The queen was back at it.
Twenty-four hours ago, Serena had told this woman to fuck off in a public hallway. Twelve hours ago, this woman had fainted with the theatrical precision of a stage actress hitting her mark.
This woman had presumably woken up, assessed the damage, recalculated her entire strategy, and decided that the optimal play was to pretend none of it happened and arrive fresh with a "wonderful idea" and a smile that could charm the skin off a snake.
It was funny, really. In the way that a building fire is funny when you're watching it from across the street and the building belongs to your employer.
"I was looking for you both," Bellatrix repeated, her smile widening to include Elara in the radius of warmth, because Bellatrix never forgot to include the Beta Luna in her charm offensives.
Damn straight. This Beta Luna was the gatekeeper to the princess and gatekeepers required maintenance.
