The bells tolled heavily across the Fae palace three times before stopping, the ominous countdown reminding everyone that it was midnight.
Baron's execution was due.
The ground was so packed with faeries that there was no space, and the smaller winged faeries such as the pixies couldn't have been more grateful for their size as they hovered curiously in the air.
All of their murmurs quieted immediately, a ripple of silence spreading through the crowd as every head turned toward the raised execution platform at the center of the courtyard.
Torches burned along the perimeter, their flames reflecting off the faces of the stern-faced Fae guards at the sides, doing their duty. The air was thick and oppressive, the fear from the people even reaching Violet where she stayed on the rooftop, watching the procession.
Then the doors of the palace opened, and her mother, Queen Seraphira, stepped out with regal bearing.
