The courtyard had slowly returned to a semblance of order. The nobles had either fled, fainted, or scurried away to gossip in small clusters, while the guards had marched the frozen attacker off to the dungeons. Dust still swirled in the air, the faint scent of smoke and burnt silk lingering.
My gown bore minor scorch marks, my hair was tousled, and a few petals from the ceremonial aisle had stuck to my dress. Somehow, despite it all, the world felt quieter.
Elias walked beside me, calm and steady as ever. "He's been taken to the dungeon," he said, his hand brushing lightly against my back to guide me forward. His voice carried authority, yet warmth lingered in it, like a soft anchor.
I glanced up at the sky. Darkness had already fallen, the sun gone, replaced by a crescent moon shimmering faintly above the royal palace. The day had been chaos incarnate, yet somehow I'd survived—and more importantly, so had the citizens.
[And they saw how dangerous you are.]
True.
