A few hours later, chaos had become the official language of both realms.
The Celestian queen was in the demon realm dungeon.
That sentence alone was enough to make half the demon court delighted, half the Celestian court hysterical, and every advisor within three kingdoms start drinking before sunset.
Messages had been flying between realms since the border hall collapsed into political warfare. Some Celestian nobles demanded an immediate emergency council.
Others insisted the queen had to be tried before the High Court. A few loyalists screamed about demon interference, which was laughable considering the queen's personal signature had been projected in front of half the witnesses like a confession written in expensive ink.
And then there was the largest problem.
There was no ruler.
Not properly.
The queen had been chained, exposed, and imprisoned. Sarisa was the heir, yes, but her coronation was not supposed to happen yet.
She had been meant to take the throne in a few months after formal preparation, ritual confirmation, council alignment, and a hundred other ceremonial annoyances designed to make power look tidy.
Now power had been thrown across the floor like broken glass.
And Sarisa was pacing hard enough to carve a path through Malvoria's private meeting room carpet.
"I am not ready," she said for the third time in two minutes.
Lara stood near the window, arms crossed, watching her with the careful patience of someone who understood that stopping Sarisa too soon would only make the storm louder.
Sarisa turned sharply, silver hair whipping over one shoulder. "No. Actually, that is not even strong enough. I am catastrophically not ready."
Malvoria, sitting at the table with a glass of wine, lifted one finger. "Catastrophically is a strong word."
Sarisa pointed at her. "Do not be funny right now."
Malvoria lowered her finger. "Understood."
Elysia, seated beside Malvoria, gave her wife a look that said miracle, you behaved for once. Malvoria looked very proud of herself.
Sarisa resumed pacing.
The meeting room was too warm, too full, too tense.
Documents were spread across the table, plans forming and reforming as messengers came in and out. Veylira was already drafting diplomatic language sharp enough to draw blood politely.
Raveth was standing by the door like she hoped someone would start a fight just to improve the evening.
Lara had not moved in several minutes.
Her gaze stayed fixed on Sarisa.
Sarisa knew because she could feel it, through the bond and over her skin. Lara's concern. Lara's restraint. Lara's desire to help and her knowledge that Sarisa did not yet know how to be helped.
"I was supposed to have time," Sarisa said, voice rising again.
"Months. I was supposed to have months. There were supposed to be advisors, political meetings, religious confirmations, succession rituals, legal reviews, council votes. I was supposed to learn the shape of the throne before being thrown onto it."
"You know the shape," Raveth said dryly. "Uncomfortable."
Veylira sighed. "Raveth."
"What? Thrones are terrible chairs."
Sarisa nearly laughed. Nearly. Then panic swallowed the sound before it could escape.
"And arresting everyone," she continued, pressing both hands briefly to her temples.
"Gods. Everyone who participated. Caldris. Maelia. Researchers. Transport officers. Priests. Guards. Whoever funded the lower labs. Whoever carried samples. Whoever signed false papers. Whoever touched Neris. Whoever helped plan…" Her voice caught for half a breath.
She forced herself through it. "The heir project."
Lara's entire body tightened.
Sarisa saw it.
So did everyone else.
The room went colder.
Lara's voice came low. "We arrest them."
"That is not a plan, Lara."
"It is the beginning of one."
Sarisa stopped pacing just long enough to stare at her. "And who gives the order? Me? Am I queen now? Not crowned. Not confirmed. Not prepared. Half the Celestian nobles might support me, and the other half might call me a demon puppet because I am mated to you."
Lara's jaw flexed.
Sarisa hated herself the second she said it.
Not because it was false. Because it hurt.
She crossed her arms tightly, as if she could keep herself from spilling apart. "And are Celestians going to think their queen betrayed them? Or are they going to think demons framed her? Or that I betrayed my own mother? Or that I was corrupted? Or seduced? Or controlled?"
Malvoria opened her mouth.
Elysia touched her wrist gently.
Malvoria closed it again.
Good. Sarisa did not need sharp humor. Not yet. She needed the ground to stop moving beneath her feet.
"It is too much," Sarisa whispered.
That was when Lara moved.
She crossed the room in a few strides, stepped directly into Sarisa's path, and caught her by the shoulders.
Sarisa stopped because Lara made stopping feel possible.
"Calm down," Lara said softly. "I'm going to help. But first, breathe."
Sarisa stared at her.
"I am breathing."
"No," Lara said. "You're arguing with air and losing."
A tiny, broken laugh slipped out of Sarisa despite everything.
Lara's thumbs moved slowly against her shoulders. "There you are."
Sarisa wanted to glare. Instead, she leaned forward until her forehead touched Lara's chest.
"I can't do this."
"Yes, you can."
"You always say that."
"Because it keeps being true."
Sarisa's fingers curled into Lara's shirt. "I don't know how to be queen tomorrow."
"Then don't be queen tomorrow."
Sarisa pulled back just enough to look at her. "What?"
Lara's expression was steady now, no teasing, no fire, only certainty. "Be Sarisa tomorrow. Be the woman who stood in that hall and chained her own mother because it had to be done. Be Aliyah's mother. Be Neris's protector. Be the heir who refuses to let old rot keep wearing a crown."
The words struck deep.
Sarisa swallowed.
Lara continued, "You don't need to become every version of queen in one night. You need an emergency regency council. You need witnesses. You need Veylira terrifying people with paperwork. You need Malvoria threatening the ones who deserve it. You need Elysia making everyone feel guilty for being stupid. You need Raveth standing in corners looking like consequences."
Raveth lifted her glass slightly. "Finally, a role that respects my talents."
Sarisa breathed out through her nose, almost smiling.
Lara's hand rose to touch her cheek. "And you need me."
Sarisa's eyes softened.
"That one," she said, voice rough, "I already knew."
Lara smiled faintly. "Good."
Elysia finally spoke, gentle and precise. "Lara is right. You do not take the full crown tonight. The Celestian realm needs continuity, but it also needs investigation. We announce an emergency provisional council with you as acting sovereign until the formal coronation can proceed."
Veylira nodded. "That prevents loyalists from claiming the throne is empty. It also avoids rushing ritual legitimacy before the court stabilizes."
Malvoria leaned back, finally allowed to be useful. "And I will publicly recognize you as acting sovereign. The human envoys will do the same if Elysia smiles at them politely enough."
Elysia glanced at her. "I do more than smile."
"Yes, darling. You devastate with diplomacy."
Sarisa dragged in another breath.
The pieces were not fixed, but they existed. That helped.
"And the arrests?" she asked.
Raveth smiled. "We already have lists."
That was both comforting and terrifying.
Veylira tapped one stack of papers. "We arrest the main participants first. Quietly. No mass panic. Secure the archives. Freeze accounts tied to the project. Remove lab-linked officials from office. Then public trials."
Sarisa nodded slowly.
Her breathing steadied.
Lara kept one hand at her waist, grounding her without making it obvious.
Sarisa looked around the room, at the impossible collection of people now standing between her and collapse. Demons. Royals. Warriors. Mothers. Lovers. Family, somehow.
The old world had cracked.
But she was not standing alone in the ruins.
"Okay," Sarisa said at last.
Malvoria raised a brow. "Okay?"
Sarisa straightened, still pale, still shaken, but with something firmer beginning to return to her spine.
"Emergency provisional council. Arrests begin tonight. Public statement by morning. Formal trial process announced after evidence is secured."
Lara's mouth curved.
Sarisa looked at her. "And you."
"Me?"
"You stay beside me."
Lara's answer came without hesitation.
"Always."