The chamber felt less confident now.
The elders were no longer laughing, no longer scheming with cruel satisfaction, no longer congratulating themselves on their brilliant plan. Instead, they were pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, like caged animals sensing a coming storm.
"Look," Elder Hellder said urgently, gesturing toward the small collection of items they had awkwardly placed beside her earlier. A delicate silver bracelets. A soft silk shawl in pale blue. A few jeweled hairpins that looked antique and expensive. "When Lord Dante comes, you are going to say we took care of you. That we treated you well. That we were respectful hosts who merely invited you for a visit."
He pointed at the bracelet now loosely hanging around Alina's wrist, the silver catching the torchlight.
"We even gifted you things. Expensive things. Host gifts."
