I carried three children and the memory of Niskanen's blood, and somehow both made the halls feel wider instead of smaller.
Council started at the usual hour. Garrick stood at my right, new beta cloak pinned neat. The gammas filled the benches.
I sat at the head of the long table with Lila on my lap, Thorne and Elara in a shared cradle beside me. The twins gnawed on the leather strips and drooled on everything within reach. No one complained. They had seen me drag a killer through the bailey. A little drool wasn't going to scare them.
I brought the new law forward without preamble.
"Pups are not to be punished with silver or isolation," I said. "No more locking a child in the cold store for spilling grain. No more silver collars for tantrums. They learn with hands and words, not chains."
A few older gammas shifted. One of them, a man named Calder who still wore the old scars from my father's time, cleared his throat. "Some pups need a firm hand, my queen."
