Dinner had been served late, which meant Malvoria was already in a dangerous mood.
Not a murderous mood, thankfully. More of a sharp-edged, sleep-deprived, politically irritated mood.
The children were finally asleep.
Finally.
Kaelith had demanded to know why Sarisa was not here yet, Aliyah had asked whether "Mama Lara already married Mama Sarisa better than the ugly wedding," and Neris had quietly taken his blanket to Aliyah's room because he did not want to sleep alone.
Elysia had handled that with her usual impossible gentleness, letting the three children form a small tangled nest under blankets while Malvoria stood in the doorway pretending not to be deeply affected by the sight.
Now the castle had quieted.
The private dining room was warm with low lamps and candlelight. The table was smaller than the grand hall table, intimate enough that Malvoria could sit close to Elysia without anyone making it A Royal Matter.
Dinner was simple by castle standards: roasted vegetables, spiced meat, soft bread, a bowl of fruit, and a sweet pudding Malvoria had insisted on because pregnancy news, secret or not, clearly required dessert.
Elysia sat beside her, looking composed, lovely, and far too calm for a woman secretly carrying twins.
Twins.
Malvoria's mind had been circling the word all evening like a dragon protecting treasure.
She had not told anyone. She had promised. She was excellent at promises when the person asking was Elysia and the promise did not involve being patient, subtle, or polite for too long.
Unfortunately, she had spent the last hour staring at Elysia's stomach with the intensity of an astrologer reading omens.
Elysia finally sighed and set down her spoon. "You're doing it again."
Malvoria blinked. "Doing what?"
"Looking at me like I'm made of glass and royal prophecy."
"You are not made of glass."
"And the prophecy?"
"Unconfirmed."
Elysia's mouth twitched. "You're impossible."
"I am attentive."
"You are two seconds away from asking if I need another pillow at dinner."
Malvoria glanced at the chair behind her. "Would you like one?"
Elysia pointed her spoon at her. "No."
"Fruit?"
"No."
"Water?"
"Malvoria."
"Fine. I'll sit here and suffer in silence."
"You've never suffered in silence in your life."
Malvoria was preparing a dramatic rebuttal when the doors opened.
Veylira and Raveth entered together, and the air changed at once.
Not because they looked injured. They did not. Not properly. Raveth had one new bruise near her cheekbone and the expression of someone who had been forced to spend too long in a room with fools.
Veylira looked flawless, which was always suspicious. The more flawless Veylira appeared, the more likely it was that someone else was either unconscious, blackmailed, or about to become both.
Raveth barely made it three steps into the room before saying, "How the fuck did Lara not kill the queen herself? She is so fucking annoying."
Malvoria burst out laughing.
It was immediate, loud, and deeply satisfying. Elysia closed her eyes as if praying for patience, but even she looked amused.
"She was too occupied looking at Sarisa for that," Malvoria said, leaning back in her chair with a grin. "So what did you get?"
Raveth dropped into the nearest chair as if the furniture had personally insulted her. "First, I want wine."
"Of course you do."
"And second, I want it known that I behaved."
Veylira walked to the table with perfect grace and sat across from them. "Barely."
"I did not punch the queen."
"Because my clone was watching you."
Raveth snorted. "Your clone looked bored."
"My clone was bored."
Malvoria's smile sharpened. "So you slipped away."
Veylira reached for the wine and poured herself a glass. "Naturally."
Elysia leaned forward slightly, all teasing gone now. "What did you find?"
For once, Veylira did not immediately answer with elegance. She took a slow sip of wine first. That alone told Malvoria the answer was significant.
Then Veylira said, "A hidden laboratory beneath the secondary palace wing."
Malvoria went still.
Elysia's hand found hers beneath the table. Malvoria gripped it, careful not to squeeze too tightly.
"A functioning one?" Malvoria asked.
"Recently functioning," Veylira said. "Partially cleared, but not thoroughly. They were attempting to move everything before midnight."
Raveth reached for bread and tore it in half with unnecessary violence. "We caught two of the queen's people inside."
Malvoria sat up straighter. "Names."
"Lord Caldris," Veylira said. "Royal physician. And Professor Maelia Sorn, court mage attached to the queen's private research office."
Elysia inhaled softly. "Caldris."
Malvoria turned to her. "You know him?"
"By reputation. He treated several noble families during diplomatic visits. Very respected. Very careful."
"Very unconscious now," Raveth said, biting into the bread.
Malvoria smiled slowly. "You brought them here."
Veylira's eyes gleamed. "Of course."
Raveth lifted her glass. "Separate cells. Truth wards. Anti-suicide seals. Anti-message charms. Anti-being-a-slippery-little-bastard charms."
"I don't think that last one has an official name," Elysia said.
"It should."
Malvoria felt something bright and vicious spark inside her. "And the lab?"
"Emptied," Veylira said. "By me. Everything relevant is in the sealed evidence chamber."
Malvoria almost rose from the table then and there. "Everything?"
"Everything I could take."
Raveth pointed at her with a fork. "She took the furniture."
Veylira did not look apologetic. "The furniture had runes."
"You took the brazier."
"It had documents burned in it."
"You took half a door."
Veylira's expression cooled. "The door had the queen's personal authorization seal."
The room stopped breathing.
Even Raveth went quiet.
Malvoria stared. "Her personal seal?"
Veylira nodded. "Direct magical imprint. Not funding records. Not construction approval through a minister. Her seal. Hidden on the inner side of the laboratory door."
Elysia's fingers tightened around Malvoria's beneath the table.
"That changes everything," Elysia said softly.
"Yes," Veylira said. "It does."
Malvoria felt the grin begin, slow and dangerous. "Oh, you beautiful nightmare of a mother."
Veylira lifted one brow. "I will accept that as gratitude."
"It is."
Raveth leaned forward now, her earlier irritation sharpening into something darker. "There's more."
Malvoria's grin faded. "Of course there is."
Veylira set down her glass. "The work was not limited to Neris."
Silence settled over the table like black snow.
Elysia's face tightened. "What do you mean?"
"Diagrams. Spell matrices. Bloodline fusion. Artificial heirs. Obedience anchors. Soul-thread grafting."
Veylira's voice stayed calm, but there was murder underneath it. "They were not simply creating life. They were exploring how to control it."
Malvoria's stomach turned cold.
Her thoughts went first to Neris. Small, watchful Neris, who had asked whether adults would hit him.
Then to Aliyah sleeping in another room. Then, sharp and fierce, to Elysia beside her, carrying two lives no one else yet knew existed.
Her hand tightened around Elysia's.
Raveth saw it and narrowed her eyes faintly, but said nothing.
"Next vessel," Veylira said.
Malvoria looked back at her. "What?"
"That was the phrase Caldris used before I revealed myself. The next vessel was paused until Sarisa was recovered."
Elysia went pale.
Malvoria rose so fast her chair scraped back.
"No."
The word came out too quiet.
Veylira's gaze sharpened. "We do not yet know who or what that referred to."
"I don't care," Malvoria said. "I know enough to hate it."
Raveth nodded grimly. "Same."
For a moment the private dining room felt too small to hold all of them. Candlelight flickered over untouched food.
Elysia's voice, when it came, was calm because Elysia was always calm when things were worst.
"We need to secure the evidence first. Then interrogate Caldris and Maelia separately. No queen, no court, no public accusation until we know how much they can confirm."
Malvoria looked at her wife.
Pregnant. Carrying twins. Still thinking like a ruler with knives behind silk.
She loved her so much it made her furious.
"Yes," Malvoria said. "But when they confirm enough, we move."
Veylira smiled faintly. "That was always the plan."
Raveth lifted her wine. "Good. Because I am tired of that queen's face."
Malvoria sat back down slowly, anger settling into something more useful now. Not less violent. Better aimed.
She reached for her glass and raised it.
"To evidence," she said.
Raveth clinked her glass against it. "To finally having a throat to press it against."
Elysia sighed, but her eyes were sharp. "To truth."
Veylira lifted her wine last. "To patience."
All three of them looked at her.
Veylira smiled serenely. "The most violent virtue."