Queen Selthía;

I listen to the melody of the kingdom as my dress whispers against the stone behind me.

A small smile sits on my face as I listen to my kingdom breathe. It seems quiet at first. But it never really is, if you listen.

It’s... breathing... hissing... humming... It’s peaceful.

I watch the maids move between stone pillars and low bushes as they work. Their steps are sharp and practised. Efficient enough that even in their individuality, there’s a rhythm.

They may all be on separate tasks, but their movements blend into one.

I frown.

That is why she stands out.

Asa.

She moves almost like the rest of them... Almost.

She keeps her eyes lowered when they should be, lifts them when protocol allows. There’s no fumbling or nervousness... Everything... perfect. The kind of perfect that is unsettling.

She has always unsettled me.

People mostly assume that perfection is comforting. I have learned the opposite.

In my year of experience, excessive perfection isn’t an advantage. It’s a threat.

A threat I am tired of continually overlooking.

I step forward, letting my presence bleed just enough for the space around to feel me truly.

Conversations hush. Footsteps slow down... But my gaze is on one person.

"Asa," I call, and she stops picking the flowers immediately.

She turns to me and bows so deeply, I fear her spine might break.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" She replies with her voice calm.... respectful. Smooth like water over a pebble.

I gesture toward the covered walkway that runs along the garden, and she blinks at me.

"Walk with me," I order, and she stares at me for half a second before dropping her basket on the floor and placing her hands idly before her.

"As you wish, My queen." She replies, and I nearly scoff.

We move side by side, with her pace matching my unhurried one.

When we get to the walkway, I do not look at her at first. I let the air between us stretch, let the weight of my presence settle naturally.

Most people fidget under it... But Asa does not.

"You have been diligent," I finally break the silence, and she looks at me.

"You’ve been... quiet. Helpful. Unassuming. Everything any servant girl needs to be to have a peaceful life within royal walls." I add as my eyes fall to her hands, which are still folded neatly before her as she walks.

"I serve where I am placed." She replies, and I look away from her.

"Mm." I hum softly and continue walking in silence.

"You came to Nagari under unusual circumstances," I speak again, and she bows her head softly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And yet you adapted quickly," I note, looking at her this time, and she smiles at me.

"Your culture and people are beautiful. It’s easy to adapt to such warmth." She replies, and I stop walking.

She stops too, with just enough delay to show that she was following my rhythm, not leading her own.

I turn to face her fully now, as I am tired of the games and need to call a spade a spade.

"Asa, you are not who you claim to be," I note flatly as I watch her expression.

If I were wrong, this would be the moment it showed.

A widening of the eyes. A stutter. Fea, offence... Tears, even.

However, she does none of that.

She simply looks at me.

Not bowing this time, or hiding her gaze. She looks at me directly in my eyes and as much as I hate to admit it... It is... unsettling.

"I do not say this to threaten you," I continue calmly, as I will not be intimidated within the wall I have held up with my bare hands for years.

"I do not say it to shame you, either. I’m saying it because Nagari is my body, and I feel every foreign thing that presses against it." I note, and her expression does not change.

"I have chosen Elián as my son," I go on.

"Not by blood. But by will, and responsibility." I add, and finally, that earns me something.

A quick flicker in her brown eyes. It’s sharp and predatory, but it vanishes as soon as it appears. That irks me.

"There are lines that should not be crossed when one enters another’s home. He is one of them." I say softly, and the silence between us seems to deepen.

"You may have your reasons for coming here. Your griefs. Your justifications. But understand this. I know you’re not innocent, and I will protect that boy, Asa." I want, and still, she says nothing.

I study her face. Searching. Measuring... There is intelligence there. Depth. Something coiled. But still she says nothing.

Just as I’m about to lose my patience and say something.

An immense ripple of energy flows through me.

I freeze as my magic unfurls in both panic and alarm, and I lift my gaze to the sky in alarm. Magic prickles violently along my skin, every ounce of magic in my body screaming in sudden, unified alarm.

Something has crossed the borders.

Not peacefully... but violently. Something that wasn’t meant to be able to tear through my magic but did anyway, and is now on my soil.

There is no visible change, but Nagari knows. My heart knows.

Beside me, Asa reacts too.

I sense it in the way she also turns to look at the sky, and how her spine stiffens straighter.

The look on her face isn’t shock or confusion, though. It’s recognition. Like she knows, or can tell something that I can’t.

Slowly, I turn my attention to her.

She is staring upward as well. Jaw tight, eyes sharp, and alert in a way no simple maid should ever be.

She looks back at me, and our gazes meet just for a second, and that is all I need to be certain that I wasn’t wrong about her.

"This conversation is not finished," I tell her quietly, and she turns fully to me. Something unreadable passes between us, but with what I just felt, she’s not the worst of my problems.

"I suggest that you remain exactly where I can see you," I add, already turning away.

I gather my skirts and move swiftly down the path, with my heart pounding. Something powerful has entered my kingdom.

And the girl behind me felt it too.

Asa

She knows. She knows something I don’t, and I need to get to the bottom of it.

******

Asa;

Queen Selthía is not foolish. That much has always been obvious. But I underestimated her sharpness... Her reach.

When she called my name, I already knew this wasn’t a casual summon. When she asked me to walk with her, I knew this wasn’t about chores.

And when she told me I am not who I claim to be... I almost laughed.

Not because she was wrong... But because it took this long.

As she spoke and probed, I said nothing. Silence has always been my strongest weapon.

Words invite mistakes. Silence forces others to fill the gaps.

I listen to her speak of Elián as if he were her blood.

I listened as she vowed to protect him, and something about that gladdened my heart. To know he has this much safety around him.

Even if I wanted to hurt Elian... which I don’t... this womanbefore me would never allow it. There is iron beneath her softness. Old magic in her bones.

Brave of her, though. To think she could stop me if I chose otherwise.

Elian has been safe so far because I want him to be. And I intend to keep it that way.

Queen Selthia may be wise, but she doesn’t know me.

And I think it will be better for all of us if they do not get to know the real me.

That thought had only just taken root in my mind when it happened.

The moment fractured.

My magic flared in response before my mind caught up.

A sudden, violent awareness surged through me, sharp enough to make my vision blur for a heartbeat.

Something just crossed into Nagari.

It didn’t slip, or wander... it forced its way through.

I take a deep breath as I let my magic read it.

It’s younger magic. A younger force, but still, my skin prickles, and every instinct screams the same word.

Danger.

I look up without thinking, and so does she.

That is when I know I’ve miscalculated. Because she notices.

Her gaze snaps to me, and in that instant, I see it clearly.

Suspicion turning into something sharper.

Confirmation.

I smooth my expression, lower my eyes, and step back into the shape I have been training them to see.

I may now look calm and clueless on the outside, but inside... Inside, my thoughts race.

Why is the force here? Why now??

And why does my first, immediate instinct pull me in one direction?

Toward Elián.

To protect him.

The instinct roots itself deep, heavy and immovable.

And it dawns on me, whatever just entered Nagari... it isn’t here for me.

I feel it in my marrow.

It’s hunting something softer. Something vulnerable and open.

Something pregnant and painfully fragile.

Queen Selthía dismisses me with a warning, but her attention is already elsewhere. She’s moving fast, skirts gathered as she rushes off with urgency.

Smart.

Let her start trying to decipher this as quickly as she can. Cause even I do not like the feel of it.

I remain where I am, hands folded, head bowed, every inch the obedient maid.

But my mind is already shifting pieces.

If something powerful has entered this kingdom... and if it is aimed at Elián...

Then plans will change.

Not because I fear it, but because no one touches what I’ve vowed to protect.

Not him... and certainly not my godchild.