LYRA POINT OF VIEW.

Kael stood over Aria, the untouched bone lying between them like an insult carved into stone. Every eye in the hall followed his movements now, even the elders, who rarely reacted to anything, leaned forward slightly.

He did not tolerate defiance, not in private, and certainly not in front of the entire royal court.

Slowly, deliberately, he stepped down from the raised platform where the head of the table stood. The sound of his boots against the floor echoed through the ...