the timid bride

**Chapter 44 – The Queen's Game**

The palace felt colder the next morning.

Not because of the air — but because of the weight in it. A tension that even the stone walls couldn't hold back anymore.

Zara stood before the mirror, dressed in a dark green gown that clung to her like war armor. Her hair was braided into a crown, her lips painted like blood, and her eyes—sharp as daggers.

She looked nothing like the girl who had once entered this palace, trembling with fear.

That girl was gone.

And in her place stood a woman the council didn't know how to silence.

---

The council chamber was full that day. Lords and ladies, soldiers and nobles — all seated around the grand crescent table. But there was no ceremony, no pleasantries.

Only eyes watching.

Waiting.

Kael stood at the head of the chamber, his expression unreadable.

And then the door opened.

Zara stepped in.

Gasps filled the room.

"She's not supposed to be here…"

"I thought she was dismissed…"

"She dares show her face…"

Kael didn't say a word. He only looked at her — and his silence spoke volumes.

Zara walked to the center, chin high, gaze steady. "You speak of me as if I'm not standing here. How brave."

Lord Merek sneered. "This is a council meeting, not a marketplace. You've no place here."

Zara smiled sweetly. "Yet here I am."

Merek stood. "This is an insult. Your Highness, if you won't remove her, I—"

"You will sit down, Lord Merek," Kael said coldly. "And you will listen."

The room froze.

Kael stepped forward. "Zara is no longer just my bride. She is my partner. My advisor. My shield."

He turned, facing the entire chamber.

"And anyone who dares lift a hand against her… lifts a hand against me."

Merek sat down slowly, his face flushed with fury.

Zara looked around the room.

"I didn't ask for power," she said. "I was dragged into it. Married off like livestock, thrown into a palace that wanted me quiet, obedient, forgettable."

She paused. "But I refused."

Whispers stirred.

"I faced threats. Poison. Assassins. Lies. And I'm still standing. So if that offends you — I suggest you leave before I start naming names."

The silence that followed was loud.

Very loud.

---

After the meeting, Kael pulled her into the side hall, breath shaky.

"You didn't tell me you were going to speak."

Zara looked up at him. "Would you have stopped me?"

Kael stared for a moment. Then smiled faintly. "No. I just… didn't think I could love you more. But apparently, I was wrong."

She touched his cheek. "Let them see my fire now. Let them tremble."

---

Later that day, Kael received a scroll sealed with black wax — a symbol known only to a few.

He opened it in his study, brows furrowing as he read:

> *"The serpent has teeth in every chamber. One has already tasted blood. Before the full moon rises, another will strike. Choose who you trust… before trust is the death of you."*

He crushed the letter.

"They're threatening me again," he muttered.

Zara stepped in. "Another letter?"

Kael nodded.

Zara read it and frowned. "They're getting bolder."

He met her gaze. "They're desperate."

She paced. "This means someone in your inner circle — someone very close — is part of it."

Kael leaned against the table. "Elric, Thorne… I've known them since childhood."

"And that's why they'd be the perfect cover," she said softly. "Because you'd never suspect them."

Kael said nothing.

Zara stepped closer. "We need to test them. All of them."

---

That night, a plan was born.

Kael summoned each of his trusted men one by one, under the guise of confidential strategy meetings.

Zara watched from the hidden passage behind the throne wall — a place few even knew existed.

Elric was the first.

He bowed, eyes calm.

"My loyalty is yours, as it has always been," he said.

Kael asked him about the new patrol patterns.

Elric answered perfectly.

But something in the way he avoided meeting Kael's eyes… lingered.

---

Next came Thorne.

Grim as ever, blunt and fearless.

"I don't like the games," he said. "I'd rather swing a sword than untangle whispers."

Kael chuckled. "Sometimes whispers are deadlier."

Thorne leaned in. "Then give me a name. I'll silence it."

Zara, behind the wall, breathed easier. He was angry — but not deceitful.

She trusted Thorne.

It was Elric who felt… off.

---

Later, Zara sat in the garden, thinking. The moonlight bathed the stones in silver. The wind carried petals across her lap.

Kael joined her quietly.

"You're too quiet," he said.

"I'm listening to my instincts," she murmured.

"And what do they say?"

"Elric."

Kael sighed. "He's saved my life more times than I can count."

"Then maybe he thinks you owe him everything now."

Kael looked at her. "What do you want to do?"

Zara didn't blink.

"Set a trap."

---

By dawn, the plan was set.

Zara would leave the palace publicly — a sudden trip to her home province. Unprotected. Vulnerable. The perfect target.

Of course, it was all a lie.

She'd be guarded in secret by Thorne's best men.

But the message would be leaked. Only one person would be told directly: Elric.

If an ambush happened — they'd have their answer.

---

The carriage was loaded. Zara wore a travel cloak, face calm.

Kael stood beside her, his hand warm around hers.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "Are you?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he leaned in, whispering against her ear, "Come back to me, or I swear to the gods, I'll tear the stars from the sky."

She smiled through the ache.

"I always come back."

---

As the carriage rolled out of the palace gates, the serpent prepared to strike.

But this time…

the prey was ready.

And the serpent didn't know:

It was walking straight into the fangs of a queen who had already tasted fire — and survived it.