Beta Caspian entered the throne room with measured steps, his eyes trained on the ground. He dared not lift his gaze too quickly, not yet. Not while she sat there, so comfortably in the center of the room, like she owned it all. He had seen the way she moved, the way she controlled everything around her. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered what had happened to the last beta who had questioned her. The young man had asked the wrong thing, spoken out of turn, and before anyone had realized what was happening, Zaffrina had given the order. The beta’s head had been severed from his shoulders in an instant, his body crumpling to the floor in a heap of blood and broken pride. No one spoke after that.
Caspian kept his mouth shut, knowing well enough the danger of saying anything th
