The royal audience hall was heavy with the scent of polished oak, beeswax candles, and the faint metallic tang of nervous sweat.
If there was ever a time he wished to be invisible , it was now.
Duke Voss adjusted his collar, clearing his throat again, looking around the table.
Just yesterday, Salmeter had reported his plan gone awry.
It did not matter what justification or lies he told, being stripped of his title would be the least of his punishment if a whiff of suspicion about the crowned and beloved Duchess was directed his way.
The air was unusually tense for this special meeting the king ordered without warning.
For the time, he could swear he felt the king's eyes specifically on him.
Voss berated himself. It was his paranoia and guilt speaking.
Around him, others looked just as uneasy.
The last time King Louis called a meeting like this, corrupt officers were exposed and some executed or disgraced.
Seated opposite him was Baron Argyle, looking around uncomfortably.
