Malvin's lips parted, but no words came out. I wasn't sure if he was at a loss for words or the fact that he had no strength to argue further.
For a fleeting second, his eyes flickered with unclear emotion, so brief that an untrained observer might have missed it entirely.
But I did not.
He lifted his gaze, and it locked with mine; the room seemed to tighten around us as though the very walls were holding their breath.
Around the long table, the council members shifted uneasily. They had not expected the discussion to take such a drastic turn.
Maybe it would have been better if they had given me a chance to present my evidence…but I didn't expect much.
Power resided in this chamber, but so did rot, and rot always stank the loudest when disturbed.
For what felt like eternity, the council hall was in silence, the air was thick with suppressed tension, the kind that crawled beneath the skin and refused to leave.
