The royal herald stepped forward and struck the marble floor with the butt of his staff. His voice rang out clearly across the grand hall, silencing the idle murmurs.
"Presenting Grand Duchess Amana and Sir Kyle Armstrong, Hero of the Realm!"
The heavy double doors opened, and Kyle and Amana stepped through together, heads held high.
They walked with calm, measured grace, but Kyle's sharp eyes immediately scanned the room.
It was packed.
Nearly every noble of note within the capital was present. The great lords, the minor dukes, the barons whose loyalties always shifted with the wind.
And more than half of them were glaring—or worse, whispering behind guarded hands. Some bore expressions of ill-contained fear, others of open resentment.
Kyle didn't miss the way a few of them went pale at the mere sight of him.
'Good. They should be afraid.'
He thought grimly.
At the far end of the long banquet hall, beneath a canopy of silver and blue velvet, stood Crown Prince Mikalius.
