"What did you just say?" King Alexander leaned forward on his throne, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the ornate armrests. The afternoon light streaming through the stained-glass windows cast prismatic patterns across his incredulous face.
Sir Roland, still kneeling on the polished marble floor, cleared his throat nervously. "Your Majesty, I witnessed it with my own eyes. The princess—" he hesitated, searching for diplomatic phrasing, "—displayed unusual behavior when meeting the Rothschild heir."
The knight's report painted a startling picture: Princess Athena, the kingdom's fiercest warrior who had challenged dukes to combat without batting an eye, had been reduced to stammering incoherence within moments of meeting Ambrose Rothschild.
