When Sarisa woke, the first thing she knew was pain.
It wasn't sharp, not exactly. It was a dull, heavy pounding behind her eyes, the kind that made the light feel cruel and her own breathing sound too loud in her skull.
She lay still for a second, eyes closed, trying to collect the loose pieces of herself before memory came flooding back too fast.
Lara.
The queen.
The sweet, wrong smell of that powder.
Sarisa's eyes flew open.
Her room swam into focus in pieces. Pale morning light spilling through the curtains. Her own canopy overhead.
The familiar carved posts of her bed. And, pressed up against her on either side like two determined little bodyguards of their own, Aliyah and Kaelith, both asleep and boneless with the dead weight only children managed.
Sarisa froze.
Aliyah's hair was in her mouth. Kaelith had one foot thrown over Sarisa's leg like she'd conquered it in her sleep. Both girls were warm and real and safe, which was a relief so immediate it hurt.
Then the memory landed properly and Sarisa thought, with perfect clarity:
Fuck.
A soft voice from the armchair by the window said, "Well, that's one way to wake up."
Sarisa turned too fast, regretted it immediately, and found Elysia watching her over the rim of a teacup. She looked infuriatingly composed, as always, though the shadows beneath her eyes suggested she'd had no more sleep than anyone else.
The relief that hit Sarisa at the sight of her almost made her dizzy. "Elysia."
Elysia set the cup down. "Good. I was worried you'd wake up swinging."
Sarisa pushed herself upright slowly, trying not to jostle the girls. Her head throbbed. "What happened?"
Elysia's expression tightened. "What happened is that your mother decided subtle poisoning was an acceptable parenting strategy."
Sarisa shut her eyes for one heartbeat. "Lara."
Elysia nodded once. "Yes. I know. Right now Malvoria is furious that they put her big sister in a dungeon."
Sarisa's stomach dropped.
"Dungeon," she repeated, the word coming out flat and cold.
Elysia spread one hand. "I'm not going to insult you by pretending otherwise. Yes. They took her there. But before you start planning arson, hear me out."
Sarisa pulled Aliyah's small hand carefully off her waist and shifted enough to sit upright without waking either child. Her hands were shaking. "Is she hurt?"
Elysia hesitated just long enough to make Sarisa's chest tighten.
"She fought," Elysia said finally. "Even half-conscious. Apparently three guards are nursing bruised ribs and one is refusing to go back on duty until someone assures him Lara is fully chained or fully dead."
Sarisa swallowed hard. That sounded exactly like Lara.
"She was trying to get to you," Elysia added more quietly. "They tried to separate you. She did not take that well."
A fierce, miserable warmth flared in Sarisa's chest. "Of course she didn't."
"For what it's worth," Elysia said, "no one who saw it thinks she attacked you. Quite the opposite."
Sarisa pressed the heel of her hand to her temple. "Do they know why she hit Vaelen?"
Elysia gave a short, humorless laugh. "No. And neither do I. Vaelen says almost nothing except that Lara attacked him without cause. The queen is treating it like a straightforward act of violence." Her mouth tightened. "Which means it absolutely was not."
Sarisa looked up sharply.
Elysia held her gaze. "Lara does many idiotic things, but random is not one of them. If she hit him that hard, he said something. Or did something. Or your mother did something before that corridor even happened."
That matched what Sarisa already feared. The queen had been too prepared. Too calm. Too ready to turn one blow into a public lesson.
Sarisa looked down at the two sleeping girls between and against her, their little faces peaceful, ignorant of the damage adults had done while they slept. "Aliyah saw enough already."
"I know."
For a moment neither of them spoke. The room felt suspended, as if the whole palace were holding its breath around this bed.
At last Sarisa asked, "Where is Malvoria?"
Elysia smiled, and there was absolutely nothing kind in it. "Talking to your mother."
Sarisa blinked. "That's it?"
Elysia's smile widened. "With words, yes. For now. But let's be honest, it would be profoundly foolish to get on the bad side of the Demon Queen when her big sister has been dragged into a dungeon over a prince's bruised ego."
Despite everything, Sarisa let out a weak breath that might have been a laugh.
"Is Veylira here too?" she asked.
"On her way. Raveth as well, I think." Elysia leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. "Your mother has achieved the rare diplomatic feat of offending your daughter's other entire side of the family in one evening."
Sarisa rubbed at her forehead. "Good."
Elysia lifted a brow. "That sounded almost joyful."
"It was."
That earned a real smile.
The girls stirred but didn't wake. Aliyah mumbled something about cookies and then buried her face deeper into Sarisa's arm. Kaelith twitched once and went still again.
Sarisa stared at them and felt the rage come back, quieter now, colder. "She drugged us," she said. "In front of everyone."
"Yes."
"She had guards lay hands on me."
"Yes."
"She put Lara in chains."
"Yes."
The word fell each time like another stone.
Sarisa looked at Elysia. "I'm going to kill her."
Elysia's expression did not change, which was probably wise. "Maybe. Eventually. But not before breakfast."
Sarisa huffed an unwilling sound.
Elysia leaned forward, elbows on her knees. Her voice softened. "Listen to me. I know what you're thinking. You're going to get out of bed, go down there, kick in whatever door they put between you and Lara, and make this worse in at least six spectacular ways."
Sarisa opened her mouth.
Elysia pointed at her. "Do not lie to me. I know your face."
Sarisa shut her mouth.
"Malvoria is handling the first wave," Elysia said. "Let her. She is terrifying when she's calm and apocalyptic when she isn't. Right now she is both."
A pause.
"And Lara?" Sarisa asked, softer now, because that was the part under everything else. The only part that really mattered.
Elysia's own expression gentled. "Still unconscious, last I heard. Or close to it. The sedative hit her harder because she kept fighting it. But she's alive."
Sarisa closed her eyes. Relief nearly made her slump.
"Good," she whispered.
Elysia stood and came to the bedside, setting a hand on Sarisa's shoulder. "Just let Malvoria take care of it for now. Please. Don't do anything reckless."
Sarisa looked up at her.
Under any other circumstances, that word might have amused her. Reckless. As if the palace had not just crossed every line it claimed to defend. As if patience were still some noble thing and not just another form of surrender.
But Elysia's hand was warm. Her voice was steady. And the children still slept against Sarisa, trusting her to be the safe place in the room.
So Sarisa breathed once, twice, and nodded.
"For now," she said.
Elysia squeezed her shoulder. "For now," she agreed.