The palace corridors seemed to stretch and hold their breath as Eris Igniva walked through them.
She moved with purpose, each step measured and deliberate, heat rippling in the air around her like summer shimmer off scorched stone.
Servants pressed themselves against walls as she passed, their eyes wide and fearful. Guards straightened at attention, hands hovering near weapons they knew would be useless.
Everyone stared.
How could they not? The Fire Queen, fresh from publicly torturing a noblewoman in the courtyard, now walked through the palace with murder in her eyes and a smile on her lips. Where was she going? What was she planning?
The whispers followed her like smoke.
"Is she going to—"
"—after what she did to Isolde—"
"—the Emperor should stop her—"
But the Emperor was occupied with his council. And Eris was done being stopped.
