"Y—Your Majesty!"
Commander Marx Lambert's voice cut through the stunned silence.
Kaliantha had still been listening to the hard, rapid beat of Ulrich's heart beneath her cheek. For those last seconds within the broken barrier, the sound had been the only thing she seemed able to hear clearly. It had continued through every strike, every sudden turn, every moment when he carried her away from a blade.
Now the danger was over.
Her eyes opened.
The ballroom had returned around her in terrible detail: the harsh white light summoned by the knights; broken fragments of the shattered barrier drifting down like cold sparks; the nobles crowded against the outer edge of the floor; and the bodies lying across the marble.
Kaliantha pulled away from Ulrich.
At the same time, Ulrich let his arm fall from her back.
