Natalie~
I stood there, feeling every pair of eyes boring into me. My cheeks burned under their unrelenting gaze, and I instinctively clutched the glittering skirts of my gown tighter against my hips. For a long, painful moment, no one moved. No one spoke. The room was so silent that I could hear the thundering of my own heartbeat, deafening in my ears.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to take a step forward into the throne room. My heels barely made a sound against the polished marble floors as I walked in, glancing left and right. Hundreds of eyes followed me – wide, unblinking, like they were staring at a ghost.
"What… what is going on?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. Honestly, I didn't even know if I was asking them or myself. My words just tumbled out, raw and confused.
Jasmine was pacing restlessly in my mind. "They're staring like you have horns growing out of your forehead," she muttered.
