Even the guards furthest from the throne stiffened at the weight of the command.
The room, already tense, dropped into a suffocating silence as though the very walls held their breath. Aria stood frozen in place, her skin gone pale, every heartbeat pounding violently against her chest like a drum of warning.
She visibly trembled as the hiss of metal meeting air echoed behind her—the unmistakable sound of a blade unsheathing. Her breath caught, a sharp, involuntary hitch in her throat, and her wide, glassy eyes shifted slightly as she sensed the guard stepping closer.
His stance exuding the chilling readiness to carry out the command without an ounce of hesitation.
