"Ugh!" Lyne held on to her wounded face as she was wheeled into the infirmary on a stroller. It burned so hard and even when she had heard her Father talk about self-healing, she had refused to ask him more about it due to how angry she was at him for keeping her mother's death away from her. 

Her face was full of dry blood with her swollen face burning hard. But someone else was on her mind, despite her pain. Zeidan.

"Zeidan?" She mumbled.

"Just don't worry about him right now. Come on, we'll take care of you."

A nurse helped her up. She managed to sit up, wincing. "I hope he is fine wherever he is. I'm so worried about him." She said mildly, looking around the white glistening painted walls in the room that had just the lone bed to which she will be transferred. If he ever left the war field, he should be there.

"He is fine now. He should be in the palace now."

The petite nurse said, reading her face.

"How badly is he hurt?" She asked, moving to the bed and gently sitting.

"Not hurt. He is fine now like I said before."

"Your Highness?" 

She looked at the entrance and saw Chloe coming in, dressed in her armor. Why did she suddenly become unseen during the war?

"Chloe?" Lyne exhaled deeply, getting ready to be preached to.

"Look, I know I should be sitting in a room with Amber washing my feet and singing songs to delight the baby in my womb, but I just had to do this."

The short-haired brunette came by and sat beside her on the bed, pity written all over her face.

"No. I would have loved for you to be seen in the battleground fighting hard for your city. You are, after all, the Queen."

Lyne nodded. "True."

"But then, your mother."

"Why is everyone suddenly referring to my mom?" It was beginning to get on her nerves and she didn't even mind her painful wound. 

"She died while fighting, I get it. But can we all focus on when she used to come home victorious after fighting for once? Can we?"

Chloe placed a gentle hand on her arm, comforting her. 

"I know how hard it is to take in but can you consider the baby in you, for once?"

She looked beside her into those green eyes, and her sudden heart warmed. She is right. Everyone who had advised her to stop fighting was right. If she wouldn't think of herself, she should think of her baby. Unlike her mother, she is no fighter. She had barely learned how to hunt, talk more of fighting a massive number of Armies or leading one. 

"You were right until I took down a large number of Werecats today."

Was that a flash of pain in her eyes? Or was she just imagining it? All her life, she had been made to live under the shadow of her siblings, killing all the potentials she had inside of her. Suppressing her urge to go outside and feel or explore the world. But could they do that for long? The moment she met Zeidan, that second she decided to give him a chance, it was evident that her life would forever different shades of color. Each color depicts whatever she faced in life. 

"You know, when I first met Zeidan, I thought it would be the same. I thought I had just begun my life as one who is subjected to a master. One without a voice or opinion of her own. I wanted to kill myself or jump over the cliff and forget I ever existed. I was furious at myself for barely knowing Zeidan but yet admiring him instantly. I wanted to harm myself for being so stupid."

Staring into space, flashes of how she had first met Zeidan sparked before her eyes. When she had fallen and had turned to look into his eyes. He was confident, yet compassionate. Strong but vulnerable when he is with her. Goodlooking but stayed through with her. It was like he was stuck with her for the rest of her life.

"And then we got married and I was afraid. He stood up for me many times in South Jungle, you know." She glanced sideways at Chloe who arched a brow.

"He did?" 

Lyne nodded. "He wouldn't allow my siblings to bully me and for the first time, I felt valued. I got here and it only got better. Our marriage, the ups and downs, the way we both partnered when it comes to finding criminals," she chuckled as she remembered her times in Los Angeles but quickly sobered at the point where Tina's face popped up. 

"You okay?"

She let out a shaky breath. "Yeah."

"I understand you very much, my dear. And I promise you, that all of that won't be wiped off if you believe. Staying away from Vampire City isn't cowardice, it's being strategic and realistic. The attributes of a real Queen." She smiled at her Aunt at the mention of Queen. "It's your title and no one else can take it away from you."

"But where do I go to even if I prepare to leave? I mean, we have several enemies and any of them can easily detect where I am."

"Not when I'm in charge." Chloe rose and went to the tray, picking up a pair of scissors, a handful of cotton wool, and some antiseptic liquid in a small bottle.

"Let me clean you up so we can talk about leaving. Whether leaving to Los Angeles or back to South Park."

"Need I remind you that my father's army will not receive orders from any other person should I leave? I leave the city, they go back to South Park as well. Let's be reasonable." Lyne reminded Chloe whose face remained expressionless.

"Whatever it is, we will figure out when it's time to leave." Chloe began to dab her swollen face with the wool now soaked in the antiseptic liquid in a bid to clean the wound.

"Ow! Now, that hurts."

"Not as painful as how one would feel after losing a child." Chloe mused and it struck a string in Lyne's heart. To run away.

"I will protect my child, no matter what. But before then, I must fight this war."