Sarisa returned to the Celestian castle with the taste of dungeon air still clinging to her throat.
The teleportation circle opened in the private receiving chamber, the one now guarded by both Celestian soldiers and demon ward-mages, because apparently her life had become so politically unstable that even doorways required diplomacy.
Silver light faded around her feet. For one breath, she stood still, letting the familiar white walls settle into shape.
Then Lara was there.
She crossed the room before Sarisa could speak, fast enough that one of the Celestian guards flinched and one of the demon guards wisely pretended not to notice.
Lara caught Sarisa by the waist, pulled her close, and held her like she had been waiting with every muscle locked since Sarisa left.
Sarisa melted into her.
For a moment, there was no castle. No trial. No mother in a dungeon. Only Lara's arms, Lara's warmth, Lara's breath against her hair.
"You're back," Lara murmured.
Sarisa closed her eyes. "I said I would be."
"I know." Lara's voice was rough. "I still hated every second."
Sarisa lifted her head. Lara's face was tight with worry, eyes searching hers for damage. Sarisa could feel it through the bond too, that fierce scan of emotion, the question Lara did not want to ask because asking might make the answer real.
"She tried," Sarisa said quietly.
Lara's jaw clenched. "To hurt you?"
"To be herself."
Lara made a low sound.
Sarisa touched her cheek before the fire could reach her eyes. "She failed."
That changed something.
Lara's gaze softened, and then she kissed her.
It was not polite.
It was not careful.
It was the kind of kiss that happened when fear finally found its way out through hunger and relief. Sarisa answered it immediately, fingers curling into Lara's coat, pulling her closer as if the dungeon's cold could be burned away by contact alone.
Lara's hand slid to the back of her neck, thumb brushing just below the mating mark, and the bond flared warm between them.
Sarisa forgot where they were for exactly three beautiful seconds.
Then someone cleared her throat.
Loudly.
"Damn it," Malvoria said. "We are still here."
Lara did not pull away immediately.
In fact, she kissed Sarisa once more, smaller but pointed, before turning her head with the expression of a woman who had been gravely interrupted during sacred business.
"Shut up," Lara said. "We are having a moment."
Malvoria stared at her. "You have been having a moment for three days."
"Incorrect. We have been having several moments."
Raveth, leaning against the wall near the evidence table, lifted one hand. "As a witness, I can confirm there are too many moments."
Elysia sat at the table, composed but visibly fighting a smile. Veylira stood beside the fireplace, serene as ever, though the glimmer in her eyes betrayed amusement.
Several documents lay spread out before them, including trial notes, sentencing precedents, and a list titled Possible Legal Outcomes for Former Queen Marena.
Sarisa stared at it.
The warmth from Lara's kiss faded slightly.
"Already?" she asked.
Malvoria's expression softened by a fraction. "We did not want to start without you."
Raveth tilted her head. "We did discuss a few options."
Elysia sighed. "Raveth suggested nothing useful."
"I suggested several useful things."
"You suggested setting the former queen on fire."
Raveth looked offended. "Slowly. There was nuance."
Lara's mouth twitched.
Sarisa stared at Raveth for one long second, then, despite everything, laughed.
It came out sharper than expected, almost startled out of her. Everyone looked at her, and she shook her head, pressing two fingers against her brow.
"I am sorry," she said. "It is not funny."
"It is a little funny," Malvoria said.
"It is not," Elysia corrected.
"It is darkly funny."
"Malvoria."
"What? The woman wanted to create obedient heirs through forbidden blood magic. I am allowed one inappropriate comment per crime."
"One per crime?" Lara muttered. "We'll be here for years."
Sarisa laughed again, quieter this time, and leaned into Lara's side. The absurdity helped. Gods, it helped. Her mother had tried to rip her open with words in that dungeon.
She had called Neris a made thing. She had spoken of strength and sacrifice and acted like cruelty was simply leadership wearing a crown.
Now Sarisa was in a room where Raveth wanted to burn her slowly, Malvoria was negotiating joke allowances, and Lara still had one arm around Sarisa's waist like releasing her was not a legal option.
It was ridiculous.
It was family.
Veylira tapped the table once. "As entertaining as Raveth's barbaric enthusiasm is, we do need to decide what outcome Sarisa wishes to pursue during the trial."
Sarisa looked at the papers.
"Exile," she said slowly, "feels too kind."
No one disagreed.
That silence said enough.
Lara's hand tightened at her waist. "Prison for life."
Malvoria tilted her head. "Possible. But where? Celestian prison would leave room for loyalists. Demon dungeon would cause political complaints, although those complaints would amuse me."
Elysia folded her hands. "Execution will divide the realm."
Raveth lifted a finger. "Not if we make it clear she deserves it."
"Raveth."
"What? She does."
Sarisa swallowed.
The word execution sat heavily in the air. She hated her mother. She did. Maybe not in the simple way stories made daughters hate wicked queens, but in a tangled, poisoned, bleeding way.
She hated what Marena had done. Hated that the woman had looked her in the eye and still believed herself right. Hated that some small child-part of Sarisa had wanted, even in that dungeon, one flicker of remorse.
But death?
Could Sarisa order that?
Could she live with it?
Lara seemed to sense the twist in her thoughts. She turned Sarisa slightly toward her. "You don't have to decide tonight."
Sarisa looked at her.
"I do," Sarisa whispered. "At least I need to know what I want before everyone else tells me what I should want."
That earned a quiet nod from Veylira.
"A fair instinct," Veylira said. "Then begin with what you do not want."
Sarisa breathed in.
"I do not want her free."
"Good," Malvoria said.
"I do not want her in a place where loyalists can reach her."
"Better," Raveth said.
"I do not want her to become a martyr."
Elysia nodded. "Important."
Sarisa looked down at the documents, then at her own hands. "And I do not want her to have silence."
The room stilled.
Lara's eyes sharpened. "What do you mean?"
Sarisa lifted her head. "If she dies quickly, if she vanishes into exile, if she is locked somewhere no one speaks of her, then people will make stories. They will say she was framed. That demons took her. That I was cruel. That she was strict but necessary." Her voice hardened.
"No. I want her crimes taught. Named. Recorded. I want every laboratory victim acknowledged. I want Neris protected, not displayed, but never erased. I want the realm to know what she did and why it must never happen again."
Malvoria leaned back, eyes bright with approval. "Public disgrace, permanent imprisonment, historical record."
Veylira nodded. "A living condemnation."
Raveth sighed. "Less fun than fire."
"More useful," Elysia said.
"Useful is so often boring."
Lara looked at Sarisa, something fierce and tender moving across her face. "You want her to live with it."
Sarisa's throat tightened.
"Yes," she said. "I want her to live long enough to understand that her name will no longer inspire fear. Only warning."
Malvoria smiled slowly.
"Oh," she said. "That is cruel."
Sarisa looked at her. "Is it?"
"Yes," Raveth said, grinning. "Beautifully."
Elysia's expression softened. "It is justice shaped by memory."
Lara kissed Sarisa's temple. "And it is yours."
Sarisa closed her eyes for one moment.
Her mother had once told her that mercy was weakness when given to enemies.
Sarisa understood now that mercy and cruelty were not opposites. Sometimes the cruelest thing was not death.
Author's Note:
So, what do you think of Sarisa's decision for the queen? Should we do something more cruel ?
Also, I posted a new story called I Woke Up Married to the Cold Elf Princess, and it's about Kaelith. If you have time, please give it a look and tell me what you think so far. I'm curious to know if the beginning feels interesting, funny, and strong enough for Kaelith's adult chaos era.