“An apology would be the least you can offer,” Imeria said stiffly as she plucked at the stack of bracelets on her wrists. She did her best to ignore her heart racing. The queen had chosen to be alone with her, knowing full well the danger. However, Imeria couldn’t move too fast, lest she ruin the opportunity. Her best bet was to draw out the conversation. For years, she had dreamed of what she would say when she had a chance to speak to Duja frankly like this. But the decades-old hurt had frozen her tongue. She found herself staring like a fool, struck dumb by the queen’s presence.

“I wish I could offer you more.” Duja looked at her then⁠—truly looked⁠—and Imeria saw genuine pain in her eyes.

“Duja . . .” She hated how her voice suddenly shook. She tore her gaze away, angry tears spilling down her face.

“Please,” the queen said weakly, “I didn’t wish for you to cry.”

“If not my pain, what did you wish for?” she bit back. She felt like a child again, sobbing against the tiled floor.

“I’d hoped⁠—” Duja’s voice hitched. She cleared her throat. “I’d hoped we might put the grief between our families behind us.”

Imeria let out a watery laugh. “And who are you to offer me peace? I’ve respected your desires and kept my distance. It’s your daughters who have subjected my son to humiliation time and time again.”

The queen didn’t try to argue. “I know, Imeria, and that is my failure.” Guilt clouded her features. In a quieter voice, she added, “One of my many failures as a mother.”

Imeria swallowed. In Duja’s words, she heard echoes of her own shame. She understood, intimately, the struggles of parenting a child with a frightening will of their own. Despite her rage, the tension in her shoulders slackened. “No, Duja,” she murmured. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Their eyes met. Years of unsaid questions flooded the air, filling the space beneath the vaulted ceiling. For the first time in two decades, the queen stood within arm’s reach. One touch, and Duja’s mind would be hers to wield. And yet, Imeria, who had come to the palace with a head full of schemes, found herself wavering where she stood.

The queen’s gaze swept across the empty throne room. “The last time we were both here, we were scarcely more than children. We gave little thought to the years ahead. And motherhood was but a distant dream.”

A wave of nostalgia coursed through Imeria’s unwilling body. “Those days are long over. I try not to dwell on them,” she lied.