For a long, agonizing beat, the universe felt as though it had ground to an absolute halt.
Silver sat completely paralyzed, his breath caught tight in his throat. His icy-blue eyes were wide, staring blankly at the dark carved canopy above the bed as the heavy weight of her words settled into his bleeding chest.
"Silver, you are the most precious person I possess."
He had served her for years. He had stood beside her through dark court intrigues, massacres, and silent betrayals. He had been her shadow, her enforcer, her sharp-tongued jester, and the only creature allowed to tread the razor's edge of her dark temper. She had kept him closer than anyone else in the entire realm—yet never once, in all those violent years, had a single word like this crossed her lips.
