"Are you out of your mind? It's the exact opposite!" Griswold bellowed, his voice echoing with raw emotion. "If we hadn't gotten involved, we wouldn't be standing in the middle of this nightmare!"
Killing enemies was one thing—watching your own fall was something else entirely.
"Oh, please," Lennix snapped back. "Still making it all about you, even now."
"Enough!" Madam Silvia's voice cut through the tension, sharp but measured. She stepped between them, raising her hands to stop the argument before it ignited further. "We've all lost something. No one is pretending this is easy. But turning on each other won't fix anything."
She let her gaze sweep across the group, firm but not unkind.
"For now, we help the new queen. Whatever she needs—we give it."
***
It was a strange, tangled feeling. King Valentin—no, Uncle Valentin—had been protecting Riona all this time.
