"And wait, wait, wait—before you start boasting and saying whatever else you rehearse in front of a mirror—I don't give a fuck about you or your feelings," Isabella said, her voice cutting through the air like the crack of lightning against dry bark.
The words struck the courtyard like a storm.
Everyone gasped.
Like, visibly gasped. One of the guards actually clutched his chest. Another choked on his dried meat. The servant girls behind Garan blinked, stiffening like their backs had turned to stone. Even Glimora flinched with a soft squeak, though she quickly blinked up at Isabella, as if silently asking, Did you mean to be that savage?
Whispers erupted almost instantly, little rivers of shocked chatter:
"Did she just—?"
"She said it just like that?"
"No sugar. No leaf-wrapping. Just—bam."
