Hazel’s POV
The entire council chamber bowed the second Nicholas’s voice cracked through the silence.
“Your Majesty.”
The words rolled out in perfect unison—low, reverent, automatic.
Every head dipped.
Every back bent.
I stayed exactly where I was—standing tall…white gown pulling around my feet.
I didn’t bow.
I didn’t flinch.
I just smiled.
Slow.
Sharp.
And looked straight at Nicholas.
“I see you brought your pet dog.”
Liora’s face twisted—murderous, ugly, red creeping up her neck.
Nicholas’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“Hazel,” he said through clenched teeth, “you’ve gone too far.”
He stood there—tall, furious, radiating power—and yet he looked… smaller.
Like a subject standing before his queen.
Because that’s exactly what he was right now.
I tilted my head.
“But I warned
