At Redlunar
The maids hovered at the edges of the room, their hands folded neatly, their eyes watchful.
"Your food has been served, my lady. Would you like us to feed you?"
"No." Hazel's voice was soft but certain. "Thank you. I can manage myself. You may leave."
They filed out with quiet bows, the door closing behind them.
Hazel sat with the stillness of someone relearning how to occupy their own body. She placed her hand on the table first, steadying herself, then reached slowly for the spoon. Her fingers closed around it with more intention than the gesture required, as though even small things deserved to be done deliberately now.
Then she leaned forward and began to smell.
Dish by dish, she worked her way across the table with quiet focus, her nose doing what her eyes could not yet fully trust. Rice. A rich vegetable soup beneath it, deep and layered. And meat, generous amounts of it, the warmth of it rising to meet her before the spoon ever did.
Hazel scooped the rice carefully, guiding the spoon toward her mouth with quiet concentration.
It never arrived.
The spoon slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor. She sat still for a moment, listening to where it landed, then lowered herself from the chair slowly, one hand trailing the leg of the table for guidance. Her fingers found the spoon against the stone floor and she closed her hand around it.
Then she tried to rise.
Her head connected with the edge of the tray before she registered it was there. The impact sent the tray tilting and the bowl of soup went with it, the hot liquid cascading over her shoulders in one sudden wave.
The scream left her before she could stop it.
Footsteps arrived almost immediately.
Beta Korran had been close enough to her chambers to hear it and he was through the door before the echo had settled. He guided her to the bed with steady hands, assessed the burns without wasting time on words and began to chant, low and precise. Within moments the pain faded. The burns disappeared as though they had never been.
Hazel exhaled slowly.
"Thank you," she said, catching her breath. "And who are you?"
"Beta Korran." His voice was calm and even. "You may not remember me. You have not been able to see for some time now."
Hazel processed this without visible distress.
"I see." She straightened on the bed. "Then I am not frightened. Would you help me back to my seat? I have a meal to finish."
"In your condition you should be fed. That is what the maids are for," Korran replied.
"I do not trust anyone in this place," Hazel said simply. "So I cannot allow the maids to feed me."
"You cannot feed yourself either," Korran pointed out. "As we have just established."
A brief silence.
"Then you feed me," Hazel said.
Korran stared at her.
"I am the Beta of Redlunar ," he said, as though this should settle the matter entirely.
Hazel turned her face toward him with the particular patience of someone who has already decided how this conversation ends.
"I am aware," she said. "And yet here we are."
"That is precisely why you should be the one to feed me," Hazel said, her voice carrying the quiet logic of someone who has already thought it through. "You are the closest person to the Alpha. And since he cares so deeply about this child, you will extend that same care by default. As it stands, you are the only person in this place I can trust with my safety."
Korran was quiet for a moment.
"That is actually a sound argument," he said finally. "And I will not pretend otherwise." Something in his expression shifted, not quite a smile but close to one. "The only reason I am agreeing to this is that you reasoned your way into it. I respect a woman who can assess a situation and find the solution within it."
He stepped out briefly and returned with a fresh bowl of soup, pulling a chair close to the bed.
"Open," he said simply.
Hazel obeyed without protest.
"The meat in this soup," Korran said, guiding the spoon carefully, "comes from a dragon. Slaughtered recently." He kept his voice even and informative. "All your meals from this point forward will include dragon meat. It is believed to pass unlimited strength to the child in the womb. Resistance to pain, to illness, to many things that would bring others down."
Hazel chewed slowly, considering this.
The Next Day. Bloodmoon.
Roxanne jolted upright from sleep, her breath sharp and her eyes wide before the room had fully come into focus.
Corrine was already there, seated close, watching her with the particular stillness of someone who had been awake far longer.
"Are you well?"
"Yes." Roxanne steadied her breathing. "Thank you."
Corrine leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping.
"Then hear me clearly. No matter the circumstances inside this palace, you do not accept anything edible from anyone. No one. Except me." Her eyes were serious and unwavering. "You are claimed now. Your body will react to things differently than it did before. What is harmless to others may not be harmless to you. Do you understand?"
Roxanne looked at her steadily.
"I understand."
"Anything could expose you," Corrine said, her voice tight with urgency. "And today of all days is your wedding. You cannot afford a single mistake."
Roxanne held her gaze and said nothing. Then she nodded once.
After Hours
The butterflies came first.
Delicate and numerous, they were pinned carefully through Roxanne's hair until her entire head felt like a garden caught mid bloom. The blue gown followed, fitted and precise, its fabric embedded with gems that caught the light and scattered it in every direction. Her gloves were smoothed up her arms and fastened, and when the last detail was set, she turned to face the mirror.
She looked at herself for a long moment.
"We are going to make history today," she said quietly to her own reflection.
Then she reached for the Sumsum Kasa Bind. She held it carefully and a fine mist rose from it, settling on her lips like a seal. She pressed them together once.
Then she turned from the mirror and walked out.