Zane~
The ball room stood heavy with silence after Natalie's sharp question. My father—no, the king—seemed to wither beneath her stare, his aged body trembling despite the armor he wore. For a man who once commanded nations with a flick of his fingers, he looked pitiful now, kneeling and cowering before the one woman he had tried to erase.
His voice, when it came, was weak but rushed, like he'd been holding it in for too long. "I was going to use the ball to announce my heir," he said, lifting his head slightly but not enough to meet anyone's eyes.
Whispers burst like thunder across the grand ballroom. Court nobles and council members turned to one another, some gasping, others cursing beneath their breath. The air thickened with speculation, fear, and tension.
My chest tightened.
