Silence changed the palace the minute Adam left.
The doors were closed softer and the sound of her footsteps seemed to be carried further. Ann felt the grief at their separation deep in her bones but refused to name it out loud.
She pulled Coral's brief closer in an effort to distract herself from the ache of longing and scanned the orchard timelines again, underlining the patrol changes. The numbers were steady and showed good progress, but the amount of people arriving didn't seem to be slowing down.
By midmorning the nobles were already "dropping by." Not to help...never that...but to test the edges of her ability.
"Without the Alpha present, Your Majesty," one lord said, smoothing his cuffs like the fabric mattered more than the burned villages he was supposed to represent, "it falls to you to answer for these delays in border patrols."
Ann let her gaze settle on him until the shuffling in the gallery eased into stillness. "Patrols doubled this morning," she said. "If you missed that update, that's on your staff, not mine."
A few chuckles rippled around the chamber. The lord went pink.
Maeve's voice slid through her head, lazy and sharp.
One down. Only a dozen more cowards to go.
Another noble stepped forward, his words a little sharper this time.
"We've heard of increased sightings of the attackers along the western towns and villages,. Are you certain that doubling patrols is enough?"
"If you're offering more soldiers, I'll take them," Ann said, pen tapping against her ledger. "Otherwise, your question is answered."
That shut him up.
"Has the Alpha given an estimated return date, Your Majesty?" Lord Darron asked, his voice almost smooth enough to skate on, as if he wasn't trying to prod and poke for any weakness or information that he wasn't already privy too.
"Slimy fucker," Maeve sneered, "Maybe ask him if his wife knows his estimated return date when he visits his mistress next."
"He's overseeing urgent relocations," Ann said. "I would think that you'll start to see the first arrivals after a few days."
Lady Maren with her pearls, perfect posture and predatory smile, tilted her head.
"And meanwhile you intend to personally manage refugees, patrols, and… portal facilities?"
"Yes, while you intend to personally manage gossip," Ann answered pleasantly. "We all have our talents."
A few courtiers smothered smiles as Maren's eyes cooled.
"Excellent! Bite harder," Maeve smirked. "She came to taste blood so give the bitch what she wants."
Lord Benton, old enough to know better, leaned on his cane.
"Your Majesty, with Adam away, the perception..."
"...is that I am Queen," Ann cut in. "And perception is correct."
A stunned silence followed. Even Maeve huffed a laugh.
The rest of the session felt like circling vultures, questions not asked to seek answers, but to test how far she'd bend without Adam at her side.
Ann gave them nothing that they could use against her.
When they pressed on resources, she quoted numbers from Coral's ledgers. When they muttered about "inefficiency," she listed the orchards, the cavalry grounds that were being repurposed and the tents already being raised.
When they dared to prod about "the Queen's softer approach," she smiled just enough to make it clear that softness was the last thing they'd find if they kept pushing her like this.
It worked, for the most part. They filed out in huddled pairs muttering under their breath, which was as much of a win as she could ask for.
Coral slipped in with two clipboards and a look that said she was already swimming under more work than she wanted to be.
"Any new updates?" Ann asked.
"Yep! And all good news so far!" Coral answered brightly, "The Orchard crews are ahead by half a day, the Kitchens can stretch to two hundred extra if we thin the soups and cut pastry, stretching rations is an artform they've perfected. Eva has the writ templates that Sera promised so she'll send them for your signature by evening."
Coral slipped a tablet onto the desk witha knowing smile.
"And..er.. An e-mail from Adam for you."
Ann's chest tightened before she even opened it. His words were clipped and efficient so he had obviously been in a hurry when he sent this.:
Ground secure. First fields mapped. Elders grouped. Move day set for eight. Wolves rotating the perimeter. No one alone past dusk.
And then, softer:
Don't skip meals. Don't walk alone. Don't be brave for them. Be safe for me.
Ann's mouth tugged despite herself.
"Nice to see that he remembers to boss me around between organizing half the kingdom."
"That's love for you," Maeve said dryly. "The irritating, useful kind that makes you want to either punch them in the face or swoon like a fancy lady.."
Ann tapped a reply, her fingers moving quickly.
Good. Keep families whole...pups with their mothers, elders together. Armed pairs rotating inside the perimeter, not just staring at trees. No night moves. Tired guards make mistakes. I eat when Coral bullies me, I don't walk alone outside of my personal gardens because she won't let me, and I was never brave for them...I was stubborn. There's a difference. Move fast. Come back faster.
She hit send, leaned back, and rubbed her temples.
Coral's eyebrow lifted. "Do you want me to schedule his reminder to eat, or assume he'll ignore it anyway?"
"I think we're safe assuming," Ann muttered. "Besides, it's one less job for you to see to."
Ann sighed heavily, moving a hand to her belly to rub it absent mindedly.
"Thank you for all of this, Coral," Ann said. "I really don't know what I'd do without you. And...if any noble wants to 'tour' the orchards this afternoon, tell them the mud is deep enough to swallow their expensive shoes whole."
"I'd be delighted to," Coral said with a grin, "And as for thanking me? Theres no need. Being at your side is an honour I never thought I would receive. It should be me thanking you."
With a genuine smile that sparkled in her eyes, she turned and disappeared off to see to her long list of tasks that Ann just seemed to keep adding to, already shouting orders at someone unlucky in the corridor.
Ann managed two sips of water and one bite of bread before the guards at the hall doors raised their voices.
Ann closed her eyes, sighed through her nose, and set the cup down.
"Of course," she murmured. "No rest for the wicked now, is there? The question is whether it's another complaint...or another fire."
"Want to bet that it's a mixture of both?" Maeve sniggered.