Sabine's face drained of colour. Her heart pounded so violently in her chest that for a moment she thought everyone in the hall could hear it. The meaning of everything struck her and words spilled out of her mouth in a desperate rush.
"I didn't do it," she repeated, her eyes flying to Alaric's face as if she could somehow make him believe her.
The king's jaw tightened, and when his voice cut through the hall, it thundered against the walls.
"You dare lie to my face?"
At once Sabine dropped to her knees, the fabric of her gown bunching beneath trembling fists as her fingers clutched it so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"How do you still deny it when you've been caught?" he asked, his eyes narrowing into something dark and dangerous.
Sabine's thoughts spiralled wildly as she searched for any possible way out of this.
