Mia Black was not panicking, or so she wanted to believe. Not even while sitting in the Royal Opera Hall of Saha, surrounded by nobles dressed like magazine covers and presidents disguised as bored art patrons.
She tugged at the sleeve of the dress Denise had chosen for her, a shimmering teal thing that felt both too soft and too heavy, with embroidery she didn't want to know the price of.
Denise had called it "reasonable."
Which meant it could pay off Mia's old debt, buy her an apartment, and still leave enough to feed a small capital city.
She shifted in her seat.
'Okay. Maybe I am panicking a little.'
She looked down at the program, pretending to read the synopsis of the opera. Something about political grief and symbolic birds. Mia didn't have the emotional energy for symbolic birds right now.
Because in the span of half a year, her entire life had turned upside down.
