VALORIA WILDEROSE
He leans toward me slightly, his gaze focused on me, anything but pleased or delighted—rather serious and stern.
"A-Azrael?" I look at him through tear-stained eyes, like an angel standing in blinding light.
I freeze from the shock and the wave of nakedness that washes over me. I'm bare and exposed, embarrassed on my knees and covered in filth in front of this man who loves to mock me.
Just when I thought this humiliation couldn't get worse.
I want the earth to swallow me whole. I want to disappear, to never see him again, so much so that I tuck my face away, refusing to look at him another second.
"Your Majesty," my sisters say in unison, surprise and anxiety dripping from each voice.
Ana rises to her feet again, dusting her gown to appear more presentable.
"There you are, my pet. I've been looking for you."
Suddenly his palm is in front of me, stretched out with the expectation that I take it, ignoring everyone else.
