The Queen's Gamble

I didn't inherit power.

I built it from everything that tried to break me.

From the top of the hill, I could see everything - loyalty, betrayal, movement, silence.

And yet it wasn't always so clear.

In my world, alliances don't bend.

They snap or they hold.

And when they hold, it isn't because they're strong - it's because I made it impossible to break them.

But it came with a cost.

Every piece I removed from the board... removed something from me in return.

Power doesn't protect you from consequence.
It only decides how much of you survives when consequence finally arrives.

And in the end, every queen learns the same lesson -

You don't win the game.

You either survive what it takes to stay in it...
or you don't.