“No!” The word rips from my throat before I even realize I’ve leap to my feet. The chair scrapes harshly against the floor as my re locks on my mother. I know that look in her eyes–the one that tells me whatever she’s nning, it isn’t good.

    Her brows arch, feigning surprise. “No? No what, child?”

    “No, Mother.” My voice trembles with irritation. “You are not doing whatever it is that’s brewing in your head.”

    She exhales, the faintest sigh, as if already weary of me. “But I haven’t even

    “”

    “I don’t want to hear it!” I snapped, cutting her off. “You weren’t oing to tell Father because you know he would never approve of whatever reckless idea you’ve concocted. And you think telling he will make it better? That I’ll somehow agree?” My chest heaved, rage scorching through my veins. “I am your daughter, for heaven’s sake.”

    Jack’s hand slides over mine, firm and grounding, but I yank away refusing to soften. My re doesn’t leave her. “I won’t-”

    “Calm down, Maya,” she says firmly, though her voice quivers at the edges. “Getting worked up isn’t good for the baby. Sit. Listen to what I have to say before you disagree.”

    Around me, everyone murmurs in agreement, their eyes urging me to breathe, to let her speak. Even Jack’s gaze pleads with me. My chest rises and falls rapidly, but eventually I exhale through my teeth and drop back into my seat, my body taut and unyielding.

    The Queen lifts her chin, her mask of strength settling back in ce. “I am going to fight Malik.”

    I jolt forward, ready to shout again, but she raises her hand quickly words spilling out in a rush. “Even though I will win, I am not fighting him physically. You don’t need to fear that.”

    “Oh? Then tell me, Your Highness…” Jack drawls, sarcasm sharp in his tone. “How exactly do you defeat a man without fighting him? Becausest I checked, Malik doesn’t surrender to words.”

    Her lips twitch, not quite a smile. “You think Malik cannot be beaten without steel or blood? You are wrong. The very power that sustains him will betray him. The ne is bound to me–my life, my soul, mymand. He may wield it now, but he is nothing more than a thief clutching stolen fire. And thieves always pay.”

    My heart stutters painfully as Mother’s gaze hardens, her voice carrying the kind of finality that makes the room colder. “When the timees, I will speak the words of binding. The ne will turn on him, drink deep of his soul–thread by thread— until every ounce of his power is torn away. Inside its prison, he will be stripped bare, helpless, forced to face me without the shadows he hides behind.”

    Her eyes glitter coldly. “And then, within that void, I will unravelm piece by piece until there is nothing lett but silence. His bname/b, his face, his cruelty–erased.”

    The words steal the air from my lungs. Fury stares wide–eyed, Nora pale at his side.

    “Wait.” Nora’s soft voice cuts in hesitantly. Her fingers twist in herp as she swallows. “Does that mean… Your soul will be drawn into the ne bas /bwell, to defeat him?”

    Mother’s nod is small, but it detonates like thunder in my chest.

    “No,” I whisper, then louder as I spring back up, fire returning to my voice. “No! I don’t know how or why, but I feel it–this is dangerous” My hands tremble as I clutch my stomach, protectively, instinctively. “You’re not telling us everything.”

    Her eyes sollen slightly, her mask slipping enough for me to see the fatigue etched deep into her bones. “Maya, this is the only way Have thought of every other path. This is the one that will eise Malik once and for all without anyone else getting hurt Everything will work out.”

    The words taste like ash in my mouth “Let’s say, Mother, your plus is perfect. Then how, exactly, are we supposed to draw out bhis /bsoul?”

    Her answeres too easily, too rehearsed “That will be simple we use bait something Malik cannot resist. Once he appears

    13

    before me, I recite the ritual. His soul and mine will be drawn into the ne. Inside, I will finish him. And when I do–Jack, thank the Moon Goddess you are royal blood now and not you, Kali who carry life inside you—you will take the ne and destroy it immediately. That will be the end of Malik, once and for all.”