Ruby stopped.

She had almost told the cook that the herbs were meant to prevent a pregnancy, not encourage one. She drew a slow breath and quickly smoothed her expression back into something neutral.

Then, she reached into her robe and produced a different container. This one was smaller.

"I mean, it is too late for the old herbs to be effective," Ruby said, her voice dropping back to its normal tone.

She handed the container to Ishita. "This one is more potent. It is a special blend. You must make sure you use it in the queen’s meal. Every single day. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Ishita said carefully. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Give me the other one back."

Ishita nodded and scurried to the pantry.

In reality, Ruby had prepared a potent herb designed to induce a miscarriage. It was a plant often used in small doses to boost appetite, but when consumed daily in high concentrations, it became a silent poison to an unborn child.

The most dangerous part was that it left no trace in the body; no doctor would ever find it unless the victim admitted to eating it. So, when that runt miscarries, no one would point fingers at her.

Ishita returned and gave the other bottle to Ruby, who took it and left the kitchen without another word.

Ishita stood at the counter for a long moment after the sound of her footsteps faded, wondering what Ruby had meant by saying it was ’too late’ to use the old herb.

She thought about the way Ruby’s face had gone when she admitted she hadn’t used the first batch. That particular shade of red, the flatness in her voice that was angrier than shouting, would have been.

She turned the new container over in her hands, looking at it. She didn’t know herbs. She had never studied them and could not tell one dried leaf from another by sight or smell.

Ruby had told her the first batch was a fertility supplement, also good for general health. She had believed that easily enough because Ruby had said it simply, and Ishita had not thought to question it.

But that look on her face tonight.

Ishita tucked the container into her apron pocket and began switching off the kitchen lights. She would go to the market in the morning.

Her late mother had a friend. An old woman who lived near the eastern market and had spent her whole life working with plants and remedies, grinding and measuring and knowing things about leaves and roots that most people never thought to ask.

Ishita had visited her twice in the past year, once for a tonic for her own aching joints and once to bring her a birthday gift.

She would go tomorrow morning, early, before the household woke properly. She would take the container and ask the woman to tell her what was in it. Just to be certain. Just to confirm that it was what Ruby had said it was.

She owed the Queen that much before she put anything in her food.

***

Meanwhile, in the master bedroom, Derek jolted awake from a dark nightmare. He sat up, his chest heaving as he looked around the room.

The room was still dark, the only light coming from the glow of the moon outside the window. He realised he was hugging the oversized teddy bear to his chest, and shoved it across the room with a grunt of disgust.

He reached out toward the other side of the bed, searching for Kira, but his hand met only cold sheets. He frowned, his heart beginning to race for a different reason.

"Kira?" he whispered.

An inexplicable sadness tugged at his chest when no one answered him. Had she not slept here at all?

He got out of bed and checked the ensuite bathroom, but it was empty. He threw on a robe and hurried downstairs, his bare feet silent on the cold floors.

He went down to the kitchen, hoping to find her getting a glass of water, but the room was dark and silent, and the air still smelled faintly of lavender cleaning spray.

His panic began to rise. He hurried towards the bedroom he had assigned to Ishita.

Ever since he had begun to suspect Kira might be pregnant, he wanted the cook close by in case Kira had any late-night cravings or felt ill.

He knocked on Ishita’s door, and she opened it, sleepy-eyed and alarmed.

"The Queen," he said, his voice tight. "Have you seen her?"

Ishita rubbed her eyes, looking confused. "She has not come down for anything, Your Grace. I finished tidying the kitchen not long ago."

Derek sent her back to sleep, his panic now reaching a fever pitch. He went back upstairs, searching every guest room and every study, but she was nowhere to be found.

He picked up his phone to call Connor, unable to reach him through the mind-link because Connor had shut down his link.

"The Queen has not called me for anything, Your Grace," Connor reported, his voice sounding alert and worried. "Shall I call the guards?"

Derek was a hair’s breadth away from waking the entire estate and organising a full search party when he went downstairs again and entered the lounge.

There, curled up on a velvet sofa with a small throw blanket pulled up to her chin, was Kira. She was fast asleep, her face finally looking peaceful and beautiful.

Relief flooded through Derek so strongly that it almost weakened his knees. She was safe. But right behind the relief came a sharp flash of anger.

She had left their bed to sleep on this uncomfortable couch because she was angry with him.

Derek stood in the doorway staring at her for a while.

"You should have just told me to leave the room for you, you stubborn woman," he muttered under his breath. "I would have left."

He crossed the room and crouched beside her. He slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back and lifted her, and she stirred just enough to make a small sound and turn her face toward his shoulder without waking.

He carried her up the stairs carefully, her familiar jasmine scent wrapping around him, and laid her down on her side of the bed, drawing the covers up over her.

He sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her cheek with his thumb, and watching her peaceful face.

"What am I going to do with you, Kira?" he muttered.

Then, he picked up the abandoned teddy bear, set it on the floor, and got back into bed.