The words struck like lightning. For a heartbeat, the entire hall seemed frozen, no one quite able to process the sheer audacity of the statement. Then came the outrage, louder and sharper than before.
"Impudence!" someone shouted.
"He dares speak so to the Counselor!" another exclaimed.
"Does he have a death wish?" came the sneer of an elder noble.
Even the Counselor himself looked momentarily stunned, his eyes narrowing in disbelief at the boy's boldness. "You lack manners, you lack wisdom, and you lack any sense of self-preservation," he growled. "How dare you speak to me so? Do you not understand that I could obliterate you where you stand in the time it takes to draw a breath?"
