Nikolai

The silence was louder than the chaos.

I stood in the center of the ballroom, my hands hanging at my sides, my eyes fixed on the spot where Esmeralda's body had fallen. The guards had already moved her, carrying her away on a stretcher, her crimson gown trailing behind her like a river of blood. But the image was burned into my mind—the way she had crumpled, the way her eyes had stared at nothing, the way Cyrus had screamed. I could still hear that sound echoing in my ears, a raw, ...