"You were not entirely wrong," the Moon Goddess said quietly. "Every word you spoke carried truth."
Hazel looked at her steadily. "Then what is the point of telling me any of this?"
"Because you are the only one." The Moon Goddess held her gaze with the full weight of centuries behind it. "Your generation is the only one that carries what is needed to revoke what was done. I no longer seek the Sun God. I no longer seek to undo what exists between us." Her golden eyes softened almost imperceptibly. "All I pray for is that my worshippers find a way to coexist. That peace, however small and fragile, can return to them."
Hazel folded her arms. "I do not care. You started this. I did not ask you to curse anyone and I did not ask to be the one to fix it."
The Moon Goddess did not argue.
"Then let me give you something that belongs to you alone," she said softly. "Cherish the one thing that will be entirely and unconditionally true to you. It will never use you. It will only love you, completely and without condition." She paused, her voice dropping into something tender. "That is your son, Hazel Sapphire. Take my word and hold it close. He will give you everything you were never given. Everything you always deserved."
Before Hazel could respond, something small and warm pressed against her.
The boy had appeared and wrapped his arms around her without warning or hesitation. Hazel stiffened. Her hands hovered uncertainly at her sides.
Then slowly, without fully deciding to, she held him back.
She did not know how long they stood like that.
But by the time she became aware of herself again, the moon was gone.
She was back.
The word reached Phoenix before the echo of the healer's voice had settled.
He was back in her room within moments, the door closing behind him. One look around at the gathered faces and he gestured once. Everyone filed out without a word.
He stood over her. Taking in the frail figure on the bed, the bones still visible, the marks still carved into her skin, the evidence of everything her body had been through written plainly across her.
"Do not mistake this for a second chance," he said, his voice flat and without warmth. "You are here to carry my child. When that time has passed you will be discarded. That is all this is."
Hazel looked up at him from the bed.
"Do you think I care?" Her voice was quiet but carried the weight of someone who had just stood before a goddess and refused to bow. "No one gives me instructions. No one decides what I do or who I follow." Her eyes held his without flinching. "The only reason I came back is for my son. To give him a life worth living. Not because you commanded it. Not because of anything you are."
Phoenix opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
He turned and left the room.
At Bloodmoon
The moment Roxanne stepped through the palace gates everything slowed.
She had not announced herself. She did not need to. Eyes moved to her and stayed, pulled by something that had nothing to do with effort and everything to do with what she had become. Her grey hair fell with a quiet elegance that looked chosen rather than changed. Her skin held a luminance that the palace light seemed to lean toward. Every official, every attendant, every guard found their gaze returning to her without meaning to.
She noticed none of it.
Mrs. Valeria was waiting at the gate, her smile wide and practiced.
"You are most welcome, dear."
Roxanne's eyes did not move to her. Her expression did not shift. She walked past her without a word and did not stop until she stood directly before the throne.
Vangelis and Fiona sat side by side, the full weight of the crown between them.
Roxanne dipped into a slow and measured bow, precise and composed, giving exactly what protocol demanded and nothing more.
"My lord. I received your letter and have presented myself as requested."
Vangelis straightened slightly, something shifting behind his eyes as he took her in fully.
"I am more than pleased that you have come." He glanced briefly toward Fiona beside him. "Regarding the marriage preparations, the Queen is here to question you herself. She will determine whether you are fit to hold the title of Duchess."
Fiona's gaze had not left Roxanne since she walked through the door.
Roxanne's eyes moved briefly to Fiona as she settled into her seat on the throne. Two months along, the weight of it visible in the soft fullness of her face and figure, her beauty unchanged but deepened somehow, the way carrying life tends to do to a woman.
Fiona straightened and the room followed her lead, falling into an attentive quiet.
"As Queen of both Bloodmoon and Silvermoon, I am honoured to conduct this interview." Her voice was composed and measured, carrying the practiced authority of someone who had learned to wear power naturally. "We will begin. Do you know the duties of a Duchess?"
Roxanne met her gaze without hesitation.
"In political duties, which are the most significant, the Duchess negotiates, signs and upholds treaties on the king's behalf. She maintains his alliances, manages the territories assigned to her, settles disputes among citizens and ensures the laws of the kingdom are upheld within her domain." She paused briefly before continuing. "In social duties, she upholds the standard of grace and authority that the crown expects. She organises and attends royal gatherings and represents the kingdom's nobility in the absence of the royal couple."
A murmur of approval moved through the crowd before someone began to applaud and the rest followed.
Fiona allowed it to settle before she continued.
"Splendid." She tilted her head slightly, something sharpening in her expression. "Now. My next question may seem unusual but I assure you it carries weight." A brief pause. "What is your personal duty to the king?"
The room went very still.
Fiona watched Roxanne carefully, waiting.