Lena stared at the woman standing before her, chin lifted high, eyes burning with entitlement.
"I am Queen Esmeralda."
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to wait.
Then Lena snorted.
"So?"
The sound cut through the fairfare like a blade.
Gasps exploded around them.
People froze mid-step, hands flying to mouths.
Vendors stiffened.
Guards stiffened harder.
Somewhere behind her, Ashikai closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
"Oh no", the fox muttered inside her mind. You really didn't.
Esmeralda's face twisted, disbelief flashing before fury took over completely.
"How dare you—" she hissed.
Her hand came up again.
This time, Lena didn't flinch.
She met Esmeralda's gaze with something sharp and dangerous.
"Touch me again," she said coldly, "and I'll chop off your hand."
The crowd erupted.
"She threatened the queen!"
"Arrest her!"
Esmeralda recoiled for half a second, then her rage flared brighter. "Guards!"
she shrieked. "Chain her immediately!"
Armor clattered as guards rushed forward.
Lena shifted her stance.
"Oh, we're doing this?" she muttered.
The first guard lunged.
Lena ducked under his swing, slammed her elbow into his stomach, and shoved him hard into another guard.
The impact sent both stumbling back into a stall, splintering wood and scattering produce across the ground
.
The fairfare descended into chaos.
"Stop her!"
"She's mad!"
Two more guards charged.
Lena kicked one square in the knee—metal rang as he collapsed with a cry. She twisted out of another's grip, using his momentum to throw him off balance.
The crowd screamed, villagers scrambling away in terror.
Esmeralda screeched in outrage.
Lena turned, eyes blazing, and surged forward before anyone could stop her.
She grabbed Esmeralda by the hair and yanked her head back hard.
"How dare you," Lena snarled, close enough to smell the expensive perfume, "think you own respect just because you demand it."
She spat straight into Esmeralda's face.
The scream that followed was shrill and hysterical.
Villagers shouted in panic.
"Someone stop her!"
"She'll kill her!"
More guards rushed in from nearby streets, drawn by the noise.
Lena fought wildly, desperately, but sheer numbers began to overwhelm her.
Something struck the back of her head.
The world tilted.
Darkness swallowed her whole.
High in the palace, rain lashed against tall windows, streaking down stone walls like silver scars.
Kairos sat at the head of the council table, unmoving as nobles argued heatedly around him.
"The rain won't stop, yet the land keeps drying," one noble snapped
. "It's unnatural!"
"Our crops are failing," another added.
"Despite flooded rivers!"
"This reeks of interference," a third said darkly.
Kairos listened in silence, fingers steepled, eyes distant.
Before he could speak, the doors opened.
His personal guard stepped in and dropped to one knee.
"Forgive the interruption, my king."
Kairos lifted his gaze.
"Speak."
The guard hesitated.
"Mistress Esmeralda was… attacked in the village fairfare."
The room erupted.
"Attacked?!"
"Who would dare—"
"This is treason!"
Kairos remained silent.
"And who,"
he asked calmly, "is responsible?"
The guard swallowed.
"The girl. Lena.
The one recently released."
The nobles exploded with outrage.
"That insolent peasant!"
"She disgraced a noble!"
"She must be executed!"
Kairos rose slowly from his seat.
"Prepare the courtroom," he said. "Immediately."
His voice allowed no argument.
Cold stone greeted Lena when consciousness returned.
Pain pulsed through her skull as she tried to move—and failed.
Her wrists were chained above her, her ankles bound apart, spread helplessly against the cold floor of the courtroom. Iron bit into her skin, unforgiving and tight.
"Lena!".
Ashikai's voice snapped her fully awake.
She turned her head slightly.
The fox was there—unbound, but guarded. He clung to her legs fiercely, tail bristling, teeth bared at anyone who came too close.
"I'm here," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm okay."
The massive doors groaned open.
Everyone bowed.
Kairos entered.
Behind him walked Esmeralda, pristine and composed once more, her eyes glittering with malice.
She shot Lena a smug, triumphant smile.
Kairos took his throne.
"Begin," he commanded.
A guard stepped forward and narrated the events—Lena's defiance, the fight, the public humiliation of Esmeralda.
When he finished, Esmeralda burst into tears.
"I only tried to greet her," she sobbed dramatically.
"And she attacked me… for choosing a fox over royalty."
The nobles erupted in fury.
"She must die!"
"Execute her immediately!"
"Make an example of her!".
Kairos stood.
He descended the steps slowly, every footstep echoing through the courtroom until he stood before Lena.
He crouched and lifted her chin with the flat of a dagger, forcing her to meet his icy gaze.
"You assaulted a foreign royal," he said quietly.
"She assaulted me first," Lena spat back.
A murmur rippled through the room.
Kairos straightened.
"Kill the fox first," he ordered calmly. "Then her."
"No!" Lena screamed, thrashing against the chains.
Ashikai snarled, placing himself between the approaching guard and Lena's legs.
The guard raised his sword.
Steel glinted under torchlight.
Then—
"Enough."
The doors slammed open.
A woman stepped inside.
Her robe was deep red, dragging across the marble floor like spilled blood. Her presence alone crushed the air, ancient and commanding.
"Leave the fox and the young girl alone," she said.
The courtroom froze.
Gasps and whispers spread instantly.
"Who dares—"
"She commands the king—"
Kairos stiffened.
Slowly, disbelief edging into his voice, he said, "Mother?"
The word detonated across the room.
"The king has a mother?!"
"That's impossible—"
The woman lifted her chin, eyes blazing with authority older than the crown itself.
"Yes," she said coolly. "And you will listen."
Chains creaked softly.
Destiny shifted.
And the courtroom realized—
this trial had never truly belonged to Lena at all.