LUCY
"How are you feeling?"
Jaxl keeps his voice low, positioning himself close enough to serve as a shield as the Great Hall empties around us.
The departure has a frantic, hushed energy to it—people moving with the suppressed desperation of those trying very hard to obey a king's command while dying to discuss the scandal of the century the moment they clear the doors.
How am I feeling?
I'm not entirely sure. I am a conundrum of emotions—curiosity, hope, and underneath both, a cold and very specific fear.
My eyes drift to Amara, who is deep in conversation with the King of Ashkara and his inner circle, her bearing easy, as though she has been attending councils of this magnitude her entire life.
I shift my gaze to Tavric. He's speaking with his father, posture still rigid, his mother and half-brother huddled nearby in what they imagine is a private conference but is anything but.
