The throne hall had not exhaled.
Not since the blade fell.
The stain remained.
Dark against white marble.
Unforgiving.
Unforgettable.
And yet somehow...
The silence now felt heavier than the execution.
No one moved.
Not the nobles. Not the guards. Not even the King.
They were watching.
Watching the way Sebastian still held her hand.
Watching the way he had not stepped away.
Watching the way Aliena stood beside him—not dismissed, not lowered, not sent away.
Beside him.
Her pulse would not calm.
She could still feel the echo of the scream in her bones. The sound of steel. The warmth of blood in the air.
And yet—
The hand at her waist was steady.
Solid.
Real.
Sebastian had not released her since.
Not once.
She swallowed slowly.
"Everyone is staring," she whispered.
His gaze did not shift from the nobles.
"They should."
Her fingers trembled faintly in his grasp.
"This isn't necessary."
That made him look at her.
Fully.
Dark eyes locking onto hers.
