Next Chapter: The Queen Who Learned to Hide Her Teeth
Aria learned how to lie without speaking.
It started with the way she walked—slower, measured, as if exhaustion clung to her bones. She allowed the council to see strain where there was calculation. She let Dominic and Adrian see distance where there was strategy.
The child inside her changed everything.
Not by weakening her.
By sharpening her.
Her power no longer surged outward in violent waves. It curled inward, forming layers—defensive, adaptive, intelligent. Shadows no longer obeyed her emotions; they obeyed her intent.
And intent had become singular.
Survive. Protect. Destroy last.
*******************
Dominic noticed first.
She stopped letting him scent her fear.
Adrian noticed next.
She stopped bleeding in battles she
