Anaya~ His second wife

Before she became queen, Anaya Devyani was a quiet girl who stood behind pillars and watched the world instead of stepping into it.

She was eight when she first saw him - sixteen, laughing in the palace courtyard, sunlight caught in his hair. He had crouched down, tapped her forehead lightly, and called her "little shadow." The name stayed.

So did the feeling.

What began as childish admiration slowly deepened into something she carried carefully, silently. She grew up watching him become stronger, wiser, more distant. And when he married another woman, she stood unseen on a balcony and learned how to hide heartbreak behind composure.

Anaya did not fight loudly.
She endured quietly.
She loved without asking.

By twenty-two, she was no longer the shy girl trailing after her brother. She had grown into grace - observant, patient, and far stronger than anyone assumed.

The palace would call her second.

But Anaya Devyani had spent years learning how to stand in the shadows.

And sometimes, shadows are where the strongest women are made.