Chapter 6: A conspiracy afoot
As the great stone gates of the royal courtyard creaked open and the tension-laden congregation began to disperse, a cold wind whispered through the marble halls like a sigh of postponed calamity. The nobles murmured, warriors retreated, and the Queen's breath of relief echoed like a coward's anthem.
But not Keede Demios.
She moved with rigidity, moving beneath the flickering torches. Behind her veil of poise and ceremonial silk, her heart roared with venom. She watched the others from behind narrowed eyes, her lips tight, nostrils flaring ever so slightly.
"Royalty, my foot," she spat in her mind, the words acidic. "A bunch of trembling cowards hiding behind gold and false titles."
Her jaw clenched, and her fingers dug into her gloves until the leather creaked.
"Can't even handle a damn mutt, a Stain to my royal family. A mutt who should've died years ago—what in the nine hells is wrong with these fools?"
Her eye twitched as her gaze followed Zephyr's broken body being gently lifted by Demios soldiers—as if he deserved honor. As if he hadn't brought shame, risked war, and spat in the face of everything the clan stood for.
She turned sharply, storming down a side corridor, her heels clicking with purpose. The sound was sharp, crisp—like the bite of a dagger sliding into soft flesh.
"The Queen bends her knees like a whore the moment Demios flares its cursed little embers. Pathetic. This is the supposed wife of the sovereign ruler of the realms? The so called Queen? She's nothing but a gilded puppet with a crown too heavy for her spineless head."