The hardest part of the meeting was done. The decree had held, the arguments about witchcraft hadn't broken into open shouting, and Ann felt...if not victorious...at least steady on her feet. That was something. The rest of the business on the table was almost a relief by comparison, practical work instead of endless posturing.
Sera was the first to speak again, voice calm but insistent. "Your decree is generous, Your Majesty. But generous words don't build roofs. Where exactly are you putting them all?"
Ann exhaled, grateful for a problem she could actually solve fairly easily..
"We're pulling the housing schedule forward. The south orchard goes first. I'm hoping to have modular units installed within a week, and more permanent builds when we receive enough materials to catch up with demand. The old cavalry grounds can take tents for now, but I don't want people on there for longer than three nights or we'll wreck the turf. The western meadow stays reserved solely for livestock. I won't have children sleeping in fields while their supper walks past them."
Kaito gave a grunt of approval. "I'll loan my mill foreman. He gets things done before half the village has even heard about it."
Maeve chuckled low in Ann's head.
"Efficient and sneaky? I like the sound of him…"
"The south orchard is..." Maren said slowly as she pinched her lips together in disapproval.
"Sentimental," Ann said flatly. "I know. My mother loved the blossoms. But she loved her people more. The orchard can grow again...families can't."
For a moment, something like respect flashed across Maren's face, then vanished as quickly as it came.
But Harrow wasn't done. His gaze sharpened, calculating. "Even if we humor this housing plan, we need to talk optics. If word spreads that the palace is courting witches…"
"We're not," Ann said, firm but even. "We're looking for information. That's the line if anyone asks. Off the record, I'm tired of pretending ignorance is safer than truth."
"Finally," Maeve drawled. "I was starting to think we'd need to paint it on a banner."
Brom shifted in his chair. "You'll catch some sort of heat either way. Older families will call it a betrayal and the younger ones will say a reconciliation was long overdue. You'll split the room."
"Then let it split," Adam said, voice edged with steel. "It won't be the first time that our choices have divided people."
Sera's mouth curved, not quite a smile but close.
"Working with you both is exhausting, you know? I agree with the decision. Yes, you'll test everyone's patience but patience is better tested than wasted in my opinion"
Harrow leaned back his robe whispering against the chair.
"So be it. Quiet feelers will be sent out with no fanfare. But if this stirs something we can't contain, the responsibility sits with you alone, Your Majesty."
Ann met his gaze coolly without blinking.
"As Alpha Queen, It already does."
The silence that followed felt like an unwilling agreement, but at least that part was taken care of. Now, there was only one matter left.
Ann leaned forward before they could scatter.
"I have one more matter that i want to discuss. Portals."
That word hit like a stone dropped in still water. Maren scoffed outright. Brom blinked, slow as a bear. Harrow's eyes narrowed.
"Portals?" Brom frowned. "As in...daemon-linked thresholds? Inside the palace?"
"Not inside," Ann cut in. "I've thought ahead. Every time Brarthroroz's envoys arrive, we end up scrambling...escorts late, schedules broken, security gaps everywhere. I'm done patching holes. We need a fortified site, staffed and controlled. A place built to handle the risk instead of pretending it isn't there."
"You would plant a tear between realms within shouting distance of your nursery?" Harrow snapped. "That isn't foresight...it's recklessness."
"It's preparedness," Ann said, steady and sharp. "The danger isn't portals...it's pretending we can keep stumbling along without them. Brarthroroz is our ally. His people have already bled beside us against Eromaug. If we want that alliance to last, we need a way for them to come here quickly...and safely."
Maren leaned forward, voice like a blade. "A daemon-touched passage anywhere near the palace is an invitation to disaster. You'd gamble your crown on the word of creatures who..."
"Enough." Ann didn't raise her voice, but the weight of it landed across the table. "It won't be inside the palace. It will be outside the walls. Separate grounds, layered wards, defenses built for worst-case scenarios. A fortress in its own right. I've already started drafting designs."
Maeve's approval slid warm through Ann's mind.
"That's my Queenie... Bite them before they collar you."
Sera tilted her head, thoughtful despite herself.
"And this fortress...you mean military, not ceremonial?"
"Exactly," Ann said. "Not a hall. A stronghold. Shielded, staffed, contained. A place where Brarthroroz's portalmancer can step through without half the city gawking...and where, if anything ever goes wrong, we lock it down before it touches a child's window."
Brom rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You'll take fire for this. Same as the decree. Maybe worse."
Ann's reply was iron wrapped in velvet.
"Then let it come. I won't have this kingdom blind while our enemies move in shadows. The facility goes into the plans. That isn't up for debate, it was more to inform you so that you weren't blindsided when the building begins."
Silence stretched. It wasn't agreement but it wasn't refusal either.
Kaito set his slate aside.
"Very well, I'll have names ready by tomorrow. Not many, but enough to start."
Sera rose.
"I'll draft the protections. And I want to see those designs. If we're building this, it should be watertight."
Maren sniffed, clearly irritated and Brom heaved himself upright with a grunt. Harrow's frown carved deeper lines into his face. But none of them said no.
"Then we're finished," Ann said. "Housing sites will be posted by dusk. Patrol routes doubled by dawn. And the portal facility enters the design phase. If anyone calls it fearmongering, send them to me. I'll show them the difference between rumor and ash."
The elders filed out, robes brushing stone, sandals and shoes echoing against the corridor.
Only when the last of them had gone did Adam finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
"I can't stand them."
"You can," Ann corrected softly. "You just don't like the bureaucracy and having to answer to people for decisions that should be easy."
"I don't like sitting in a room while people who've never seen a burned child call it a rumor," he growled. "And I don't like asking for help from the same kind of people who helped try to break us last time."
"Neither do I," Ann said. "But I like dead villagers even less."
He flinched at that.
"I know." He raked a hand through his hair, temper snapping back as he reigned his wolf back in. "I need to get back to the barracks...there's new rotations to fix, I need to send word to Dark Moon about the orchard builds."
Ann nodded.
"I'll have Coral push the orchard plan to the top of the stack. Eva can pull the floodplain maps so we don't lay foundations where we'll swim come spring."
"Good." He stepped toward the door, then turned back. "If one of them calls you soft again..."
"They didn't," Ann said.
"They wanted to."
She reached for him. He came easily, forehead resting against hers for a few brief seconds that tasted like respite.
"Go snarl at someone who isn't an octogenarian in a robe," she murmured.
"I'll go find a captain," he said, a ghost of a smile tugging at him. He kissed her forehead and stalked out, frustration rolling off him like heat from stone.
The hall felt too large once he was gone. Ann lowered herself into the chair again, palms flat on the table. Outside, a child laughed...thin and frayed, but laughter all the same.She clung to that ound and it brought her a small spark of hope.
"Well," Maeve stretched inside her. "You poked the owls. Some hooted, some pecked. But you still got what you wanted. Pity really…I quite fancied taking a chunk out of someone today."
Ann smiled as she stood, hand at her spine as the pups moved restlessly under her ribs.
"Coral," she called.
As if conjured, Coral appeared with two clipboards and a pencil tucked like a spear into her bun.
"Your Highness?"
"Accelerate the housing plan. South orchard modulars first, then the cavalry tents, western meadow for livestock only. Post the announcement by dusk and make sure the kitchens get copies to adjust rations. And start a file for portal facility plans.It needs to be on external grounds, fortified, and surrounded with layered wards. I'll sketch tonight."
Coral's eyes gleamed.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Eva needs to pull floodplain maps, soil reports, utility lines. I won't explain why the Queen's kindness turned into a mud pit."
Coral's mouth twitched.
"And the press statement?"
"Simple. Refugees are protected because it's right. Patrols are expanded because it's necessary and Portals are planned because foresight saves lives. That's the line I'm sticking with."
Coral nodded and vanished, already dictating to someone unlucky enough to be in earshot.
Ann braced her hand against her spine again. The shadows in the hall felt thinner now. Or maybe it was the sound of hammers starting up on the south side of the grounds.
"How long can we hold this together?" the thought whispered again.
"As long as it takes," Ann said.
And she went back to work.