By the time we came back into the hall, the warmth hit me like a wall. Not nice warmth either—the kind that makes your skin sticky and your lungs feel too heavy. Laughter rose in little sharp bursts, like brittle glass breaking over and over. The chandeliers… God, they sparkled too much. Overbright. Every smile caught the light and looked like teeth, not joy.
I pushed a goblet into Wren’s hand. Just for appearances—she drinks like a bird anyway. Mine stayed untouched. I didn’t even want to smell it.
Across the hall, Prince Leonard leaned too close to Arabella. He was laughing too much, gesturing with his hands like a boy telling stories around a fire. Oblivious. Completely oblivious to the current running under the night. He looked like a man playing at kingship, wearing a crown he didn’
