Original subtitles

Beast code! Article 7!

Anyone who passes the test and crosses the threshold will be considered a

cadet! So, who wants to stop me? In a hundred years, no Preyborn has

walked through these gates alive.

But I just did.

Theo, I'd do anything for you. Theo!

I made it past- Theo...

You betrayed me?

I almost died getting here for you.

Honestly, I'm surprised you made it.

Babe, is this the little pet you told me about?

God, that Preyborn smell is disgusting.

Arya, you don't even have a war form. You won't survive a week here.

Tiffany's a beta, a general's daughter.

She's what I deserve.

You coming here was a mistake. Go home.

I must have been a fool to ever love someone like you. You want my leftovers?

Congratulations.

May you two grow old together in the dump.

I cannot believe I put myself in a place where most Beastpole don't survive three

months for that piece of garbage.

That's that jerk's carriage.

You...

This was someone else's carriage.

No

one

touches my carriage.

Tell me, little rabbit.

Which bastard should I tear apart for you?

I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was your carriage. I'll pay for it.

You're bleeding.

Get in. Sit.

Open your eyes.

As a healer, you should know how serious this wound is.

How do you know who I am? I know everyone in this academy. This is the

War Academy, which means you are one very clever, very gifted rabbit.

In my boyfriend's eyes, I'm just a useless waste without a combat form.

What happened?

He cheated on me.

He was the only reason I came here. Now I have nothing, and I'll probably die in

this place.

You got here on your own, so I know better than anyone you have something.

Strength, courage.

And you are the loveliest girl I have ever seen. Whoever walked away from you

is blind.

Little rabbit, don't make decisions with a heart that just shattered.

Now, you have two choices.

One, leave this place and cry over that rotten fox for three months.

Two, come with me.

Fuck me hard, please. Make me forget my asshole

ex. You sure you want to mention another man's name in my room?

If you came here for the pain to stop, you have the wrong man.

I'll only hurt you more until you're begging me not to stop. So, you'd better

rephrase that before I show you what hard really feels like. Take me. I want

you. Only you.

God, you're so addictive.

Lovely to have a new face among us, Mrs. Lippet.

A less Omega.

Let's see if you last more than two weeks. Joining the War Academy requires

every cadet to pass round after round of selection to ultimately become...

Listen, Arya.

If you want to pack up and leave, I'll help you carry your luggage.

After all, I'd hate to have to bury my biggest fan.

You'll regret this, Arya.

Mind your own business, Theo.

So you're staying.

Arya, are you trying to win me back?

Admit it.

You still want me.

I'd never want a sad, pathetic cheater like you.

Stay away from Theo, loser!

Listen, in this academy, who you know decides whether you live or die.

I'm royal blood, the heir apparent.

Everyone wants to be on my side.

And you? A rabbit who can't fight.

Kneel. Beg me.

Call me your master, and I'll keep you alive.

Win-win.

I'd rather die in here.

You dare!

It is now my honor to introduce the supreme commander of this academy, the

Alpha Queen, Aurelia Blackwood!

Holy shit. The blood butcher. The woman who cut down five alphas single-handed

to take the throne.

Mother! Your Majesty!

My ex's stepmother? The other end of my faded thread?

Is my ex-boyfriend's stepmother the queen of all beastroke?

In this academy, your old rank, your bloodline, your last name, none of it

means anything.

I make the rules here. For the rest of your training, you belong to me.

Your core work, your future, your lives, all of it is in my hands.

As your chief protector, I owe you a warning.

The combat drills ahead carry a 20% fatality rate.

If any of you can't survive even that, then you don't deserve to be called

beasts at all. What's wrong? My ex-girlfriend, you're trembling. Are you

scared? Now, I will assess every new cadet personally.

You first, little rabbit.

Say one word against me to her, and you're dead.

Prey-born crawl.

What terrifying energy!

I did not ask anyone to kneel, but since you are so eager...

Kneel there until the assessments end.

Alpha Queen?

Or should I call you Your Majesty?

You're that asshole's stepmother!

So this was your plan, Arya?

To get back at your ex, you smashed his stepmother's carriage on purpose?

Threw yourself into his stepmother's arms on purpose?

I had no idea you were his stepmother! How was I supposed to know a woman like

you was saddled with a useless stepson like him?

Last night, before you wrapped me in your pelt and rested your forehead on

mine, did the Great Queen ever consider that you might be my chief proct or my

damned ex-boyfriend's stepmother? How the hell was I supposed to know?

I never imagined that worthless stepson of mine could have thrown away a girl

like you. A girl like what?

The kind who should have been standing at my side. The kind a coward like him

was never worthy of touching.

So, do you think everything last night was just a mistake?

Mistake? As in, I held my stepson's ex in my arms?

Or as in... Even now, knowing exactly who you are, I would do it all again

just to have you look at me like that one more time.

No. We can't do this. You are my stepson's ex. I am your sovereign.

Your proctor. This is wrong. Not a word of this. To anyone.

You think I'm that desperate?

That I'd march around this academy announcing that a prey-born Omega got

wrapped in the Alpha Queen's own pelt on her first day, just so they can brand me

a seductress?

That's not what I meant.

I want one thing to be clear.

The second you walk out that door, I am your queen, your propter, and I will not

go easy on you.

Send the next one in.

Yes, my queen.

One more set!

Focus, Arya.

Train hard or die here.

Scared of dying yet?

Theo? What are you doing here?

I've missed you so much, Arya. I want you so badly right now I could just

devour you. Theo, stop!

Let me go! We're history!

You love it when I do this to you, don't you?

You're obsessed with me like this I know you've always been a slutty little bunny

Theo get your filthy paws off me kneel and beg me now call me master and I'll

keep you alive few more days Did you not hear her?

Mother

Don't you dare call me that.

Blackwoods do not force themselves on women. We are not that kind of beast.

I swear, we were just messing around. We always... Mother,

how could you... I used to mess around with you like this when you were little.

Fun, isn't it? If you can't keep your paws to yourself, I will cut them off

for you.

Get out.

Don't think being your stepmother buys you anything.

Are you all right?

I'm sorry he did that to you.

It's not your fault.

He's just a bastard who can't keep his paws to himself.

Sorry, I forgot he's your stepson.

Don't apologize.

Only the Moon Goddess knows how badly I want to hold her. Right here, right now.

Three days until the first assessment.

Arya, I have to go.

Don't go, my queen.

You don't want them to see us either, do you?

My Alpha, you want this, don't you?

Tell me, Aria.

Do you want me?

Yes, Alpha.

Please, take me.

You know the rule.

If they catch us, we're both done. I don't care.

Who's there?

Then keep quiet.

You drive me crazy Alpha!

It's me.

Your Majesty, what are you doing out here? Just finished sword drills.

I'm not presentable. Stay back.

I thought I heard a woman's voice.

A cat. I've just rescued it.

All right. I'll leave you to it, Majesty. We'll train somewhere else.

A cat?

Really? You impossible rabbit, biting yourself that deserves punishment.

Effective today, you are my attending healer. The tower, at the ninth bell,

every night.

As you command, my queen.

Majesty, time for yourself.

This one runs deep.

It must have hurt terribly back then.

One grows used to it.

A blade that spends its life catching wounds for others, forgets how to feel

them.

You... You told me once, when I want you with a clear

head, wholly and completely, when my eyes and my heart hold no one but you

then, and only then come kiss you.

Ariria Blackhood, I am wide awake.

And my eyes, my heart...

Hold no one left but you.

Be sure, past this night, I will never be able to let go again.

Then don't.

If it hurts, if you are afraid, bite me. I am not afraid.

By the mate bond with the moon goddess's witness, I am yours.

And you are mine.

Why did you stop?

We are fated mates.

The goddess tied this red thread with her own hand. What I wait for is the day

you can stand in open sunlight before every beast of this land openly at my

side, and I will give you your rightful name before the moon goddess.

Tonight, take me first.

Drink. Snow out there. Don't catch cold.

So report to the tower every night at the hour of... Tell me, Majesty.

Was this premeditated?

Drink your milk.

A healer's duty is to mend wounds.

But I am greedy.

I want to mend every wound of her whole life.

Nice work, Arya. You lived another day.

A month and more. From before the Academy.

It's Theo's.

Moon Goddess.

I'm carrying that bastard's child.

No, she can never know. No one can ever know. Before any of it begins, I will

deal with this.

Quietly. Alone.

Aria, where are you?

Oh, so the only Omega in our academy is pregnant?

Give it back!

We broke up two months ago. This baby's mine. No, it's not.

Let go of me! It's not?

So you've been crawling into someone else's bed. Listen.

If this pup's mine, I won't deny it. But from now on, you're on a leash.

An Omega carrying the Alpha King's son's pup? That's the biggest honor of your

pathetic life. I'll tell my mom you're pregnant.

Then we ship you out. You tell her and you're finished.

This pup is not yours.

You'll never deserve to be its father.

Mother. Who said you could come into Aria's room? Aria's pregnant. With my

pup. I'm gonna be a dad.

You're gonna be a grandmother.

No.

What makes you so sure it's yours?

Of course it is. We broke up two months ago. The timing is everything I need.

Decisions about the family are not yours to make.

Mother, why are you so angry?

Don't call me mother. Having a son like you is a disgrace to my name.

Get out, or I'll tear you apart myself and feed you to the rogues.

You've looked ill for days.

What are you hiding from me?

It's just the training. I'm fine.

It's late, Majesty.

You should go.

I'm sorry.

How could I ever face you? Craving your warmth with one heart? Carrying your

Stepson's child with the other? Someone like me is filthy.

I train this hard, and Her Majesty gives me a C?

She's the Queen!

She's death to everyone!

Not to that Preyborn.

I hear she runs to the Queen's Tower every other night and stays until late

at night. I bet that shameless bunny is secretly seducing Her Majesty the Queen.

Not to that Omega.

She was in Oriria's office late last night.

Probably begging.

What if I offer myself to Oriria tonight?

Think she'd take me?

That's your boyfriend's stepmother!

So? That Omega's sleeping with her.

She'll spread for any man.

Let's teach her a lesson.

My pup!

Too weak to stand, slut?

Tiffany, stop.

She's not okay.

Shut up! We worked to get here.

She only had to spread her legs for the Alpha Queen.

Save your pity.

Go! Everyone, come see this shameless bitch!

Sleeping with my boyfriend wasn't enough.

Now she's after Alpha Aurelia too.

What is going on here?

Are you okay?

Alpha Queen, Arya tied herself to the door. What a shameless little tramp. Did

you do this?

Alpha Queen, why do you care so much?

Last chance.

Did you do this?

Of course it wasn't me.

She tied herself up by the bathroom, hoping every man would want her.

Right?

My father's a general.

Nobody can touch me.

Alpha Auriria, forget that lowly Omega.

Don't waste your time on her.

My father wants to see you this weekend.

Why don't we talk in your office?

Your father, the Sanctum General?

Mm-hmm. Do you have any idea who you're trying to buy?

You, of course, Alpha Aurelia. Our most exalted alpha queen.

Alpha Aurelia, how could you? Tiffany carries condoms everywhere she goes?

Two boxes, too. Guess we know who the real slut is.

I'm helping you take out the trash.

Go home and tell your father that everything he has as a general, I gave

him.

If he can't discipline his daughter properly, I doubt he can manage the

troops I put under him.

I'll report your scandal to the- My family donated 200 million in military

funds to her.

That's the only reason she has that chair!

You think she'll back you? You think she'd pick a piece of trash who bought

her way into this academy?

Over the Alpha Queen who rules every alive?

You're saying I bought my admission?

That's slander! I- Tiffany bought her way in? She told us she killed ten

rogues to get in. She's been lying to us this whole time. She's lying!

Get out. Before I drag every dirty little thing you've done into the open.

Just for an Omega?

I didn't do it just for her. You're simply a rotten soul that isn't worth

half of her.

This isn't over!

My father will tear you both apart!

You. Stay.

You don't need to do this for me.

Yes, Elder Fae. I'm certain that Omega.

Arya is seducing Alpha Aurelia.

I'll get the proof. We'll have her.

Cast out of the pack.

Cheap little female rabbit.

Let's see you talk your way out of being in the locker room.

With Alpha Aurelia this time.

What a day.

I need a shower.

Who's there?

Aria, why are you in the Queen's royal bathroom?

Everyone! Aria, knock into the private shower.

She's hiding in there, making out with Alpha Aurelia.

Come out, you slut!

No! If they catch us, they'll kill me!

Shh, not a sound.

Aria, stop hiding!

I know you're in there, stinking like a stray bitch.

If they see me in here, if they find out I'm pregnant...

They'll kill me! They'll kill my baby!

I see you, bitch.

Get your ass out of there.

Since when did the General's daughter develop a habit of spying on the Alpha

Queen while she bathed? Get out. Now!

Or I'll make sure your father hears about your interesting hobbies.

This isn't over, Arya.

Twin moons she's pregnant a month and more it's Theo's that scheming bitch

dumped and still not giving up she means to chain Theo with a child and Crawl

back into the royal house as his lady climb back up on that belly of yours

dream on I will see you dead the two of you together I'm sorry.

None of this is your fault, but I can't give you a home Your father is garbage

and your mother's heart belongs to someone else bear with me Soon, it won't

hurt anymore.

Die. And take that little mongrel in your belly with you.

Planning to ride that little mongrel all the way back into the royal house?

Pity. Even the moon goddess couldn't stomach it.

Tiffany! You've lost your mind!

Have I? I'm only doing Heaven's work. Don't worry. No one will ever know.

A prey born who overreached, wandering the back mountain alone at night, lost

her footing.

Such a very reasonable way to die.

Every healer in the city, now!

The Heartmatum is ruptured. The blood loss too great.

Majesty, forgive us. She will not last the night.

Then I take over.

Majesty! Blood Transvation burns your own foundation!

Give too much, and the backlash will maim your beast spirit.

Then let it burn.

A child?

With power like that?

You saved my life.

This time, I'll save you.

Majesty, there is one more thing, if I may. When I read her pulse, she is with

child, a month and more along.

And by some mercy, the little one held on through it all as well.

A month and more, that bastard's. So that's it.

That's why she's been hiding from me, why she went to the back mountain,

alone. Majesty, her heart has only just net. She can bear no more shocks of any

kind. And if word of this spreads, an unwed, pregnant, pre-born

cadet, neither the Council nor the Academy Code will suffer her to remain.

Tonight, and what you read in her pulse, if half a word of it leaves this hall, I

will bury this entire infirmary with it.

Foolish girl.

How long did you plan to carry something this heavy, alone?

Don't move! You're not healed!

The baby... Still there.

Both of you made it through.

Don't look at me!

Please don't look at me like that!

I meant to deal with it quietly, before you ever knew!

You were never the filthy one.

The filthy ones are the man who betrayed you, and the one who put you on that

bridge. You.

Hurt. Bleeding.

You still shielded an innocent little life with your own body. You were so

afraid of dragging me down that you carried all of that weight into the

mountains alone.

Arya. You are the cleanest soul I have ever known.

Listen to me. The child is innocent.

It is not Theo's disgrace, and it is not your stain. It is your own flesh and

blood. If you are willing, have it.

You... What are you saying? Do you understand who's... I understand.

Which is exactly why I'm saying it. This child will not have that man for a

father. It will have two mothers.

One is the bravest healer on this continent.

The other will give it an entire kingdom for a cradle. Okay.

We're keeping her.

Her? Instinct. A healer's instinct.

Three nights ago, the rope bridge on the back mountain was burned through

deliberately. A healer of this academy fell into the gorge.

And nearly died.

The burn on this rope is foxfire.

At the hour of the bore that night, a golden-haired cadet was seen at the

bridgehead. Tiffany, anything to say?

It wasn't me!

I was in the dorm that night! Who claims they saw me? Let her step out and say it

to my face!

Then let the evidence speak for itself.

Is that foxfire tinder? Same as the burn on the bridge rope? And that merit

scroll isn't even her handwriting!

Her ten rogues were bought?! It's a plant!

She's no innocent!

Bought admission.

Jeez! Forged merits.

Arson and attempted murder.

Three crimes.

One sentence.

Beast spirit sealed.

Expelled from this academy.

Remanded to the General's estate for strict discipline.

As for the rest of the ledger, we will settle it slowly.

At the Bloodmoon Banquet, in front of the full council.

The banquet?

Good! Perfect!

My father and the council will tear you both apart.

And you, Arya, do you really think you can hide it? And the rest of you.

One of your own was attacked in the night, and not one of you noticed.

Not one of you came.

Every one of you fails today's training.

Get out and run drills until you drop!

It can't stay hidden. Before the banquet, I must put her and that child

somewhere no one can reach.

Am I really allowed to stay here?

This is... your keep.

At the Academy, people burn bridges, swap and slip reports to the Council.

Here, there is me and those I trust, open.

I can feed myself!

You're the queen. Inside these doors, I am only Aurelia. Open.

The blood butcher of the legends tests the medicine's heat, remembers I hate

celery, and holds my hand through whole nights of sickness.

Moon, goddess, I think I truly fell in love with her.

Your Highness, Her Majesty has closed the keep to visitors.

Closed?

Then I should very much like to see what manner of guest makes Auraria shut her

doors in my face.

Twenty years ago, the night the Northern Line broke, it was that blade who

carried me out of the rough on her back. The old king gave me a title. She gave

me my life. I have kept watch over her for half a lifetime, even after the king

was gone.

By what right does one nameless rabbit walk in and this door closes on me?

It has been years since you let me through these doors.

And now, I smell someone else in your keep. Something sweet.

Something small and prey-like. A court-appointed attending healer,

treating an old wound of mine.

If that is what brought you, consort, you may go.

Aurelia, how many years have we known each other? While the old king lived, it

was you who took the arrows for him. You who ran his armies, and you who stood

with me at the end of the long gallery, watching the moon. I can read your heart

at a concert.

Mind yourself.

Conduct myself.

The night you took an arrow for the king and collapsed at the end of my gallery,

it was I who cleaned the wound and kept the watch.

These eyes have never lit for anyone.

And now, for a whiff of sweet rabbit behind that door, even the hand I hold

out to you is unclean? For that little rabbit?

Aurelia, you were the blade the old king wed to this house. Your whole life

belongs to this court, belongs to us. And some pre-born stray is worth

breaking your rules for?

Whom my life belongs to. The old king had no right to decide, nor the council.

And you, least of all. Good.

Very good. I'll see you at the Blood Moon Banquet, Aurelia. Bring your

healer. The council has received a most interesting report about a rabbit and

the little secret in her belly.

Tiffany got the word out after all, before she was dragged away.

I'm here.

Why are you so good to me? All I bring you is trouble. The council, the

consort, and this child.

You could have just left me alone.

I have been a blade for half a lifetime.

The old king's blade, the court's blade, the council's.

Everyone honored me, feared me, used me, and no one, not once, asked me in the

dead of night whether I was cold. Until a certain rabbit smashed my carriage,

bit my hand, and pressed a secret kiss into my palm. What do I care for a

throne? In my whole life, I have never held a single thing I truly wanted.

Until now, I have you.

And her.

I'm done for.

I mean, I am completely done for.

I've fallen for my ex's stepmother, the queen of the bespoke, the blood butcher

the council fears most, and I don't want to be cured, not even a little.

Perfect. As it happens, Her majesty is past saving, too.

Arya, there is something I must tell you. The summons for the Bloodmoon

Banquet has come, and the council has named you. You are to attend.

They know?

Before Tiffany was expelled, she got her report out.

Runaan's visit today was the warning shot.

At the feast, they mean to detonate in public.

An unwed, pregnant, pre-born cadet living in the queen's keep. They want me

ruined, and through you, a blade path to me.

Then do we...

Hide? Hide.

In my entire life, I have never once lowered my head at any table.

A veiling pendant.

From the royal vault.

Wear it, and the keenest nose alive will not catch that extra thread of milk

sweetness on you. When the child is made known, and how, that will be your

choice. Never theirs.

As for the feast, remember three things.

One. Keep your back straight.

You are my attending healer, appointed by the crown.

No one's prey.

And two?

Two. Whatever they say, don't rush to answer.

Leave the ugliest words for me to catch.

And three?

Three. The hall will be full of watching eyes, and I won't be able to hold your

hand. So when you miss me, hold the pendant and pretend it's my hand you're

holding.

This is too much. I'm only going as the attending healer.

My healer will be the most resplendent soul in that hall.

Nervous?

Terrified. That's the council, the consort, the sharpest tongues on the

continent, all at one table.

Look at the mirror. Remember what you see, because no matter what they say

tonight, this is what you are. The cleanest, most honorable soul in my

court.

Hold the pendant, and pretend it's your hand.

Good girl.

Her majesty Aurelia Blackwood, queen of the beast spec, approaches!

God, she's so fucking beautiful, my slutty little bunny.

Tonight's the night you die, bitch.

The blood moon above sees all hearts.

Tonight we keep the old rite of the cup of the unstained. Let any at this table

who harbors schemes or carries disgrace be shamed before this cup. My lords,

please.

Just as she said, too many eyes to hold my hand.

A rabbit standing beside the throne, it sours my wine.

Pray serves predator, that is the way of the world.

Little thing, come here, kneel, and fill my cup.

A novel way of the world, Marquis.

My court healer's knees bend to the moon goddess alone. If you find no one to

pour at your table, then kneel and pour for yourself.

I was wrong, my queen.

I will punish myself.

Majesty.

One small thing puzzles me. The attendant by the throne appears to be an

academy cadet. By what merit does a mere cadet stand at the queen's side?

The consort's memory fails her.

Three months ago, when plague took the Northern March, the healer who entered

the quarantine with the army and went seven days without sleep to save 400

soldiers was her. Last month, when my old wound tore open, the one who net my

life back with her own flesh and blood was her.

Her place at this table was set by my own hand.

Does anyone object?

I object.

A life debt. What a very unstained healer. Then let the elders see this.

The sales ledger of the Back Mountain Apothecary. See what this unstained

healer's tried to buy in secret. A month passed!

Child losing draw.

One dose.

Purchaser, Cadet A.

An unwed, pre-born cadet. Buying a child losing drain in secret.

My lords, must I spell out what that means?

Defilement of the Academy Code!

Deceit against the crown!

And she lives in her majesty's own keep, clawing her soiled way up toward the

most exalted queen of the beast folk!

A month and more. A month and more ago, that child is mine!

Aria!

You carry my child, and you bought a child losing drink? You dared to plot

against royal blood!

No! Majesty, I did not wish to believe it. A cadet carrying the prince's child,

who then moves into the queen's keep.

First the son, then the stepmother. A thousand years of this court's honor

disgraced in one night!

By law, the unwed with child who defiles the court shall be cast from the beast

folk and given to the sacred fire!

Finished?

Now, I believe I'm the one calling the shots here.

By the law of this court, those who lay charges at the Blood Moon Banquet must

swear the Blood Oath. If the charge proves false, the crime falls back upon

the accuser. Well, do the three of you dare swear?

I dare!

The ledger stands!

She cannot deny it! Good. Then we try the first case first.

Bring in the witnesses.

One month ago, the rope bridge on the back mountain was burned through with

foxfire. My court healer fell into the gorge, two lives, very nearly lost as

one. The burn on this rope matches the tinger taken from Miss Tiffany's own

bag. Two witnesses place her at the bridgehead, and this apprentice, whose

gold bought you, and whose hand you copied that ledger for, tell them

yourself. It was Miss Tiffany's gold, and she asked me the child losing draft,

does it kill for certain?

I said, the draft is violent, that a weakened mother might not survive it,

and she smiled.

You knew she was with child.

You burned that bridge to kill them both, mother and babe as one. And just

now you stood here crying a plot against royal blood, when the only one who ever

raised a hand against that child was you.

No, no, I... The blood oath stands.

The crime falls back on you.

Arson, attempted murder, and false accusation against a court appointee.

General. Why is a daughter under house arrest seated at a royal feast?

The charge of harboring, you may go and collect yourself.

Guards, take her to the Hall of Justice.

A masterful judgment, Majesty.

Only the first case is closed.

What of the second?

The ledger may be forged evidence, but the child surely is real? Exactly!

The child is mine. She can't deny it. I deny nothing.

Yes, I carry a child, a month and more along, from the days before Prince Theo

and I were finished.

That is fact, and I will not stoop to denying it. You heard her! She admits

it! Royal blood!

Mine! The blood may come from you, but the word father, you will not be worthy

of it in this life or the next.

Who the hell are you to say that?

On my first day at the Academy, I walked in on Prince Theo with another.

If the court wants witnesses, no fewer than ten cadets stood outside that

classroom. Since then, he has demanded my service as the price of staying

alive, laid hands on me in the training forest.

My lords, does such a man deserve to speak the word bloodline at all? You can

deny it all you want, but that is Theo's child.

As for the drash, I was wrong. I once believed that erasing it quietly was the

kindest ending for everyone.

Someone taught me otherwise.

that the child is innocent, no one's disgrace, only my own flesh and blood.

So tonight, beneath the blood moon, I swear it. Theo Blackwood and I are

finished, root and branch.

This child will not enter his registry in life, nor bear his name in death. She

is my daughter.

Mine. Aria Lipids.

The crown stands surety.

The child shall be entered in the royal fosterage roles, warded and raised under

this court.

The first law of the founding.

Whosoever saves the sovereign's life, no charge shall touch them, and grace shall

shelter their line.

Arya saved her queen.

From this night, her daughter stands under royal protection.

Whoever touches so much as a hair of mother or child commits high treason.

The Blood Moon bears witness.

It is done.

With tonight's storm settled,

allow me to raise a happier matter five years her majesty has reigned and the

royal line has no issue the council and the royal crin have long been anxious

the northern prince's youngest son the sea marker's brother the true-born heir

of the white deer house three young lords of fine blood and noble berry

We beg her majesty, choose among them and take them in as favored concords, to

continue the royal line and set the realm's heart at ease.

The consort has gone to great trouble. Only, my consort will not be chosen by

portraits, nor by the council.

Then by whose will, majesty?

The moon goddess ties her red thread where she wills. My consort was chosen

by the goddess long ago. The hour simply hasn't come, and when it does...

i will let the entire continent look upon her it was i who offered her pet

lords toys however many can never warm that heart i would watch her take a

hundred and never lose a night's sleep what i cannot suffer is her truly loving

someone that angle of the cup just now aurelia at whose seat has your heart

come to rest such a clever little mouth

no wonder little rabbit Let me tell you an old story.

While the late king lived, this court kept a blade. It took arrows for the

king, ran his armies, and was cold as a thing without a soul.

In the whole court, I alone brought her hot tea on winter nights, and stood with

her at the end of the long gallery to watch the moon.

I watched her climb from a pentless cell soldier to this.

O'Riria belongs to me.

Belongs. Your highness is fond of that word.

in all my years of healing i have seen beasts shield their young die for their

mates take blades for their packmates but i have never once seen a living

beast belong to another she is not the late king's blade nor the court's nor an

old keepsake in your highness collection box and those treasured winter nights

forgive me but what you miss is not her it is the shadow you could pity at your

leisure and hold in your palm such a clever tongue a pity tongues keep no one

alive

Clutch your little grace of the goddess while you can.

Rabbit, the hunting season has only just begun.

Your highness, the huntsman you sent for has arrived.

Into my bedchamber.

I'll handle him.

Took you long enough. What?

Hiding a special guest in there?

Theo, if you have no business, leave.

I'm busy. One word from you at the banquet.

Royal protection.

I went by the infirmary today to see Arya. She is carrying my blood, after

all. And the healers said the one who signed her out was you. You do remember

I'm your stepson?

This keep is half mine by rights.

Haven't seen you cook in years.

I said, I'm busy.

Nursing tonic.

She's here, isn't she?

My child, and my ex, both tucked away in your keep. Mother, what exactly

is your game? She is a quarter pointer, barely healed from an attempt on her

life. The crown protects its own, that is the whole of it.

The whole of it?

The entire academy calls you the blood butcher.

But with her, you go soft, like a different creature wearing your face.

Do you know how ridiculous that looks?

Say it! What the hell is going on between you and my ex?

You imagine things.

I am doing what a queen does.

Fine. Then prove it. Hand her over.

She comes back to the prince's manor with me. The child is mine, and so is

she. Out of the question.

You are nothing to her but harm. Why the hell do you even care?

Mother, you carved that throne out of five alphas with your own life on the

line. Don't tell me you'd throw your name and your crown in the mud for one

lowborn Omega.

Besides, you've never cared for anyone. From the day father bought you into this

court, you were a blade and nothing more.

I'm your stepson, and I can count on one hand the times you've been in my life.

Someone like you doesn't deserve a family!

Shall I refresh your memory?

While the old king lived, it was your house that wielded me as a blade.

When he died, it was your mother who feared I'd be inconvenienced and lobbied

the council to strip my command, and you, before you rode my name into that

academy. When did you ever once call me mother?

You and your mother only remembered this blade bore the name Blackwood when you

smelled the throne on it.

So don't you dare lecture me about family, boy. You know nothing of the

word.

Go back to your mother and don't come back.

Aurelia?

You heard all of it?

I'm sorry. I didn't know.

I never imagined what you'd live through, wielded like a blade, stripped

of your command, circled by a family of schemers.

Hey, don't cry.

What are you crying for?

I just keep thinking. You've carried so much already, and now the two of us, me

and this child, will only be one more shackle and wreck everything you bled to

win. You are not a shackle.

Neither is he.

Don't ever think it.

I can't help thinking it. Theo got one thing right. You are a queen bought with

your own blood, the head of the council. And I'm a nobody, carrying a child no

one will ever recognize.

We are going to ruin you. No, Arya.

You won't. Give me a little more time. I promise you, all of it will come right.

Majesty! I cannot sit and- and watch you burn your whole life down for me. I told

you. Call me Ariria.

But... Aria, stay with me.

You are the first thing in my entire life I have truly wanted to protect.

I think I'm in love with you.

I think I may have gotten there first.

But I love you more.

Mother, I'm certain now. She's keeping Ara in the keep. The nursing tonic was

sitting right on the table.

Aurelia belongs to me. From the days she was a penniless sellsword, the one who

stood beside her was me. She was mine then. She is mine now.

Mom, but back then, the one who told father to use her as a blade, who kept

sending her out to die. Darling, had I done otherwise, you and I would have

drowned in the succession wars long ago.

She had nothing then.

What was there to stand beside?

But now, now she is the queen.

Power, wealth, every beast on its knees.

We are her family.

All of it was meant to be ours.

That little rabbit will not take what is mine.

Morning. Morning.

Why are you up so early? Keeping watch.

In case a certain rabbit starts plotting another of her disappear completely

escapes. Oh my god, your majesty!

Majesty!

Fine. But are you really sure this will work?

Shielding me like that last night.

The academy, the court, the tongues must already be wagging. Trust me. Fine.

I trust you.

Only because you're being suspiciously sweet right now. But!

At the academy!

At the academy, I am your propter.

And you are my most diligent and courageous cadet. What could possibly go

wrong?

Knew it.

Don't scream.

Listen, Arya. Pretty performance last night. Never in my registry.

Wake up!

That child carries Blackwood blood.

The moment she's born, she is royal blood. My lever to take everything back.

Come to the Prince's Manion. Deliver the child like a good girl.

And I'll keep you in silk for the rest of your life.

Refuse?

You hit me for her? Again? I am your stepson! She's nothing but a filthy...

I warned you. Use that word once

more, and your mother will be paying her respects at your grave.

I'll expose you! The Queen!

Hoarding her stepson's pregnant ex! I'll tell the whole continent!

I'll bring your throne down!

As you please.

You cannot touch me, but show your face before Arya once more, and I will call

back every scrap of power, every acre, every coin ever granted to you and your

mother, and leave you with nothing.

Mom, we have to move.

If she gets that child onto the royal foster-id rolls first, the airship will

never be mine!

I've been hearing the most absurd rumors, Aurelia.

I came to see for myself.

To see whether my Aurelia has truly been fool enough to lose her head over a

pregnant little Omega cadet.

All these years, the old king dead, I never feared a rival because that heart

opened for no one. And now a rabbit lives inside the one keep even I may not

enter. Aurelia, I can lose to a throne, to a war record, but never to a piece of

prey-born prey.

I know I wronged you all those years ago.

Out! You and I have nothing to discuss.

It was I who let the old king wield you as a blade. I who moved the council

against your command.

But Aurelia, I have changed.

The one who stood with you at the end of the long gallery, watching the moon.

She is still here.

Majesty, I've brought today's pulse records.

May I come in? No! Not now! Do come in.

A woman's voice?

And why... why doesn't she want me to come in?

Then... I'll come back later.

Don't run off, little Omega.

You have business with my Aurelia? By all means.

Your... Your Highness, I told you once. On the night of the Blood Moon Banquet,

no living beast can ever be owned. That's right.

Mine. From the days she was a nameless blade at the Old King's side, the one

who kept her was me. All these years, some things do not change.

Enough. Stop inventing.

Aurelia! All those years they kept sending you to die on the borders. I was

the one who smuggled you solves and winter firts.

All we ever wanted was a scrap of your regard.

Even that you would not spare us.

Drop the act. Get out.

You know better than anyone who it was that whispered in the old king's ear and

sent me out to die again and again when I had nothing. There was never an us.

There never will be.

I had my reasons.

What do you need, Arya? Today's pulse records, Majesty.

A healer's duty come wind or storm.

Arya.

So it is that little rabbit who has bewitched my Olyria.

Arya.

That was Consort Renee, wasn't it? You said it was long over. It never began.

She is the one who sent me out to die back then, and the one who comes to

claim an old love now.

But you clearly felt the need to hide me from her. That no, not now, through the

door. I heard it with my own ears.

Aria, it isn't that. Listen to me. You were the one who said, at the Academy,

we act as... I know.

I know every word I said. But it feels completely different now.

She gets to... Tug your sleeve in front of everyone, wrap her arms around you,

fling your own door open and call come in. And me? I knock and wait outside for

a not now.

What is so funny?

So this is what my rabbit looks like when jealousy fluffs her up.

I am not jealous.

Listen. From the moment Renee walked in to the moment she left, it did not so

much as stir.

And now?

That now through the door was so her filth would never land on you.

Only one person alive can make this thing lose its rhythm, and inside these

doors, you may do with me exactly as you please.

Understood, your majesty.

Blackwood!

Really, Aurelia?

Your own cadet?

She's young enough to be your daughter.

These little rabbit tacks truly have no shame.

Do not let me hear one more filthy word about her.

And if this little stone were to appear on the sanctum elders' table, would you

still stand so tall?

You wouldn't dare.

The day my name burns, you and your son's silk and gold life burn on the

same pyre.

Perhaps. But now, the leverage is in my hand.

Hey, look at me, Arya.

Everything will be alright.

I do not care about that throne.

No, I cannot let that happen. I have to go, Aurelia.

We'll talk at home.

Theo, I need to see your mother.

I came to talk about- Has it never occurred to you that Aurelia's designs

on you may not be as simple as you believe?

What do you mean?

Arya. To Aurelia, you were never a beloved. You are a vessel to continue

the royal line. Nothing more.

What? No!

That's impossible!

The truth is cruel, I know. Think. The crown has no heir. Year after year, the

council hounds her to take a consort.

And in your belly? How convenient.

Sits a ready-made child of Blackwood blood.

Why do you think she overrode the whole court at the banquet? To enter that

child on the royal fosterage rolls?

Why the haste to pin you inside her keep, fed and cherished?

Foolish girl. It was always the child she wanted. An heir of Blackwood blood

who will never threaten her throne. You are merely the silk wrapping on the

treasure box.

And wrapping sooner or later gets thrown away.

No! You're lying!

Aurea. Aurelia carved her throne out of five alphas with her life on the line.

She heads the council.

And you? Beyond that fertile little body of yours, what do you have that earns a

place at her side?

It isn't true!

She told me! To keep that child, what words would she not say? Has she made

you her consort? Announced you to the realm?

Ah, yes.

What was it she said at the banquet?

The hour hasn't come.

You know her private seal, don't you?

She set this aside long ago.

Hush, money.

The moment the child is delivered, you are meant to quietly disappear.

No! This cannot be! I raised Theo alone, once upon a time. I know how hard it is

for a mother.

Take it. It is enough for you and your little mongrel to live quite

respectably.

Oriria, I want to believe you, but this... this is so hard!

Mother, are you sure this will work? Trust me.

With a lowborn girl like that, all it takes is one seed of doubt planted in

her heart. I merely had a craftsman forge Oriria's private seal, and she

trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.

Mother, you are a genius.

No one takes the crown that belongs to us.

Arya?

Arya!

I have been trying to make sense of what we are.

I need some time.

Silly rabbit.

As long as you carry it, you will find your way back.

I'll be waiting.

Arya has no one in this city. No one but a single friend.

The rat folk girl, Zeo.

My gods!

So you're carrying that garbage Tio's child, and you're with her majesty?

Shh! I didn't plan for any of this either, okay?

This is insane.

Her old flame is back, with our secret in her fist.

I don't know how to face her.

So I ran here. That consort is genuinely no joke. Yeah, and you know what I am. A

prey born without so much as a war form. I don't deserve her.

Not one soul in this world will root for us.

Are you sure about that, Arya? I've watched you fight at the Academy.

Nothing about it says formless.

What if there's something powerful asleep inside you, and she simply hasn't

woken yet? You should try.

That's ridiculous.

I'm exhausted, Zeo. The big assessment is tomorrow.

Outside dignitaries grading us.

Hope I don't oversleep.

Thank you for looking after her. Will Ara be at tomorrow's assessment?

Of course, Majesty.

She will be there.

It is time to wake.

This assessment, I will attend it myself.

Welcome to the Comprehensive Physical Assessment.

Tonight, we test your survival instincts under extremity.

Take that to the supply post.

Thanks. I... I'm a cadet here for the assessment, not a porter.

Why is that Preyborn dressed like that? This is a formal assessment. She

represents the Academy.

If she can't afford proper gear, she should crawl back to her slum. An

embarrassment.

Lord Charles, I'm... Apologies.

I require no service at present. Step aside.

No! Lord Charles, I'm not staff. I am a registered cadet here for this

assessment. A pre-born Omega?

You have no standing in my assessment.

Arya.

My gods! That is Aurelia Blackwood! Her Majesty in person!

A being that far above us, speaking to an Omega dressed like a serving girl?

Your Majesty, what an unexpected honor.

You never attend an entry assessment.

To what do we owe tonight's grace?

I quite understand, Majesty.

Out! You don't belong here. Don't stale Her Majesty's sight.

I came here for her.

Arya is my student.

The Queen's own student? I took her for a water-bearer!

To be acknowledged from Her Majesty's own lips!

She must be extraordinary!

Arya is a cadet trained by my own hand, one of the finest warriors the beast

-fake's future holds.

Aye, a thousand pardons. I never knew the Academy kept an Omega cadet. Miss

Lippard, how may I be of service?

I... I only wanted to...

I hardly think you can offer her anything that I cannot.

Oh, no, of course not. Your Majesty is entirely right. It is my honor to meet

so gifted a young warrior.

Excuse us, I require a word with Arya, alone.

Of course, of course, please.

Why are you here?

Because a certain rabbit left one page of a letter and ran from my side.

Majesty, we're in public!

One page of a letter, and you thought that would settle me. Did you truly

believe I could not find you? What? No, I... The letter said you needed to make

sense of what we are.

Well, have you? I just... I don't want the whole world believing that

everything I have I got because I climbed into the Queen's bed.

Majesty, if we are truly someday going to stand together in the open the way

you said, then first, at the very least, I have to prove that I deserve you.

On my own? She's right. She needs a mentor. Someone strong enough.

Someone I can trust.

Then come.

Let me introduce you to a true master.

This is Michael, Supreme Commander of the Sanctum Garrison.

No.

An Omega, aren't you?

What's it to you?

I am the supreme commander of this entire district.

Which means any female beast on this ground is mine.

To do with as I please.

Get away from me!

Stupid girl. This is the chance of your lifetime.

Coming this deep into the woods alone.

Weren't you waiting for me? Why the innocent act now be mine?

and you'll want for nothing.

Be mine and you'll want for nothing.

Excuse me.

Let me see to her.

Interesting. So the little thing ended up at the Queen's side.

What happened, Arya? Do I tell her the truth?

But they fought the border wars side by side.

Decades of loyalty.

It's nothing.

Just the usual troubles of carrying strong wine and incense turn my stomach.

Don't worry.

Nausea does not turn a hand this cold.

Keep your silence, if you must. But do not stand before me and say, don't

worry. You and Michael, are you truly that close?

We are.

We've known each other since we were kits.

Ten years on the border, he took three blades meant for me. I see.

Aurelia, I don't feel well.

I want to go back.

Unwell? Shall I take you to the healers? No, just nausea. I want to go home.

Then I'll take you.

My things are still at Zeo.

Then we fetch them first.

Aurelia Blackwood, your old flame says I am a vessel for an heir.

Your dearest friend treats me as a toy to be used and thrown away.

Perhaps they are all right. Someone like me was never worthy of you.

What is it? You haven't been yourself since Michael appeared.

Do I confess?

I'm probably just tired. I've never had so many great lords staring at me

before. You're lying.

How could I tell you? I have already set you against your stepson. Must I now cut

down, with my own hands, the deepest bond of loyalty you have left in this

world?

Ha! No wonder you dared refuse me back then. You'd already hitched yourself to

the Queen's star.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Drop the act! In her whole life, Aurelia never gave a damn about a cadet, yet she

asked me personally to mentor you.

Let go!

I don't know what you mean.

I'll give you this. You have vicious taste.

Straight for the summit of the continent.

Then again, her taste isn't bad either.

You look far too well-fed compared to a year ago.

Enough! You are her oldest friend, and I am her student!

I knew her before you were weed, kid. Trust me. By this time next year,

there'll be another Omega just like you at her side. You are a toy.

Replaceable. Any day.

Enough games.

Come here.

She left in such a hurry, she forgot even this.

Sweetheart. Scream your throat raw. No one will believe you.

God damn it! What did I do yesterday?

With my own hand, I delivered her into a monster's jaws!

Sweetheart, scream your throat raw.

No one...

will believe you.

No! Impossible!

The White Moon Divine House?

The Goddess's own chosen of the Preyborn, out of legend, that cannot be

her beast!

You dare frighten me with illusions?

You don't mind if I take the first taste?

I'll hand her back when I'm bored. I've had my eye on this girl for years.

Have you lost your mind?

You animal.

You are finished.

I'm here.

She threw herself at me!

I am the supreme commander of this entire district.

Any female beast on this ground is mine to do with as I please.

This is evidence of Michael's years of preying on the women of his district.

Guards, enter it into the record.

It's false!

Sorcery! A forgery!

All of it is false!

You little wretch. You've been waiting for this day, haven't you?

Do not speak of her with that filthy mouth.

One more word and I will end you here so thoroughly that the moon goddess herself

will not recognize what remained.

Aurelia!

I'm sorry.

I have heard those words far too many times, Arya. You have nothing, nothing

to apologize for.

I never meant to hide it from you. I was just so afraid.

Afraid of what?

That I would take Michael's side? So you would rather hide it, gamble your life

and the child's, than trust me? The way I have begged you, again and again, to

trust me just once!

But I'm fine now, aren't I?

Fine! If I hadn't saw you in that moment, do you know what would have

happened? Did you think for one breath about the consequences?

Seen me? You were in your office.

How could you possibly have seen me?

The thread's resonance.

It has gone this deep. Your terror became my eyes.

The mate bond.

It makes no sense.

The queen of all beast-peed, fate-bound to me, a prey-born without even a war

-form. The goddess ties her threads without asking for pedigree. Trust me,

Arya. Trust you? How am I supposed to trust you?

Olyria, from that bank-pope to Michael, every single soul around you keeps

telling me we should not be together.

I don't know what to do anymore.

Wait, what banknote? The day I left your office, Rene gave it to me.

She said I was only your vessel for an heir, and it bears your private seal.

This is not my seal. Come here.

Look. On the true seal, the third whiskle on the fox head's right side is

broken. A secret mark I cut into the casting with my own hand.

This one?

Every whiskey intact.

It is a forgery.

Besides, if I truly meant to buy you off... I would never insult you with a

paltry million in gold.

I would add another zero.

But... how do I know that what you say is the truth?

You don't.

And that is my failing. I have not yet done enough to earn all of your trust.

But Aria, know this.

You are the most important person of my entire life.

Me? A disgraced Praiborne? You are my beloved.

The mother of our child.

No matter what comes, no matter who schemes to tear us apart, I will choose

you. Always.

and i do not believe you are formless when i reached you today i felt a beast

spirit of tremendous power foreign and yet familiar as my own heartbeat i

believed that was you truly when have i ever lied to you trust

me i will help you wake her

Let me guess lost your post and Lost a friendship of decades into the bargain

my oldest friend destroyed me over one Omega rabbit I will not let them live in

peace Then we can be of use to each other that little rabbit ruined

everything of mine as well then to their ruin What is

it I have a terrible feeling don't let your thoughts run wild

No, Aurelia.

A mother's instincts are never wrong.

All right. Then this time, I beg you, keep me where you can see me.

The one thing in this life I fear is you pushing me away.

As long as you're here, I'm not afraid of anything.

Disinheriting the old king's blood.

The royal kin will quake, and the old houses will howl.

Have you thought this through? Then let them quake.

Theo has moved the east camp tallies without warrant.

Michael's old faction has met three times by night this court night, and

Renee's gold is flowing to the cells hold houses outside the walls. They mean

to rise, Elder. I do not intend to wait until they are ready.

What would you have us do?

On the day of the final assessment, convene the right of naming, the full

council in attendance.

Build the stage, light every lamp, and let those who mean to leap, leap into

the open themselves.

And whose name do you mean to write?

The beast folk will not suffer a mate bond between their queen and a preyborn?

Then I will rewrite that rule with my own hand. The name on that deed was

never going to be a grown one's.

A child of Blackwood blood, still unborn, carried by the one the goddess

tied to me. The airship goes to the child.

My hand and my heart go to its mother.

Until the right, Elder, not a word.

Very well.

You are the finest sovereign I have ever served.

Arya, our future starts now.

Thank you, Auriria.

When do you mean to pause your training and come home to wait for the baby?

After the final assessment, I think.

The timing lines up perfectly.

Meaning what?

Only that it works out beautifully. You pass the final, and then we welcome our

child.

I don't even know if I'll pass.

The assessment is brutal, and lately my head has been everywhere at once.

You will pass.

After all, it is the Queen herself tutoring you.

Three hundred in the East Camp.

Eight hundred of my old guard.

The Selzbulds waiting beyond the walls.

On the day of the Rite of Naming, the full council sits in one hall.

One net takes them all! Force her from the throne and crown me.

Take back everything that is ours, darling.

Is that all the stamina you have?

This assessment is killing me.

I can't focus.

Maybe I truly have no beast in me at all.

Come here.

What's happening?

Make me ask twice, and you train an extra hour. Come.

I ask. You answer. Answer wrong, you take a hit. Focus.

When you draw a bow, where does the string anchor? The face?

The tip of the nose. And here I thought you'd been studying. Keep up with me.

Or this lesson gets very, very long.

Which eye do you aim with? The right!

Then, the eighth move of self-defense for women. What is it?

Move eight.

Reverse throw and pin.

Did I answer correctly?

Honored tutor?

Correct. It seems you've earned a reward.

I'll collect it myself.

Just as I thought.

She has a beast, and a staggeringly powerful one.

If you can't bear to look, I'll read it for you. Who says I can't?

I'll do it myself.

You have been staring at it for half an hour.

Hey, Ara!

Look! You passed!

I did it?

I am so proud of you.

Behold, my lords! Our great and glorious queen embracing her own cadet in the

light of day!

No wonder you wanted me in the deep cells.

You simply refused to share your prey.

Aulilia Blackwood! It is reported that you maintain an improper liaison with a

prey-born Omega cadet! It is true.

No! It isn't like that! It was me! I seduced her into tutoring me!

Arya, enough.

But you have chosen the wrong word, my lords.

This is no liaison.

She and I are fate-bound.

The moon goddess tied the thread with her own hand. Absurd! The queen may

never share a bond with a prey-born omega!

The law forbids it! The beast folk forbid it!

Oh?

Open the beast code.

It contains a single line on the matter. The sovereign's mate must be one of

mighty beast soul, worthy of the throne.

So then let them see with their own eyes

Me let them see see what Try

Arya close your eyes imagine the power inside you pouring out

She

she truly bears a beast that is the white moon divine hast The goddess's own

chosen, out of legend!

The chosen.

Unseen for a thousand year.

She is worthy of the throne.

We... we spoke in ignorance.

A misunderstanding, all of it. We shall withdraw at once.

The chosen?

Oh, splendid.

A white moon chosen indeed. What a pity that not one of you is leaving this

place today.

Let the rite begin.

Mother, surrender the royal seal and name me king before them all, and I may

let you live.

I have been waiting half a month for you to say that.

Baiting the serpent from its den. If the field slips your grasp, she will be in

danger. Is she truly worth this gamble everything on one throw? She is worth

everything I have.

Anything else? One thing.

On the day of the rite, whatever befalls that hall, shield Arya first.

She is with child, and a beast of tremendous power sleeps within her. Keep

both behind your teeth, Elder. I want her to finish this training safe and

whole, and to wake her own power with her own hands. Very well.

You have my word.

The East Camp tallies were re-keyed half a weeks ago. Of your 800 old guard, 300

draw my coin. I built this trap for you with my own hands. My thanks for leaping

in so neatly.

Victory or the grave, take them!

That one was mine.

Michael. attempted violation false accusation against a court appoint nate

conspiracy with rebels treason against the crown for the sum of his crimes

stripped of every rank and title and buried in the deep cells for life renee

forging the royal seal conspiring against a ward of the crown funding

treason stripped of the consort's title reduced to a commoner and confined to

the north tower until her last day aurelia you cannot do this to me all

those years i kept you you belong to me take her away theo blackwood army

tallies moved without warrant Soldiers raised against this hall.

A blade leveled at your queen, patricide a throne in your teeth.

This day, in the name of the Queen of the Beastfolk, I strip Theo Blackwood of

the hairship before all assembled, reduced to a commoner, exiled to the

northern marches. Never, in this life, to set foot within the royal city again.

No! I am the old king's son!

That throne is mine!

It's mine!

The airship belongs to the true blood of Blackwood, raised in a house that holds

the people in its heart. The child Arya Liplet carries bears the old king's own

line. And its mother, who went seven sleepless days into the northern

playgrounds and carried 400 soldiers back alive. Who passed the War Academy's

final selection in a praetor's own chosen. The white moon divine hair, the

goddess's own chosen. Who, in this very hall, struck down the arch-traitor with

her own hand. She is no mighty hunter. She is the fainted mate the moon goddess

tied to me with her own hand.

This day I proclaim it to every corner of the realm. The child in Arya Lipet's

womb is named heir of the beastfolk, and Arya Lipet its mother and guardian,

keeper of the heir.

Aurelia?

And one thing more.

She is not only the future of the beastfolk.

She is the one love of my life. Mine.

Aurelia Blackwoods, and the moon goddess's red thread stands witness.

I'm sorry, the trap. I should never have kept it from you this long.

I know why you're angry, but the traitors had eyes all through the

academy. The fewer who knew, the safer you and the child would be.

That is not what I'm angry about!

I'm angry because you staked yourself on that table too. What if the guard had

come one step too late? What if Michael's blade had found you first?

You're right.

Then punish me. Your punishment is an oath. From this day on, no great

decision is ever made behind my back again. I am, after all, the one who's

going to be your wife.

I swear it. Between us, no more secrets.

No more secrets.

The queen? Buying groceries?

Herself? The heir is not yet born. I oversee the table of the heir's mother

personally. Is there an objection?

A Preyborn's Walt-styled crown heir, the face of all beastkin, dragged through

the mud by one rabbit.

An unclean mouth kogles until it is clean.

Oh, and House Jackal's stipend is cut by three-tenths this year.

Whoever's son this is may collect the discipline.

Long live the queen!

Long live the crown heir!

The North Tower.

The maids say Renee staged a hunger strike some days ago.

It's over.

She is watched she will neither starve nor walk free From this day on no

one alive can hurt you again

I

Never imagined that something this small could make me so afraid and so so

happy

I love you, Arya.

Looking at this child, looking at you, I finally understand.

Not the throne, not the realm, not a world of beasts on bented knee. You too.

You are my entire world. Will you be my wife? Let the two of us be her mothers.

Arya Lipid, will you marry me? I will, Otyria!

Mother, is this where you met Mommy?

Not exactly, little one. Our story is a great deal more complicated than that.

Congratulations,

Master Instructor. A record graduating class, again.

Thank you, Aurelia. If you hadn't staked everything...

All those years ago? No, Arya. The only person you ever needed to thank is

yourself.

Master Instructor.

And what do you think you're doing?

I'm going to kiss my queen.

Mommy, the maids say that once upon a time, you smashed Mother's carriage.

That was...

That was an accident.

It was no accident.

It was the single finest thing your mummy has ever done.