The wagons rolled out at dawn.
Seren sat at the front of the column, riding a chestnut mare that Kael had personally selected for her; calm-tempered but strong, he had said, capable of outrunning trouble if needed. Behind her stretched five wagons loaded with grain, dried at, dicine, and warm blankets. Beside and between them walked forty soldiers: twenty wolves, twenty humans, their breath misting in the cold morning air.
Lysa rode at Seren’s left, her face pale but determined. Captain Voss flanked her right, his hand never far from his sword.
"You didn’t have to co," Seren said to Lysa.
"Yes, I did." Lysa pulled her cloak tighter against the wind. "Soone has to make sure you eat sothing other than hardtack and regret."
Seren almost smiled. "I’ve survived worse."
"Exactly. Which is why you think you’re invincible. You’re not."
Behind them, the palace walls grew smaller. Seren watched them shrink until they were nothing but a smudge on the horizon. Sowhere inside those walls, Aeron was already in his first council eting. Theron was probably pacing his intelligence office, waiting for word from his operatives.
And Kael...
*Don’t.*
The bond humd with his voice. She felt his frustration like a physical weight, his wolf pacing behind his eyes.
*I can feel you thinking about ,* Kael sent. *You’re worried.*
*I’m always worried. That’s my job.*
*Your job is to co back in one piece.*
*Then stop distracting so I can focus on staying alive.*
She felt his reluctant laugh through the bond, a warm brush against her mind. Then the connection dimd as he consciously pulled back, giving her space.
.
.
.
Three hours into the journey, the bond flared again.
This ti it was Kael’s anger, sharp and hot. She pulled the mare to a halt, raising a hand to signal the column to stop.
"What is it?" Lysa asked.
Seren closed her eyes. Through the bond, she saw fragnts; Kael’s hand on his sword, Theron’s voice tight with command, a door slamming.
*He tried to leave,* Theron’s voice ca through, calm but strained. *He got as far as the stables before I caught him.*
*Three tis,* Kael growled. *Three tis I’ve tried to ride after you, and three tis he’s stopped .*
*And I’ll keep stopping you,* Theron replied. *You’re needed here. The strike force needs command. The council needs a military voice. If you go north, you abandon your duty.*
*Seren is my duty.*
*Seren is our mate. She’s also a queen who made a choice. Respect it.*
The bond flickered with Kael’s struggle...the wolf wanting to protect, the prince knowing he could not. Seren felt his pain as if it were her own.
*Kael.* She pushed warmth through the bond, love, reassurance. *I’m fine. The road is quiet. Voss has twice as many guards as necessary. Lysa is annoying about food.*
*That doesn’t make feel better.*
*It should. Lysa only nags people she expects to survive.*
A pause. Then: *You’re insufferable.*
*I learned from the best.*
The bond cald. Kael’s anger faded into reluctant acceptance. She felt him turn away from the stables, felt Theron’s hand on his shoulder, felt the strategy room door close behind them.
*I’ll be ho soon,* she sent.
*You’d better be.*
The connection dimd again.
.
.
.
The column moved on.
By midday, they had crossed into the borderlands. The landscape changed—lush forests giving way to rocky hills and sparse pine. The air grew colder. Snow dusted the ground in patches.
Captain Voss rode up beside her. "We’re entering contested territory, Your Highness. Thorne’s scouts could be anywhere."
"Then we make ourselves visible." Seren straightened in her saddle. "We’re not hiding. We’re delivering aid. If Thorne wants to attack a humanitarian mission, that’s his choice. It’ll tell the northern villagers everything they need to know about who he really is."
Voss frowned. "That’s a risk."
"That’s the point." She t his eyes. "We’re not just bringing food and dicine. We’re bringing proof that the crown is different from what Thorne says. If we skulk through the border like thieves, we prove him right. So, we ride tall. We fly the royal banner. And we let the villagers see that we’re not afraid."
Voss was silent for a mont. Then he nodded. "As you command, Your Highness."
He rode back to his position, calling orders for the banner to be raised.
.
.
.
That night, they camped in the ruins of a burned village.
It had been Oakstead, one of the three Thorne had destroyed. The buildings were skeletons of charred timber. The well was choked with ash. But the stone walls of an old barn still stood, and the soldiers cleared enough space for the wagons and the wounded.
Seren walked among the ruins as the sun set. Lysa walked beside her, silent for once.
"They had children here," Seren said quietly. "I saw a doll in the ashes. A little cloth thing, burned half away."
"There’s nothing we can do for them now."
"I know." Seren knelt and picked up a blackened piece of wood; part of a doorway, maybe, or a window fra. "But we can make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s why we’re here."
She stood and turned back toward the camp.
In the distance, she saw figures watching from the treeline. Not soldiers—villagers, maybe. Survivors. They didn’t approach, but they didn’t run either.
They were watching.
*Let them watch,* Seren thought. *Let them see.*
She raised a hand in greeting. After a long mont, one of the figures raised a hand back.
Then they disappeared into the trees.
.
.
That night, Seren lay in her tent, the bond humd softly with the triplets’ presence...Aeron’s steady calm, Kael’s restless vigilance, Theron’s sharp awareness. They were far away, but they were with her.
*Tomorrow we reach the first village,* she sent. *We’ll distribute aid. We’ll talk to the survivors. We’ll show them we’re not monsters.*
*You’re not a monster,* Kael replied. *You’re a queen.*
*Sa thing, sotis.*
*No.* Aeron’s voice, quiet but firm. *A monster takes. A queen gives. You’re giving. Rember that.*
She touched her locket, it was warm against her chest.
*I’ll rember.*
Outside, the wind howled.
Sowhere in the north, General Thorne was sharpening his blade, waiting for the queen to walk into his trap.
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