It is a mere two weeks after the death of the Guardian. From her desert kingdom, Queen Chrysalis das Pupa looks across the sands and sees the ancient home of her people. There is much to do: the borders must be strengthened, the other powers in the world watched carefully, and her own heir brought into line with her vision. A queen must appear to be invincible and all-knowing, but without realizing it, Chrysalis is destined to get some very good help. Just... not exactly the kind of help she anticipated.

(Author's Note: This is the first of the stories I decided to call the "Side Game" stories. They're related to my main work Game of Worlds, and meant to provide details and stories about things that cannot be lingered on extensively in an over 300k word work, but I think would be fun to tell a story about. You don't need to read the big story, although some of these things are going to be a little out-of-left-field otherwise, and they won't spoil anything about the main story. I hope you enjoy and welcome any commentary and feedback you're willing to provide.)