Chapter 216: The Dance 2
"Are you mocking me?" Prince Reuben bellowed, his voice echoing off the gilded walls of the tea room.
His eyes, dark like the raging storm and blazing with indignation, bore into Lara. For a fleeting second, her delicate features, radiant in the torchlight, seemed untouched by fear, caused him to falter. But her beauty did nothing to temper his wrath. How dare she? Even if she was the daughter of a general, she was still ranks below the prince—a common girl stood before royalty with such impudence?
Lara didn’t flinch.
Instead, she lifted her chin, unshaken by his fury. Her voice was calm, smooth as silk, but beneath it lay the steely core of someone who would not be broken. "I am not lying, Your Highness. Those moves were taught to me by my master."
Well, that master wasn’t Jethru, but a ballet teacher that her father hired because he said ballet could make her body flexible.
Her eyes locked with Reuben’s—unyielding and intense. A quiet fire danced within them, refusing to waver. In that charged silence, the air itself felt heavy, vibrating with unspoken challenge.
Beside her, Percival shifted uneasily, his fingers twitching at his sides. He could feel the tension rising like steam.
Gideon, standing stiffly on her other side, dabbed at his forehead, sweat dripping from his temples despite the cool night air.
Bener, ever the strategist, was already calculating possible exits, his mind racing with ways to extricate his sister from the tightening noose.