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Hoorius wasted no ti. "First order of the day: General Vorak." A massive seven Star humanoid war commander marched forward, his hands saluting sharp as a spear thrust. "Take twenty thousand heavy plate legionnaires and scour every village between here to the western outpost. Bring information on the silver haired man who killed my son, my baby Darius." Her voice remained steady but her eyes burned. "I want him found. Even if he hides behind the hell, drag him out of there. I only care about the results, not the process. No matter what, find the killer."
Vorak saluted again. No dissent. When a seven Star rank ant gave an order backed by the na Hoorius. They must obey...
Mia watched from a balcony corridor cloaked in the wall’s shadow. She felt a chill run through her body. Her instincts, honed as a scout, warrior and royal, scread. The timing was too perfect: mother in seclusion, Hoorius ascending the throne. And now twenty thousand troops launched toward on a mission of vengeance for Darius’ death. It felt wrong sohow.
Behind Mia, Thea’s voice cut in low. "It begins."
Mia turned. Her elder sister leaned against the pillar, gaze flicking over the hall where Hoorius presided. "Her grief is real," Thea murmured. "But her ambition is much more than Darius’s grave. She will reshape this kingdom while mother slumbers. Let give a little advice to Mia. You must learn politics soon. Otherwise you won’t last until mother cos out."
Mia gripped the balcony rail until her fingers ached. "You’ve always been like this—spoiled, loud, and blind to what matters. Not everything is about power, Thea. I never wanted any of this. But you and mother shoved court lessons down my throat like bitter poison."
Thea scoffed, arms crossed, her long mandibles twitching in disdain. "Oh, don’t start your self-righteous sob story again. You’re no different. The mont things got serious, you stopped being a soldier and started playing queen-in-waiting."
Mia’s eyes narrowed. "You think I want this? You think I enjoy watching our people being used like ga pieces while you strut around pretending to be Heir material? Please. You couldn’t rule a mushroom patch without setting it on fire. Your mind is full of dirty tricks."
Thea leaned in, venom behind her smirk. "And you couldn’t protect a single worker ant under your command. Your precious Dawn Blades captain, your toy boy is dead, You still want that ’simple life’ with nobody like Kai? How romantic. How stupid. Still dreaming about a life with a dead person."
"Watch your mouth," Mia hissed, voice dangerously low. "Say his na again, and I’ll make sure your legs don’t twitch again for a week."
"Oh, touched a nerve?" Thea’s laugh was dry and sharp. "Don’t worry. With Hoorius in charge, your little girl mind will vanish. Maybe I’ll send flowers to your dream funeral. Crimson lilies, just for you."
Mia turned away, swallowing the lump in her throat as her gaze landed on the sunburst crest above the throne—its golden shine now choked by Hoorius’s looming silhouette. A storm stirred behind her eyes. Her team... still missing. Kai... information still silent. And now, a viper on the throne, wearing her mother’s authority like a mask.
Far below, Hoorius lifted a hand and formally dismissed the court. But before she turned, her evil eyes drifted upward—locking onto Mia’s. There was no warmth in her stare, no pleasantry. Only a thin, coiled smile like a web spun too tight.
That smile was a knife. It said: "One by one, I will co for you siblings. But you are first."
And Mia knew—she wouldn’t stop until she was either shackled in chains... or dead. She doesn’t know why the Queen chose her as the leader.
Hoorius’s appointnt rippled through the capital like shockwaves under stone, and in the hours following the morning decree so new scenes unfolded—each a thread she silently wound around the kingdom’s throat.
First ca the Council of Binders. Ten to Twelve master artisans who maintained the colony’s defensive aura‐web were summoned to a private alcove behind the throne dais. Hoorius dismissed the scribes, then made every craftsman kneel. "Recalibrate the periter lattice," she murmured, fingers drumming the arm of the Queen’s vacant throne. "Tighten the southern grid by forty percent—any signature that slls of devouring or of silver hair, flag it. No excuses." The chief Binder opened his mandibles to question. But... Hoorius’s gaze pinned him silent. They nodded as one, filing out, whispering of how quickly the Regent had found the Queen’s hidden schematics.
Second: The Market Square Directive. Mid-day, heralds in red lacquer carapace strode the avenues, unfurling scrolls thicker than boar hide. They nailed edicts to fungus lit posts: curfews for outer/ worker areas, "Nobody is allowed to walk in the open at night. Everyone must stay inside the worker chamber. Otherwise they will be killed without asking any questions."
Three nights later, the rumors began. Scouts returned to the palace with haunted expressions. The rift gate was gone. It collapsed like a sinkhole into nothing. No ant bodies. No proof of survival. Only eerie traces... burn marks, claw gouges, crushed stone, whispers of a silver demon cloaked in death.
Other voices muttered about sothing worse. There was an abomination, born of curse and blood, that devoured ant flesh and wore their head like trophies.
Mia ignored the court gossip. She focused on facts. Silence ant danger but not necessarily death.
Until Marie ca. Her last loyal maid burst into her chambers after midnight, trembling, her hands rigid with fear. "Lady Mia... forgive for speaking out of turn, but I overheard sothing. The Regent—she was speaking to soone... soone not from our kingdom. A man in a hood. They spoke of... alliances. Of debts. And..."
Marie hesitated.
"And what?" Mia asked, her voice already brittle.
"She said... she said the queen might never rank up. That the Desert Ruler’s core would do the job for them."
Mia’s blood turned to ice. Her breath caught.
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