LUCY
The silence seems eternal. The air is stagnant, frozen by the weight of Amara's declaration.
I look at the Supreme King. His face is cracked with a shock so profound it borders on disbelief. On the podium, the high-ranking nobles are statues of stone.
My father looks as if he's been struck by lightning, his mouth slightly agape, while my mother's hand remains glued against her chest, her eyes wide as saucers.
My heart is a frantic, beating mess, so loud that I'm sure everyone can hear it in this unnatural quiet. I struggle to remain poised all the same, digging my heels into the marble floor to keep my knees from shaking.
My lungs feel tight, but I force my breathing to stay slow and measured. I have to be calm. I have to be the eye of this storm.
"Yes, exactly. This is the shock that held Jaxl and me when we discovered the truth."
