ALDRIC
The sentinels moved in the moment the gavel came down.
Two of them flanked me on either side. Their hands closed around my arms with enough pressure to make it clear they were not taking chances. A third positioned himself behind Ronan and did the same.
We were walked out through the side door while the hall continued to erupt behind us. I could still hear the voices. The shocked exclamations. The arguments breaking out between people who had been sitting quietly moments before.
They thought they had me.
They thought Madeline's little performance and that bastard Cian's strategic reveal had sealed my fate.
They were wrong.
The corridor outside the hall was cooler. Quieter. The stone walls absorbed sound in a way that made every footstep echo. I kept my face neutral and my breathing even. The sentinels did not need to see anything that resembled panic.
Panic was for people who had run out of options.
I still had options. Plenty.
