"A body?!"
Their voices rang out almost in perfect unison. Iryna stared at Marielle with wide, disbelieving eyes. Beside her bed, Gillian stood equally rigid, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as his jaw locked in sheer disbelief.
Around the bed, a tense gathering of Cherion, Zarius, and the others from the North absorbed the shock.
"Yes," Marielle replied. She leaned against one of the carved wooden pillars of the bedpost, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her gaze fixed on the intricate patterns of the carpet rather than the princess.
Elios shifted his weight near the foot of the bed, his brow furrowing deeply. "First the Princess, now this?"
Marielle ran a frustrated hand through her hair, a deep sigh escaping her. "My guts say it's connected to the Princess's poisoning. You don't have a royal assassination attempt and a dead body within the span of a single night by sheer coincidence."
