"Aunt—" Heena tried.
"NO!" the Duchess cut her off. "You don't get to 'Aunt' me right now! You don't get to use that tone like this is just another political discussion!"
She was shaking now, with fury and fear mixed together.
"I lost your mother," she said, her voice breaking slightly. "I lost my Brother. I watched her die and couldn't save her. And now you're telling me that you've been letting the people who tried to kill you just—what? Live comfortably in your palace? Eat your food? Breathe your air?"
Tears were forming in the Duchess's eyes, though her expression remained furious.
"You're all I have left," she said quietly. "You're the only family I have in this world. And you've been in danger—'lethal' danger—and you didn't tell me. You didn't let me protect you. You just... handled it alone."
Heena felt something crack in her chest at the raw emotion in her aunt's voice.
"I'm fine," she said softly. "I survived. The poison didn't work. I caught it in time."
