brings the lot of you to my castle? Forgive my confusion, but the last word I'd received suggested the Empress was rather close to throwing all of you into prison."Reine set down her own glass with calm, practiced ease."She was.” Reine said. "But circumstances shifted." She let the lie settle into the room with the smooth confidence of someone who'd had ample practice constructing exactly this kind of story. "The Empr