Queen Thorn (complete)

Chapter 31

"I will leave court."

"That's fine, you have twenty-four hours to be out of those gates. If you return, no matter when that could be, your work punishment will be waiting here for you."

"I won't ever return."

"Oh, and I don't just mean this court. Just like the former Natasha Ozera, I also mean the one in Russia and the one in Romania. As well as all of our communities and academies."

Lissa growled and spun to walk out. "I know, that you know, that turning your back on the queen is a massive no-no and a major breach in protocol. It is also punishable by three months in a cell." I told her.

"So unless you want to start your new exile with a ninety-day stint in a dhampir cell. I suggest that you act appropriately to that position that you are so proud of and trying so hard to hold onto."

She growled again but turned and bowed to Roza before she started backing towards the door.

Roza never upheld that 'rule' to our friends and family, I don't know if she even knew that it existed until now. But I was going to make for chert sure that every person who had ever even disrespected my Roza in any way had no choice but to adhere to it. Either that or they would pay the price for not doing so. (damn)

When Roza was five months pregnant Mia went into labor and after seven hours of labor, she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. A little girl whom she and Eddie name Aleesha Marisol Castile, after her devastatingly beautiful Auntie Roza.

A few months later Sonya Tanner also went into labor, and she gave birth to a son whom she and Mishka named Simon Gabriel Tanner. Roza and I were asked to be God parents to both children. Which was a profound honor for the both of us and one that we happily and gladly accepted.

When Roza was eight months and one week pregnant we were in a meeting with our councils. When word was brought to us that the drones that we had been secretly using for surveillance. For the last several months to patrol the boarder just outside of Roza's strigoi sensor range. Had picked up movement of a large number of strigoi banding together to attack court.

Well, a large number for now days, which thankfully was slightly less than fifty which was still a good many. Not as many as had attacked the academy but still more than we would have liked. Of course, any was more than we would have liked.

Since it was still daylight the trained moroi were dispatched to lay more wards one hundred yards inside the outer wards. But according to the videos that the drones had captured, the strigoi had humans with them. So we knew that those idiots would stake the new wards as well, once they found them that is. The strigoi were hiding from the sun in the very dense forest just outside the walls of court. Probably thinking that we wouldn't think that they would attack so soon after the sun had set.

Roza ordered that all of the non-fighting moroi, royal and non-royal, as well as all the non-guardian dhampir. All members of the councils and their families were to be taken and locked inside self-contained warded safe rooms with five guardians inside with them.

All of the safe rooms had been updated since Roza became queen. They were now hermetically sealed with their own separate air filtration system as well as a water and sewage system. All contained separately from each other also with their own self-generated power supply. The power was solar energy that was connected to all the safe rooms separately. None of the safe rooms were connected in any way to anything else or each other. 

And because of all of this they were all much more secure. And if the strigoi got past the outer wards then they would find out that each of the safe rooms were double warded inside and outside.