CHAPTER 78
In no time, the order had spread across the kingdom of Alagascar, and shorty after every councilor gathered.
The council room had grown silent. The flickering torchlight lined the stone walls, throwing slow, shifting shadows across the long table. Grace stood at the head, her hand resting lightly on the carved arm of the high-backed chair.
She didn't sit.
The councilors watched her with mixed expressions, some guarded, others uneasy.
A few wouldn't meet her eyes.
King Charlenugo lingered by the side, arms crossed, silent but tense.
Grace exhaled slowly. "I won't drag this out."
Her voice was steady, stripped of any performance. "Steven is dead. I've spoken to everyone who had access to him. Questioned every shift change, every movement in and out of the lower cells."
A few councilors exchanged glances, but none spoke.
