Rion’s POV
The great hall had gone from stunned silence to something out of a nightmare in the space of a heartbeat.
Edric wasn’t staring at anything. Not a person, not a shadow, not even the damn wall. Just blank space, like someone had hit pause on the man with a remote control.
His eyes were wide, glassy, locked on nothing at all. His mouth hung slightly open. The whole room seemed to lean forward, waiting for whatever came next.
My mind raced straight to Ariella. This had to be one of her plans. She’d promised the king would disgrace himself, and whatever she’d slipped into that wine…or whatever the hell it was…was kicking in hard. I stayed seated, forcing my face to stay neutral while my pulse hammered.
Then Edric unraveled.
He let out a guttural yell, spinning around like some
