Derpy’s rabbit ears didn’t vanish all at once.

  They thinned.

  Like smoke being pulled back into skin.

  The reddish-black faded first, then the shape itself—until only his normal head remained, slack against the floor, music still trapped in his ears like a locked door.

  Riven lay across him, limp, having taken the shock.

  Mk3 and Mk4 held position like a barricade that had finished its job.

  Lenora stood over them, chest tight, Pyro’s wind still whispering under her feet like it wanted to keep running.

  Ace’s hammer was down, but her stance was still solid .

  And then—

  Vespera saw it.

  Not through rumor.

  Not through politics.

  Through her own eyes.

  She was mid-tour—minister talking, guards escorting—when the corridor opened into the aftermath.

  A boy on the ground.

  Wind residue still curling in the air.

  Her sister Ace squared up like she’d been forced to fight.

  Lenora close enough to touch him.

  Vespera’s blood went cold.

  Then it went hot.

  She dashed forward before the minister could finish a sentence.

  Before the guards could decide whether to stop her.

  She dropped to Derpy’s side and pulled him into her arms like she could keep the world from taking him again.

  Her gaze snapped up to Ace.

  To Lenora.

  Rage filled her so fast it felt like drowning.

  Her hands transformed first—fingers lengthening into claws.

  Her boots shredded as her feet shifted—dragon talons scraping stone.

  A growl crawled out of her chest.

  Black flame tried to leak from her mouth, choking on her teeth.

  “Hey!!!!,” Vespera hissed.

  Her eyes were bright with something old and violent.

  “You better have a god damn good explanation for why you did what you did.”

  Lenora didn’t flinch.

  She stepped in and wrapped her arms around Vespera like she was hugging a storm.

  “Omg,” Lenora breathed, tight and relieved. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

  The contact snapped Vespera sideways.

  Not calm.

  But present.

  The black flame stuttered.

  Her claws trembled.

  Lenora didn’t let go.

  “Do you remember Queen Seraphine?” Lenora asked quickly, voice low. “She sent ace with Lewd myself. We came with Ace. We’ve been trying to keep him alive in a place that keeps turning into a cage.”

  Vespera’s breath hitched.

  Her claws didn’t retract yet.

  But her eyes stopped hunting for a throat.

  Time passed in a tight, ugly knot.

  An hour of Lenora explaining—fast, blunt, no poetry.

  Derpy’s spiral.

  The earplugs.

  The chase.

  The window.

  Riven taking the shock.

  Ace tackling to stop him.

  Vaeloria trying to physically anchor him with magic bracing and getting knocked out for it.

  By the time Lenora finished, the room had filled.

  Amy arrived first, hat tipped low, expression sharp.

  Lyn followed, jaw clenched like she was already tired of everyone.

  Lieam came in behind them, looking like she hated the air.

  Lewd stood off to the side with her arms folded, face set in a stubborn line that didn’t quite hide the hurt.

  Vaeloria was there too—awake again, composed again, but with something brittle behind her eyes.

  Derpy still hadn’t woken.

  Riven still hadn’t moved.

  Vaeloria’s gaze swept the scene, then snapped to her guards.

  “Move Derpy to my personal chambers,” she ordered.

  Lenora, Lewd, and Vespera spoke at the same time.

  “No.”

  Vaeloria’s eyes narrowed.

  Lenora’s voice stayed controlled.

  “I want to talk to him,” she said. “When he wakes up.”

  Lewd’s chin lifted.

  “I want to talk to him,” she echoed, harsher. “That’s all.”

  Vespera’s arms tightened around Derpy like she’d bite someone if they tried to take him.

  Vaeloria’s fingers snapped.

  Guards circled Vespera.

  Steel and rune-light.

  A ring of polite threat.

  “You are uninvited,” Vaeloria said, voice smooth. “Dragon girl.”

  Vaeloria lifted her staff and pointed it at Vespera like a verdict.

  Ace stepped forward immediately.

  “That is my eldest sister,” Ace said. “And she’s in contract with Derpy.”

  Vaeloria’s eyes flicked—measuring.

  Vespera’s claws finally receded.

  Her feet shifted back to normal.

  She was barefoot now, boots destroyed by rage.

  The minister and the escort guards finally caught up, breathless and alarmed.

  The minister reached for Vespera’s elbow like he could steer her back into diplomacy.

  “Come on, miss,” he said, strained. “It’s time to continue this tour.”

  Vaeloria’s gaze didn’t leave Vespera.

  “No,” Vaeloria said.

  The minister froze.

  Vaeloria’s voice stayed calm.

  “She can stay.”

  A beat.

  “But she has to wear a collar,” Vaeloria added. “I don’t like loose cannons here.”

  Amy and Lyn both threw their hands up at the same time—staring at Derpy and Riven like the whole situation was cursed.

  “This is insane,” Lyn screamed at the top of her lungs as she stormed off.

  Amy cursed up a storm, following her, muttering like she wanted to punch a wall and then apologize to the wall.

  Vespera looked at Vaeloria, eyes flat now—danger compressed.

  “If you hurt him,” Vespera said, voice low, “I will burn this kingdom down to the ground.”

  Then she took the collar.

  Put it on.

  Like a promise she didn’t intend to keep peacefully.

  Vaeloria’s mouth curved, not amused.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Her gaze snapped to the guards.

  “Take them,” she ordered. “Mk3. Mk4. The doll Riven. Put them all in containment cells until I figure out why Derpy decided to run.”

  Pink ice petals formed in the air around Vaeloria’s hand—beautiful, sharp, furious.

  There was no one to stop her.

  Her husband was gone.

  The War Council was gone.

  The War Office was gone.

  She had full control of the kingdoms now—thanks to Derpy’s interference in the Empire’s affairs.

  And she looked like she hated that she needed him anyway.

  Vaeloria turned and walked away.

  Leaving Lenora, Lewd, and Vespera behind with the unconscious boy they weren’t allowed to keep.

  Silence settled wrong.

  Lewd’s arms stayed folded.

  Her ears were pinned.

  Her eyes didn’t lift.

  Lenora tried anyway.

  “Lewd,” Lenora said carefully. “Can we talk?”

  “No,” Lewd snapped.

  Then her voice tightened, smaller than she wanted it to be.

  “I don’t want to talk. I want to talk with Derpy.”

  She looked away like she was afraid Vespera, Ace, and Lenora would laugh at her for caring too much.

  Vespera’s expression softened.

  Not pity.

  Just understanding.

  “It’s ok,” Vespera said, gentle. “You don’t have to talk to us now.”

  She nodded toward the corridor Vaeloria had vanished down.

  “But when you’re ready to talk… we will be here.”

  Lewd didn’t answer.

  But she didn’t leave.

  The inn was too clean.

  Too controlled.

  Queen Seraphine stood like she owned the air.

  Vemi and Vambasta were readying to leave.

  Hina hovered close—Seraphine’s daughter, eyes sharp, learning.

  Seraphine’s fan snapped open with a soft, cruel sound.

  “I hope you follow my orders to a T,” Seraphine said lightly.

  Her gaze cut to both of them.

  “You serve under me until my until my dragon Queen—codename—gets back from visiting her family in the Dragon Valley.”

  Vambasta smashed her fists together and scoffed.

  “It’s fine,” she said. “How hard can a little protection be?”

  Vemi looked worried.

  “Sis,” Vemi murmured, “don’t overdo it.”

  Seraphine flicked her fan once, satisfied.

  “Orcial Vash,” she called.

  A figure stepped out of the shadows like the shadows had been holding him in reserve.

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “Open it,” Seraphine said.

  A portal bloomed.

  Cold light. Clean edges.

  They stepped through.

  And the chapter ended with the sense of two storms moving toward the same place—one wearing manners, one wearing a collar.