I sat in my room, the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders. The papers and plans for my coronation were scattered around me, but my mind was elsewhere. I needed to talk to the demon queens about Riley's partial liberation. I couldn't become queen without my sister by my side. The thought of her suffering in that cell was unbearable.
As I prepared myself, my mother burst into the room. Her eyes were cold, filled with the same disdain that had colored our relationship since my father's arrest. She was never a warm person, but recent events had hardened her even more.
"What are you doing, Lydia?" she demanded, her voice sharp and unforgiving.
"I'm preparing to go to the demon castle," I replied, trying to keep my tone neutral. "I need to talk to the demon queens about Riley."
