Chapter 106: Drawn from the Dark
Lyria's POV
The silence that followed the man's demand was not empty.
It was suffocating.
It pressed against my chest, curled around my throat, and stole the very air from my lungs as every eye in the Grand Hall lingered.
"Then show them," he had said.
And for one terrible, unrelenting moment, it seemed as though the entire world waited upon my fate.
The King laughed.
It was not a pleasant sound.
It rang sharp and brittle, echoing against marble and crystal, laced with something that made my skin prickle.
"Madness," he declared, his voice cutting through the tension. "Utter madness."
"You stand before us," he continued, fixing the intruder with a gaze of cold disdain, "and spin tales so absurd that even a fool would hesitate to entertain them."
The man did not flinch, though instead, he smiled.
"Your Majesty," he said calmly, "you may call it madness if it soothes you. But we both know I stand here in perfect clarity of mind."
