The crowd of people came with smiles and direct questions that Viella was not accustomed to. Their bodies were like a wall of flesh and fabric, surrounding her and Caspian, who was not even far from where she had originally stood in front of the Emperor and Empress, whose eyes, Viella felt, were still on her back like a touch.
She was not used to it—the directness with which people demanded answers. Where she came from, her homeworld, the nobles were shameless behind closed doors, but in public, they were extremely careful with their tongues. They rarely spoke openly and kept their opinions to themselves, unless to those they trusted or about someone they knew could never hurt them.
So now, as she stood there, Viella felt how hard her heart was beating against her ribcage, blood rising to her cheeks as she realized they were far too shameless with their questions.
