"Guest etiquette?" A smile bordering on mockery touched Alonso's pale face.
"Fernandez, you and I both know that the boundaries of truth are not drawn by stone tablets and prayers. As for trespassing... isn't this door open to all who seek knowledge?"
His voice carried a peculiar cadence, each syllable crystal clear.
But as he spoke, the intangible pressure, far from weakening, swelled like a rising tide, weighing ever more heavily on everyone present.
Several of the more delicate noblewomen had turned deathly pale and were on the verge of fainting, kept upright only by the servants at their sides.
Even the battle-hardened Knights found it hard to breathe, their palms sweating as they gripped their sword hilts. It was a primal fear, stemming from the chasm between their levels of existence, that made it nearly impossible to summon the courage to even draw their blades.
