"You an the sa daughter you left powerless in the human realm?" Asher said, his unflinching gaze locked on hers.
The queen’s composure faltered. The polite warmth in her eyes vanished, replaced by a chill that made the entire hall feel smaller.
Violet did not know it, but her aura shifted too as her dark magic stirred, ready to defend Asher if the need arose. Seraphira might be her mother, but she was still a queen, and Asher was overstepping. This was supposed to be her conversation.
Just as expected, there was darkness in the Queen’s gaze. Like Violet, her aura pulsed, a dangerous glint flashing in her athyst eyes.
Seraphira’s voice trembled with leashed anger. "You think I was happy to leave my daughter in the human realm?" There was no softness in her voice now, only fury and pain tightly coiled together.
But Asher wasn’t intimidated, even as the air they breathed thickened with power, sharp as pins and needles.
"I don’t fault the circumstances," Asher replied evenly. "But from what I’ve gathered, Lila found Violet months ago, if not earlier." He hinted that Lila might not have told the full truth.
"That was enough ti to train her, to prepare her for what lay ahead, especially knowing the kind of husband you had. Maybe then Baron wouldn’t have nearly killed her during her dreamwalk."
Asher’s words struck like lightning.
For a heartbeat, Seraphira’s mouth parted in disbelief, guilt flashing in her blazing eyes. Just like that, the pressure of her magic in the air eased.
Even Violet, who sat ramrod straight, gripping her spoon so tightly her knuckles had gone white, exhaled shakily. The suffocating tension began to dissolve, replaced by guilt and sha.
The queen’s eyes softened, the fire in them dimming into sorrow. For the first ti, Violet saw not the immortal ruler of the Fae, but a mother who had made impossible choices and was now forced to face them.
Not just her, Asher saw it too. But unlike Violet, he wouldn’t let emotions dull his instinct to protect her.
"I made a stupid decision," Seraphira admitted, staring at them yet seeing nothing, lost in whatever mory had been stirred.
"I was scared of leaving Violet with powers that Angus might exploit, and at the sa ti, I was terrified of unlocking powers that would draw Angus to her like a moth to fla."
Her eyes gained focus now, pinned on Asher. "But do you dare judge when you have not walked in the shoes I have walked in?"
She paused, then went on, "Every night I have cursed the bonds that kept chained to both wretched n while my daughter grew up without . Do you know what it ans, wolf? To watch your child from afar and be unable to reach her because every step closer risks her life?"
This ti she studied Asher with such intensity it was unsettling, almost as if she could see straight through him.
"You pursue perfection. You seek control. Yet you forget, Asher Nightshade, life is anything but perfect."
Asher shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated being under scrutiny, and right now the Queen held him under her gaze like a specin beneath glass.
"Tell then," she said softly, "have you not committed mistakes? Not even one?"
Asher didn’t need to answer, because Violet knew.
Lucille.
With his constant need to control and manipulate every outco like a puppet master, he had played gas with the girl, and the circumstances had nearly led to her death. He’d ruined her life.
Violet hadn’t forgotten that. Neither had Asher.
One could tell he rembered from the way he flinched, as though struck by an invisible hand.
For a second, no one spoke. Then Queen Seraphira picked up the goblet before her, paused, and said, "However, protect her as fiercely as you challenge , wolf. The day may co when she will need soone unafraid to stand against even a queen." Then she sipped her pale green drink.
Asher couldn’t find words, so Violet took over, intentionally stirring the conversation from that sensitive topic. "How long am I to stay here?"
Queen Seraphira was just about to respond when her nose flared. Her eyes sharpened a second later, and she looked ahead.
Violet turned at the sa ti Asher did, and the growl that rumbled from his chest perfectly mirrored the chill that ran through her.
There were so eyes one could never forget.
Though she had seen him before—through Lila’s eyes in the dream realm—this was different. Now she saw his true eyes for herself, a striking forest green that could lure anyone in without even trying. But Violet knew better. Those eyes hid nothing but poison. Baron might be handso on the outside, but he was rotten to the core within.
He strode up the dais wearing that sa arrogant smile, the kind that made it seem like the world already belonged to him.
Asher’s glare cut to the queen, venom in his voice. "What is he doing here?"
That seed to snap Seraphira from her trance. Before Baron could reach the table, vines crept out from the walls, twisting into thick, thorned branches that ford a living barrier before him.
Baron only laughed. "Is this how you welco , my queen? In front of our daughter?"
"Violet is not your daughter!" Seraphira hissed, her voice like steel.
"Not biologically," Baron conceded, his tone dripping mockery, "but by the laws of our people, she is. You are my wife, and that makes her my daughter."
The queen didn’t move. But her silence made him smirk.
"Well then," Baron said, tilting his head, "if you won’t let greet my daughter properly, I suppose I’ll visit her privately later."
Seraphira’s eyes widened at his audacity. Instinctively, she released the vines, and they slithered back into the walls.
Baron stepped forward smugly, taking his ti as he joined them at the table. He pulled out a chair, sat, and smiled as if nothing was wrong even though three pairs of furious eyes bore down on him.
Then, turning to Violet, his smile stretched wider.
"We finally et, daughter."
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