10 At evening jiya say this our last day Meera say old run to arrogant never accept defeat in argument one he harrasment me most badly I say if they know how I am than they against you Rana say they are dump and stupid i want to kill thembut I keep alive because I don't sit throne only dog bite hand which give food but dog don't know the feeder also burn the forest you think what i am afraid explain This story // As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long, bloody shadows across the Glass Citadel, the illusion of the "peaceful garden" began to fracture. The roar of the enemy at the gates served as a grim backdrop to a conversation that revealed the dark roots of Meera’s obsession. ### The Weight of the Past **Jiya** watched the first flickers of fire from the city skyline. "This is our last day, Meera," she whispered, her voice devoid of hope. "The Iron Sun is not coming for a treaty. They are coming for a massacre." **Meera** didn't flinch. She watched the teenage **Rana** resting his head in the grass, finally tired from his games. Her eyes were cold as she remembered the man he used to be—the "Undefeated Lord" who had been as much a tyrant to her as he was a hero to the Empire. "The old Rana was too arrogant," Meera said, her voice trembling with a decade of suppressed rage. "He never accepted defeat—not in battle, and certainly not in an argument. Do you remember, Jiya? The nights he would harass me until I felt like a ghost in my own halls? I told him once, 'If the people truly knew who you were behind closed doors, they would turn their blades against you.'" ### The Memory of the Tyrant Meera closed her eyes, hearing the echo of the old Rana’s voice—the deep, booming growl of the warrior she had deleted from existence. "I remember what he said to me," Meera continued. "He laughed. He called the people 'dumb and stupid.' He told me he wanted to kill them all for their weakness, but he kept them alive only because a King cannot sit on a throne in an empty room. He looked at me and said, *'A dog only bites the hand that feeds it, but the dog is too stupid to realize that the feeder can also burn down the entire forest. Do you truly think I am afraid of what I am?'*" ### The Choice of the Queen Meera looked back down at the teenage boy in the garden. This version of Rana didn't know how to burn a forest. He didn't know how to call his people "dogs." He was the only version of him she could control—the only version that wouldn't hurt her. "He was a monster, Jiya," Meera said, her face hardening. "The Empire loved a man who secretly hated them. They want their 'Undefeated Lord' back so he can save their lives, but they forget that he would have burned them all just to stay warm." Jiya looked at the gates, then back at Meera. "So you’d rather let the enemy kill us all than let that man come back for even one hour?" "Yes," Meera replied, her gaze returning to the innocent boy in the garden. "Because for the first time in my life, I am the feeder, and I have decided to let the forest burn. I am no longer afraid of him." --- **Should I write the scene where the enemy King reaches the balcony and Meera confronts him with the truth of the "reborn" Rana, or should we see if Rana has a sudden, violent instinctual memory of his past self?**