"As of this moment," Vienna continued, projecting her voice so everyone could hear, "you are stripped of your title as Head of the House of Omon. You are relieved of all your duties. A man who wears the price of peoples' lives on your back cannot be allowed to represent them"

  "You cannot!!! I only did it for the estate! For the queen! " Zalar started, his voice finally cracking.

  "Like the new gold leaf on your carriage?" Anika hissed from behind Vienna.

  Zalar stiffened. "Mind your tongue, assistant."

  "No," Vienna shaking her head, and the temperature seemed to drop. " You mind yours. Because every word you speak is another year added to the sentence I am imagining for you."

  Behind them, Lord Vael came huffing, his face flushed from a hurried ride, his eyes scanning the scene with frantic energy. He saw Zalar standing tall and his daughter looking small against the backdrop of the prison-like conditions.

  Anika stepped forward, her hand moving to the hilt of her small dagger as she intercepted him. "My Lord, stay back," she said firmly. "The Regent is conducting official business."

  Vael stopped, stunned by the girl's audacity, but his gaze remained fixed on Vienna. She didn't even turn around. She didn't know he was there.

  Zalar let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "You cannot do that. My appointment was sanctioned by the High Council. You are a temporary Regent, girl."

  "The Council will receive a full audit of your 'structural diversions' by noon," Vienna interrupted. "Leave this estate. Now. You are barred from the palace grounds. If you feel your 'austerity measures' were justified, that you obviously believe ARE! you may keep your tongue silent and present your case directly to the Queen upon her return. I’m sure she will be fascinated to hear how you’ve used her name, and my father’s, to starve children. Til then you will remain under house arrest at your personal manor until the Queen’s return. " she was about to turn when she looked at him again,

  “And if you believe the Council will protect a man who embezzled Crown funds while leaving the Queen's 'mercy project' to rot in their own filth, then you are as stupid as you are cruel."

  Zalar’s face turned a mottled purple. He opened his mouth to shout, but the sheer, icy authority in Vienna’s posture stopped him. He looked at his guards, but they remained still, they knew which way the wind was blowing.

  "This isn't over," Zalar spat, clutching his robes as he turned to flee. "Your father will hear of this disrespect!"

  "It is. For you. Hear? Hah? I'll write the letter myself," Vienna said coldly.

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  Zalar’s face went pale, and then he spotted Vael standing behind Anika and let out a desperate, mocking laugh.

  "Lord Vael, look at this!" Zalar cried, breaking past the guards and running toward his old patron. "Do you see what your daughter has become? This is disgraceful, my lord! How can you stand there and accept the lead of a woman, a girl much younger than any of us! She is dismantling the order we spent decades building!"

  Zalar reached for Vael’s cloak, expecting the old man to roar in his defense, to put this 'temporary' Regent back in her place.

  Instead, Lord Vael turned his head away, his expression one of profound shame. As Vienna finally turned and walked toward them, her face like carved marble, devoid of any empathy for this loyal follower of her father; but here Vael did something that made Zalar’s breath catch in his throat.

  The old man stepped forward, bowed his head deeply, and bound his hands respectfully in front of his waist.

  "My Lady Regent," Vael said, his voice thick with a mixture of regret and profound respect.

  Vienna stopped, her eyes softening for a fleeting second before the mask of the Regent returned. "Lord Vael," she responded coolly.

  Zalar recoiled as if he had been struck. "My Lord? You... you bow to her? To your own daughter? This is madness! She is a child playing at being a Queen!"

  Vael looked at Zalar then, and for the first time, the old lion looked truly tired. "No, Zalar. She is the Regent. And unlike us, it seems she actually remembers what it means to serve."

  Zalar let out one final, shrill cry of protest as the guards grabbed his arms to lead him away. "You'll regret this! When the Queen sees the mess you've made of the budget, !"

  "The Queen will be more interested in why her wards look like skeletons, Lord Zalar," Vienna called out over her shoulder. "Be glad I am only sending you to your manor. If it were up to the girls, I suspect they’d choose a much darker cell for you. Underground of course"

  Here one of the girls chuckled and a mischievous smile came on Vienna’s own face, that she tried hard to hide.

  Once the gates slammed shut behind them, taking zalar away, Vienna took a deep breath, trying to still the shaking in her hands. She turned to Anika, who was already kneeling by the sick twin, checking the girl’s pulse.

  "Anika," Vienna said softly.

  Anika looked up. "Yes, My Lady?"

  Vienna looked around at the girls. They were still wary, still trembling, but they were watching Anika with a glimmer of hope.

  "From this hour, Anika, you are the Head of the House of Omon. You will report directly to me. I want these girls washed, fed, and clothed in the finest we have by nightfall. If the Treasury complains about the cost, tell them to send the bill to Zalar’s seized estate. You have the authority to retrieve every coin sent to this house over these last weeks. He must have cached it somewhere.""

  Anika’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open. "My Lady... I... I am just an assistant. I don't know if the Council... "

  "The Council is not HERE," Vienna interrupted, reaching down to take Anika’s hand and pulling her up. "I am. And I am telling you that you are the only person I trust with their lives. Will you do it?"

  Anika looked at the twin, who finally lowered the jagged pipe, her eyes searching Anika’s face.

  Anika squared her shoulders, her expression hardening into one of fierce determination. "I will. I'll make this a home, My Lady."

  Vienna nodded, a small, tired smile touching her lips. "Good. Now, let’s get these girls some real bread. And find a doctor, one who doesn't mind a little 'havoc'."

  “I will oversee the confiscation of the stolen grants from Zalar’s estate, if you allow, My Lady…” Vael added, his voice humble.

  “That would be a favor, Lord Vael,” Vienna said, finally offering her father a small, approving smile.

  .