System 427 floated after her as she moved toward the window. "And Estov? What’s ’his’ role in all this?"
Heena gazed out at the moonlit palace, where sowhere in the guest wing, her "fiancé" was probably charming so poor guard into blushing confusion.
"Him?" She smiled. "He’s my chaos agent. The wildcard no one sees coming. By the ti the consorts and Seraphina figure out what he really is, it’ll be too late."
Her reflection in the glass looked like a queen. Like a predator.
"Let’s see how the criminal white-lotus system handles a world with ’two’ veterans in it."
The Next MORNING
Heena sat at her massive desk, quill flying across docunts with ruthless efficiency. Her leg was completely healed, thanks to a rare dicine System 427 had smuggled in from the Main God’s stores. The cosmic backlash had eased too, now that her system was back in the field. As for detection risks? Already handled. Serafina’s white‑lotus system had sniffed around once, raised the alarm, but constant area scans were a massive energy drain. They wouldn’t risk it again so soon.
Across from her—or rather, ’on’ her desk—sat Ashton. Not in a chair. On the ’actual desk’, right next to her papers, with barely a centiter between his perfectly tailored trousers and her important reports. His legs dangled casually, one polished boot swinging like a pendulum.
Heena glanced up at him, her expression softening into sothing almost fond. Like a girl utterly besotted. Her fingers paused on the quill, eyes tracing his profile with a dreamy little smile.
From the doorway, it looked ’compromising’.
’Knock knock.’
"Your Highness—I an, Your Majesty?" Kieran’s voice, muffled by the heavy door. It carried a faint tremor of anger. "Can we co in?"
Adrian’s voice layered over it, equally tight. "We have urgent matters regarding the northern armies."
Heena’s smile widened just a fraction. "Yes, of course. Co in."
The doors swung open.
Kieran and Adrian strode in—then froze mid‑step, like statues hit with petrification magic.
What they saw:
- Ashton Ravencourt, the "exiled fiancé," perched intimately on the Empress’s desk.
- Heena’s crisp shirt unbuttoned at the top. Not one button. ’Two’. Enough to reveal the delicate hollow of her throat, the faint gleam of collarbone. (She’d done it herself earlier because the office felt stuffy. Ashton had ’suggested’ it with a wicked grin.)
- The two of them angled toward each other, papers pushed aside like afterthoughts, Heena’s quill abandoned mid‑sentence. Her gaze on him was soft, adoring. His posture scread ’relaxed possession’.
To the consorts, it scread sothing else entirely.
Kieran’s gauntleted hand twitched toward his sword hilt. His ice‑blue eyes went dangerously narrow. Adrian’s ledger slipped an inch in his grip, golden eyes widening behind his spectacles. Both n stood rooted, jaws clenched so tight Heena could hear the teeth grinding from across the room.
Ashton, blissfully aware (or perfectly pretending), tilted his head innocently. "Oh? Good morning, Consorts. We were just... discussing strategy."
Heena’s smile stayed sweet, utterly unembarrassed. She didn’t button her shirt. Didn’t move Ashton off her desk. Just gestured lazily at the chairs opposite.
"Perfect timing. Sit. What’s this about the northern armies?"
Kieran’s gaze stayed locked on Ashton for a long, dangerous mont before sliding to Heena. His jaw worked. "Your Majesty," he said, voice tight as a drawn bowstring, "we need to discuss sothing of ’grave importance’. I believe it would be best if this conversation remained... private. Between consorts and Empress. No outsiders."
His emphasis on the last word made it clear exactly who he ant.
Ashton’s expression crumpled imdiately—grey eyes going wide and wounded, like a kicked puppy. He glanced at Heena, lower lip trembling just slightly.
Heena turned her gaze to him, soft and reassuring, then back to the two n standing rigid before her desk. "I don’t think there’s anything to hide between us," she said lightly. "And anyway, you ca here on official business, didn’t you? I think I should have at least one person present to listen. Besides—" her smile ward, "Ashton is a very trustworthy person."
She leaned back slightly, fingers drumming on the armrest. "So. Continue."
Kieran’s fists clenched at his sides. "But Your Majesty, this concerns ’security’—"
Heena raised one hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. Her voice dropped several degrees. "Consort. ’Continue’."
Kieran bit down on whatever protest he’d been about to voice. His throat worked. Finally, he spoke, words clipped and furious. "Your Majesty. You halved the Northern Army’s authority and transferred power to Duke Robbinston. Not only that, you’ve demoted all of us from ’consort’ to ’concubine’." Ice-blue eyes burned. "Can I ask—’what’ did we do to deserve such a grave punishnt?"
Heena didn’t answer him.
Instead, she turned to Ashton.
Slowly, deliberately, she lifted her hand and slipped it beneath the open collar of his shirt. Her fingers brushed warm skin, tracing upward until they found his chest. She circled one nipple lazily, nails scraping just enough to make him shiver.
Ashton ’gasped’. His back arched slightly, head tilting back, and a low moan escaped his throat—half pleasure, half helpless surrender.
Both Kieran and Adrian went scarlet. Kieran’s hand flew to his sword hilt. Adrian’s ledger hit the floor with a dull ’thud’, pages scattering.
Heena didn’t even glance at them. She kept her fingers moving in slow, teasing circles, voice utterly calm. "Co on, Consort. I did it ’for’ you. After all—" another twist of her fingers; Ashton whimpered, "—I don’t want my consorts carrying so much responsibility. You looked so tired."
Adrian finally found his voice, though it ca out strangled. "Your Majesty!" His golden eyes blazed behind his glasses, fist clenched white-knuckled at his side. "No matter what, we deserve at least an ’explanation’. You made these decisions without even ’notifying’ us. No warning. No council discussion. How—"
Heena’s hand stilled. She withdrew it from Ashton’s shirt and turned to face them fully.
The temperature in the room plumted.
"Duke Adrian," she said, voice cold as winter steel. "First: you control trade routes and the treasury. I don’t recall you ’ever’ controlling the Northern Army. Second: it is ’my’ decision who I give power to. Don’t forget—I was the one who gave you your positions in the first place." Her smile was a blade. "Third and last: I announced these changes in front of the entire council. If you want explanations, go ask ’them’."
She stood, the movent sharp and sudden.
Both n took an involuntary step back.
Heena walked around the desk, each step deliberate. Ashton stayed perched where he was, watching with half-lidded eyes.
"Maybe," Heena continued, voice soft and lethal, "you’re both ’forgetting’ sothing. I never gave you the position of ’husbands’. You are consorts. That’s it. As for demoting you to concubine?" She laughed—short, bitter. "Dear consorts, I don’t think my punishnt is wrong at all. The things you’ve done—if I laid them all out publicly, even ’eight generations’ of your bloodlines’ deaths wouldn’t be enough to wash it clean."
Kieran’s face drained of color. Adrian swayed slightly.
Heena stepped closer, close enough they could see the glint of fury in her eyes. "And as for how ’faithful’ you’ve been... do you want to pull the reports? Every eting with Seraphina. Every whispered plan. Every vial of poison purchased through back channels." Her smile sharpened. "Shall we compare? My ’harsh punishnt’ versus your ’cris’?"
Silence crashed down like a hamr.
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