The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I had gone too far. I had just told the king that he was stupid.
Judging from the way the room went silent, as if the walls themselves recoiled from my audacity, I knew I had gone and done it with my big mouth.
My voice still echoed, sharp and unforgiving, hanging in the heavy air like the clang of a drawn sword. I didn't even remember what I said now—something laced with disdain, spiked with hurt. Something cruel.
My eyes met Roan's. Fury blazed in his, no longer the cool, composed mask of a king but the unfiltered wrath of a man betrayed. And I had done the betraying. My father was going to be in a very good mood when he heard what I did.
I lowered my head. not in regret, not truly, but in acknowledgment of the storm I had summoned.
"She dares insult the king in his own court!" came Usera, always so eager to protect Nova, so eager to see me fall. "That is high treason, punishable by death!"
Death.
