š Chapter 71 ā Bait in the Garden
Zara hadn't spoken to Marna since the night Auren returned.
Not because she couldn't.
But because she *didn't know how*.
Every time she saw Marna now ā her soft smile, her gentle hands on Zara's stomach, her voice humming those same lullabies ā it made her chest feel like it was cracking open.
*Could it really be her?*
Could the woman who once risked her life to save Zara during the childbirth scareā¦ be the one sent to kill the child?
Zara didn't want to believe it.
But this war didn't run on belief.
It ran on truth.
And sometimes, **truth was poison**.
---
The trap was simple.
Zara would fake weakness.
A sudden collapse in the courtyard. Enough to draw Marna close. Enough to see what she would do when Zara was vulnerable.
If she reached for herbs?
She lived.
If she reached for a blade?
She died.
---
It started just after sunrise.
Zara had walked to the garden alone ā or at least, appeared to.
Hidden in the shadows, Leva and two elite guards tracked every step she took. Auren stood at the far wall disguised as a cloaked gardener. Zaire watched from the window above, bow drawn, just in case.
Zara wore a soft cream dress.
Something she hadn't worn in months.
She looked calm.
But inside?
Her heart raced.
She reached the marble bench at the center of the garden and sat. For a moment, she listened to the birds. Touched the petals of a red hyacinth.
Then she stood suddenly ā stumbled.
And dropped to her knees.
The signal.
Marna, as expected, came running within seconds.
"Zara!" she cried. "Zara, what's wrong?!"
Zara moaned softly, curling around her stomach.
Marna knelt beside her, breath quick, hands trembling.
"Is it the baby? Talk to me, pleaseā"
Zara didn't respond.
She closed her eyes ā just long enough to *listen*.
Marna's hands moved over her belly, checking pressure. Her bag of herbs dropped to the ground.
And thenā
A cold metal click.
Zara's eyes snapped open.
And saw it.
**The needle.**
Small. Dipped in something black. Hidden beneath Marna's sleeve.
Zara's stomach twisted.
So it was true.
Marna froze when she saw Zara staring at the needle.
For a momentā¦ they just looked at each other.
Then Marna whispered:
"ā¦I didn't want to."
---
Before she could move, Leva struck ā flying from the shadows like a hawk, blade out, pinning Marna to the grass.
"Don't move!" Leva barked.
Marna didn't resist.
She looked broken.
As guards rushed in, Zara rose slowly, her face pale, heart shattering.
"You were like a sister to me," she whispered.
Marna's eyes filled with tears. "They took my child, Zara. Same as Tavi. They promised me she was alive. That if I did this, I'd see her again."
Zara's jaw clenched.
"Then why not come to me?"
"They said if I spoke your nameā¦ she'd be killed."
Leva hissed, "You still came with a weapon!"
Marna held up the needle. "It wasn't poison. It was a *tracker*. They wanted to find where the child would be born."
Zara's blood went cold.
That was worse.
"Take her to the lower cells," Zara said.
Marna didn't beg.
She just looked up at her, tears running freely.
"ā¦I loved you," she said. "I swear I did."
Zara said nothing.
She simply turned and walked away.
---
Back in the chamber, Zara sat alone in silence.
Auren joined her minutes later.
"You were right," she said hollowly.
He nodded.
"They don't strike with swords first," he said. "They use *grief*. People you trust."
Zara wiped her face.
"I have nothing left to give them."
Auren leaned against the wall.
"They don't want what you have," he said. "They want to *ruin who you are*."
She turned to him. "Then what now?"
He stepped forward.
"We give them exactly what they want."
"ā¦what?"
"We let them believe they've succeeded. That the baby is being moved. That your forces are scattering. That you're too weak to lead."
Zara frowned. "You want me to fake collapse again?"
"No," Auren said.
"I want you to *fake surrender*."
---
That night, Zara announced publicly to the inner circle that she was stepping down from all active war planning until her child was born.
"I will focus on peace," she said aloud, letting her voice carry across the grand hall. "I will write letters. Send diplomats. Seek ceasefire."
There were gasps.
Some anger.
Some fear.
But it was all **for show**.
Behind the walls, a new army was forming. A trap larger than any before. If the Raven thought she was broken?
They would come rushing in.
And when they didā¦
Zara would be waiting.
---
But the Raven was already listening.
And far beneath the city, in a cold stone chamber lit by a single flame, **a new order** was whispered.
> "Move the weapon."
> "We strike on her birthing night."
> "Kill the heir before it breathes."
And watching from the shadowsā¦
Was a **boy** with Zara's eyes.
No older than twelve.
Clutching a blade.
And whispering,
> "Mamaā¦ I'm coming."