(Daciana POV)Otsana knelt before Ashina’s stomach, her gold-marked hand pressed against the ground while every servant cried out in fear around us.The moon field had become too quiet after Maelor’s laughter, as if even the wind feared waking the unborn child again.Ashina stared down at my sister with horror breaking across her face, and for once she looked more like a mother than a villain.“No,” Ashina whispered, both hands wrapped around her stomach as if she could hold the child back from the world.Otsana tried to rise, but her gold crown mark flashed black around the edges, dragging her knees harder into the grass.The first Blood Feather book hovered above Ashina, pages open, ink wet, and Maelor’s name burning across the air like a curse.Adolphus smiled with calm satisfaction, and the dead midwife watched Ashina the way a butcher watches an animal finally stop running.“Stand, Otsana,” I said, reaching for my sister before the moon circle could punish the movement.Otsana’s
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