"Anyone can be claimed by obsession if they devote themselves to a passion for long enough," Dain said with a dangerous rumble in his voice. "As to the latter, an attack such as this wouldn't mandate my mother's absence. Surely there is something else yet to strike us." He tugged me up against his chest with a sigh, resting his chin on my head. "While I'm Regent, my mother is only a citizen, and she can act against the Court if she so chooses. If the Antlered Palace falls, nothing protects me any longer from a direct attack. Perhaps only the execution is hasty, and she has been planning this since I destroyed Phazikai."

"Welp. I sure hate that," I said, sparking a laugh from Alluin.

"Yes, that seems like a reasonable response," he said. He swung his legs up onto the coffee table, avoiding the pillar of antlers, which was, remarkably, still standing. "We don't have enough information to predict anything, but the thought is troubling enough that I'll get the First Army prepared to move on a moment's notice. If something's about to descend on us, it would be better not to be caught flat-footed, and if nothing happens it will be a nice drill for the army."

"You have my appreciation, General Xilsatra," Dain said in a serious voice.

"As you have defended me, so I shall defend you," Alluin replied, with a light in his eyes I recognized as loyalty.

I looked at Alluin for a long moment, then up at my Dain, pride blooming in my chest. "You're going to be a good King," I said softly, without thinking about it.

Dain's ears shifted as he looked down at me. He pressed a soft kiss to my temple, then rested his forehead against mine. "You've given me the space to stand," he answered. "I want my Queen to be proud of me."

Even with Alluin watching, I put my hand on his neck, stroking my finger along his jaw. "Four days til the full moon," I said. I couldn't be his Queen someday if we didn't find our balance together. "Are you ready?"

A tremor ran through him, his wing-hand tightening on my leg.

"Does she know?" Alluin asked, his voice quiet.

"No," Dain answered, his voice thick. "I can't bring myself to say it."

I kept touching him, feeling him tremble with tension beneath me. It was all coming to a head: his secrets, the Queen's hatred, our love. I wondered what would win, in the end.

"Would you like me to, my prince?" Alluin's voice was very gentle, a kindness in his words that stretched far beyond simple friendship.

Loyalty, and love. Zhiolas loved Dain, too, I knew; loved him like family, in a way that couldn't be shattered. The three of us held Dain between us, protecting our prince, and giving him the space to stand. We always would, I thought, until the days we died.