The silence was unbearable.
Hundreds of eyes stared at me as shards of crystal glittered across the stone path beneath the lanterns. The tray had rolled several feet away, finally coming to rest beside the fountain.
I couldn’t breathe.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” I whispered.
My voice was so quiet I wasn’t sure anyone heard it.
Lady Vivienne did.
She walked toward me slowly, the smile she’d worn all evening completely gone.
“Sorry?” she repeated. “Do you have any idea how expensive those goblets were?”
“I didn’t mean—”
Before I could finish, her hand struck my face.
The slap echoed through the Moon Garden.
A sharp sting spread across my cheek, and I stumbled backward.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
I lowered my eyes, willing myself not to cry.
Crying would only make it worse.
“You embar
