"A-A potion will be enough! I don't need to go with him!" Aria said, her voice trembling with an almost pleading edge. A few sharp gasps echoed around the table, and she caught the shocked expressions flashing across the faces of the nobles seated there.
"I-I'm really not that sick!" she insisted, pressing her hands together tightly in her lap.
Across the table, Aria recognized a few lords—staring at her with open disbelief—and even Lady Vivian, who was glowering at her with a look that could have stripped flesh from bone.
The sheer surprise etched into their faces was jarring enough, but what unsettled her even more was how Zyren merely tilted his head toward the healer, his voice low and calm.
"A potion would be enough?" he asked, almost musingly.
"I'm afraid not, my king," Bovan said, bowing even deeper than before. Aria had to summon every shred of willpower not to glare daggers at him.
