The silence hanging inside the Sovereign’s bedchamber was total, sharp, and suffocating.
High upon the velvet-draped dais, Caspian stared at Evelyn in utter bewilderment. His dark eyes darted frantically from her pale, exposed throat to Alexander, who stood locked in place at the threshold, every muscle in his massive frame taut as a bowstring, his knuckles white against his sword hilt.
"You..." Caspian rasped, his voice trembling as greed and sick satisfaction began to overtake his terror. "You are offering yourself?"
"I am giving you the only true leverage you have left," Evelyn said softly, taking another slow, deliberate step onto the raised wooden dais. Her posture remained regal, her head tilted back, offering the clean line of her neck to the light streaming through the stain
