---
She studied his face for a long, quiet moment, amusement fading into something older.
"So," she said softly, "you want to know who I am. Not the wandering troublemaker version. The one that makes generals listen when I clear my throat."
Kai held her gaze. "It would be useful," he said. "Before the universe throws the answer at my head in a worse way."
Her lips curved, but there was no real smile in it.
"On their maps," she said, "I am not a smudge in the corner. I am the center of the red. I am the seal on their decrees, the breath behind their banners. In their polite mouths I am 'Her Majesty.' In their less polite ones I am 'that stubborn woman who will not die when it would be convenient.'"
She let the next words fall like stones.
"I am the Scarlet Queen, Kai."
He sucked in a breath at the wrong angle and choked.
