{Third Person}
Not far from them, a small cluster stood watching. Their voices were low, but edged enough to carry.
"They are too comfortable with her."
"She doesn't belong here."
"This isn't some gathering for entertainment."
Amara heard all of it, but didn't bother turning. The ease she had just settled into didn't disappear, but something shifted quietly beneath it. A reminder—a line she could not cross, no matter how natural things felt in this moment.
Kael noticed the change in her expression, and so did one of the others.
"If you have something to say, you might as well say it properly," he called out, his tone light but carrying just enough weight."
The murmuring stopped. No one stepped forward or tried to repeat it louder. The tension lingered for only a second before dissolving, like something no one wanted to fully claim.
