[Music Recommendation: It's a Girl - Johannes Lehniger]
—
Ruelle felt her hands grow cold, which spread through her body, until even her breath turned short. This couldn't be happening, she thought to herself. It didn't feel real, and yet when her gaze dropped, it was there, the dark stain of blood smeared on the ground. Her stomach turned from worry.
For a moment the room seemed to tilt, the walls too far and yet too close at once and she could not tell if it was the metallic smell of blood or the silence that pressed harder against her chest.
She needed to say something, anything before her fate would be sealed.
"My king, I do not wish to be the prince's mistress. I had already conveyed this to him, and he accepted it," Ruelle said, forcing the words out before they could falter.
King Septimus did not respond immediately though his gaze remained on her. Then, slowly, his head tilted as he asked,
