Annabella's POV

“You will not enter,” Queen Jiang said, flat and final.

Her voice landed in the corridor and made the hair on my arms stand up. I stepped forward because my mouth had already opened and I was halfway to arguing. “I am the bride,” I said. “I have a right to be here, your son hasn't seen me since our wedding night.”

“You have no right yet you know, and he definitely will when he's ready” she answered. “You will wait in your house. You will learn your place.”

Learning my place felt like swallowing a stone. I opened my mouth to say but Her eyes cut me off and I knew when to stop. I turned and walked away, and the walk was worse than an insult because it felt like obeying a sentence. I slammed the door to my chamber hard enough that the hinges complained, then stood with my forehead against the wood until my pulse slowed.

Night came and the palace changed. The place I’d watched all day became a different animal at night. Quiet, but not empty. Hazy with moonlight in the high windows.

Then I heard movement. Not the house settling. A soft, careful shuffle outside my door. I froze. My skin went hot and sharp with attention. The elders in my empire had called it rabbit blood when they talked about it at council meetings; my different blood, the thing they didn’t say in front of the young. A gift, they said. A worry to others. It made me faster. It made my ears catch whispers. It made small sounds enormous. “The rabbit” that was what they called the power.

I slid from the bed and put my palm flat to the cool stone. The footsteps paused. I moved toward the sound without thinking, light enough that the floor didn’t snap at me. A shadow flicked by the carved pillar and I followed tight.

Her shape was small and quick. She spun when she saw me. For a second she looked like someone caught stealing bread. Then she tried to run.

I didn’t let her get far. My lungs filled, and my body did what it did best. I reached her in two long steps and put a hand on her arm. She flinched like I’d slapped her.

“Stop,” I said low. She pressed back against the stone, breaths shallow.

“Please,” she said, voice shaking. “Please don’t report me. I just..” Her words tumbled, too fast.

“Report you for what?” I asked, because my head kept working even where my heart thudded. “Sneaking in here? You think I’m going to drag you to the queen? You should have known better. Why are you out here?”

She chewed her lip and dug her fingers into her palms. Her eyes flicked toward the north wing like someone expecting to be spotted. “I always wanted to work in the palace,” she said. “It’s… it’s a nice place. And I. ” She swallowed. “I can see my crush easier.”

I could have rolled my eyes. Instead the laugh that came out of me was a hard little sound. “You came out at night to see a crush?” I said. The laugh landed between us, rough and unbelieving.

Her shoulders dropped. The fear did not leave her face; it took on a softer edge. “My name is Talia Frost,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean trouble.”

“Talia.” I liked the name. It was small. “Alright. I won’t report you. But don’t run like that again and try not to die of embarrassment while you’re at it. And you could get killed Oh my God.”

She gave me a half-smile, then watched me the way people watch someone who’s about to fall. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked after a beat. Curiosity pushed through the fear in her face.

I wanted to say no. But who was I kidding? I’d been holding my breath since I stepped into Silvercrest.

“Well it won't hurt to tell you since I don't know your stupid ass and may never see you again. I…haven’t been in bed with my Alpha since I arrived,” I said, and saying it felt like dropping a stone into a well. The words echoed. “I thought he was ugly. But he’s not. He’s… hot. I was ready. I shaved. I drank pineapple and okra juice because someone said it helps you smell fresh below. I did… things. I would never. I tried. I tried to be ready,” I finished, embarrassed and loud and too honest.

Talia’s eyes went wide. For a second I thought she might laugh at me, then she sucked in a breath and her face changed. “You shaved? Pineapple and okra?” She let out a breath and then, suddenly, she didn’t look shocked. She looked sharp, like someone remembering a secret. “You did all that and he didn’t come? But I've never heard of this, I may try it when I'm having my next ^^…. But okay back to present ”

“Yes.” My jaw tightened. I could feel heat on my neck. “Three nights. Four. No one, nothing. I cried. I tried not to. I..”

“You tried too hard,” she said. Her voice had a different tone now, practical and flat. “Instead of crying, you could have come to me.”

“I don’t know you, the fuck,” I said. The words came out harsh. I regretted all of that need stuck in my chest at once.

“I know enough,” she said. “I know how the guards move. I know the gaps in their patrol. I know when the palace breathes. Sneaking in is my job. I can get you close to his chambers with no one seeing.” Her eyes were bright, not mean. “Do you want that or do you want to go on pining?”

I looked at her. I looked at the hallway, at the empty silence beyond the pillar where Queen Jiang’s presence had folded like a fist. I didn't want to but then the tiny rituals I’d made tiny offerings to: the shaving cream that stung my skin.

“Yes,” I said finally. The single word sounded like surrender. Maybe it was surrender. Maybe it was bravery. I didn’t care. I wanted to see him.

Talia glanced around, then reached for my wrist. Her fingers were cool, steady. “Follow me,” she said. She moved like someone used to slipping between sleeping bodies and curtains, shadow on shadow. I kept close, letting her pull me through the corridors. My senses were on fire. I noticed a loose tile, a quiet draft along the skirting board, the guard who shifted his weight every thirty seconds like clockwork. Talia moved without hesitation. She was a map in motion.

We ducked behind a curtain and stayed for a long beat. Talia’s breath was even. She whispered, “You owe me nothing but promise one thing: if anyone comes, stay put. I’ll come back for you or I won’t. Understand?”

My throat closed. “I understand.”

We advanced. A guard’s lantern passed two doors down and Talia flattened against the stone. I pressed my cheek to the wall and let the cold ground steady me. I counted the guard’s steps and matched my heartbeat to it: soft…steady. She slid forward when the lantern shadow moved away. We crossed the marble floor, and sound hugged my ears.

At Kael’s door Talia stopped “You go in. Knock once. Wait. Or Just walk in like you have a right, which you do. If anything goes wrong, run to your chamber and hide. I’ll wait there, or I'll be gone before you back, well just do you okay?.”

“You will?” I asked.

“My lady, let's deal will this first, you got this! Fighting!.” Her voice was a promise with no softness. She was serious in a way that made me trust her.

I opened the door.

The room was darker than the hall, but not empty. My breath hitched. I had rehearsed this what to say, to do, how to stand. But when I saw it, I couldn't hold it.

Then I screamed.