Third person's POV
Someone shouted:
"Is it true? You summoned blood magic?"
Another voice:
"She faked the heir twice!"
Panic rippled through the crowd.
Sasha, cornered, lashed out.
"She's lying! She's the traitor! She's carrying a bastard child to overthrow us!"
But Camila stepped forward, pulling a blade from beneath her cloak.
She drove it into the floor at Sasha's feet—a symbol of a formal Blood Challenge.
The ancient laws demanded that lies be answered with blood.
The council had no choice.
The High Lord stood, pale and furious.
"By the old rites," he declared, "Sasha of House Velmora, you are summoned to trial by blade."
Sasha's lips curled back in a snarl.
She knew she had lost.
But she would not go down quietly.
The ballroom was transformed by ancient rite.
The velvet carpets were pulled back, revealing the cold stone beneath. The musicians had fled. Nobles pressed back against the walls, watching with horrified fascination.
