The first sting.

Lila's POV

The preparations for the welcome feast continued into the next day. Sophia was carried away by her tutors, seamstresses, and advisers until I hardly saw her from one lesson to another-etiquette, dance, and ways of a Luna.

Adrian too went missing. The palace should have been humming with life, but somehow it felt weirdly empty.

Victoria saw to it that I got busy real soon.

The first sting was flowers.

"Lady Lila," she said my name with a sweet tone I knew well enough not to trust. Whatever came next was meant to cut. "Be useful, will you? These are wilting roses. Arrange them before our guests arrive."

I turned toward the towering vase, with its marble base shining and its roses drooping. The heads hung low, near my waist. Just looking at its height made my arm ache.

"Yes, Luna," I muttered.

The rest of the workers in the hall exchanged glances but dared not speak. I felt my heart wildly beating in my chest as I crouched there, pulling thorns and adjusting blooms with fingers that had begun to sting and bleed. I worked fast, hoping all the while that she would not hurl more hurtful words at me for messing up such an “easy task.”

A thorn pierced the tip of my finger. I winced, bringing it to my lips when a familiar voice sounded.

"Lila."

I froze. My heart sank painfully deep into my chest. Adrian stood by the entrance, the look in his eyes was inscrutable.

"My lord," I said under my breath, brushing some dirt off my skirt, wishing I could sink into the earth.

He walked a few steps forward, now observing the arrangement. "You did this?"

"Yes," I said, almost inaudibly; "Luna Victoria asked that I—"

He interrupted me. Calmly but firmly he intoned, "This is perfect. It remains exactly as Lady Lila arranged it. No one touches this again."

An advisor hesitated. "But, my lord, the Luna-"

Adrian's eyes blazed. "That is what I said."

The hall fell silent. Victoria's smile waned, but she did not dare question him here.

Heads hung low; I was feeling the heat traveling toward my cheeks. With one sentence, he transformed my humiliation into dignity. The twinge of betrayal in my heart made it swell painfully.

The second sting met me the following morning in front of the council.

Victoria insisted I continue with the flowers, this time in the chamber where the elders were to gather so soon. I had barely touched the roses five minutes before it started itching. My palms turned blotchy red, my throat constricting as petals brushed against my skin. I tried to keep it hidden, but the rash blistered upward on my arms like flames.

Sophia noticed first. "Mother," she said sharply, turning to Victoria. "She’s having a reaction. Can’t you see? She needs water, not roses."

Victoria raised her arched brow cruelly.”A little discomfort builds character, I say. Or is your sister just too weak to carve her use here?"

I swallowed hard, willing my body to stop betraying me. My chest was burning with embarrassment as I attempted to pull closer the vase without trembling.

Sophia came up between us. "She’s not weak-"

Victoria’s voice snapped like a whip. "Stay out of this, Sophia. You would do well to focus on your own duties as Luna-to-be instead of coddling your sister." Her eyes came back to me, sharp as knives. "Or is she going to faint in front of the entire council? That would be a shame."

My vision blurred. I kept biting my tongue in response, but finally, before I could break under her harsh stare, a voice cut into the tension.

"Enough."

Soft-spoken and deceptively commanding, it was like thunder. Adrian strode into the chamber, directing his eyes first to my blotched arms and then to Victoria. "She’s allergic. You would have her collapse for your amusement?"

A smile glimmered from Victoria's lips as she answered in a sickeningly sweet tone. "I was merely testing her fortitude. Surely a future —"

"My guest," Adrian clipped in, his voice as hard as steel, "will not be injured under this roof. If the flowers offend her, remove them. Now."

Gasps began circling in the hall. Two servants hurriedly walked forward to clear the vase. I sagged with relief, hot with shame as they did so.

Adrian turned to me and looked into my eyes. His expression was unreadable, soothingly gentle. "Go, Lila. Rest."

I bowed my head, unable to say anything with a lump lodged in my throat.

That night in my chamber, my brain replayed everything , from Victoria's cruelties and Sophia's defenses, with Adrian stepping in when even Sophia herself had been cornered. Not a rescue, not quite. It had been quieter, much more dangerous.

A shield no one else could see.

And it terrified me how much I wanted it.

How much I wanted him.