"The Royal Princess, Her Highness Camellia Van Skargardia."
At once, every conversation in the hall broke apart.
Voices died in the middle of sentences. Heads turned toward the great doors at the far end of the throne hall just as they swung open, revealing the figure everyone had been waiting for.
The true center of the evening had finally arrived.
Even Airam, Hermione, and Esther, still carrying the bitter taste of what had just happened, found their attention pulled toward the entrance. Curiosity slipped through the anger, whether they wanted it to or not.
A fourteen-year-old girl stepped through the doorway.
For one brief instant, even Hermione forgot the nobles around her and simply stared.
The princess was beautiful.
