A month passed like sand through trembling fingers.
But today, the crown would no longer hover like a promise above my head but would settle there with all its weight and glory. I stood before the ornate mirror in my chambers, barely recognizing the woman staring back at me, draped in royal finery and the heavy mantle of expectation.
The sentencing of Minister Krea, Minister Stavros, Minister Bennett, Lord Cassius, Alpha Benjamin Thorne, and Alpha Michael Barker had been swift but fair. Theo had insisted on transparent proceedings, allowing the kingdom to witness the consequences of betrayal and attempted harm to their new Queen. Their cells would hold them for many years to come—cold comfort for the nightmares that still occasionally jolted me awake, my skin crawling with phantom sensa
