The echo of Klaus's cold words still lingered in the chamber long after he turned his back on Andrea and Caesar.
The silence that followed pressed heavily on the two kneeling figures, their foreheads still touching the stone floor, their bodies trembling with the weight of dread.
Andrea, her throat dry and her chest rising and falling rapidly, dared to raise her head only slightly.
The flickering torchlight illuminated the sharp lines of Klaus's back as he strode slowly toward the heavy doors.
Her heart screamed to remain silent, but her mind knew better.
There was one last piece of the truth she had not yet spoken, one detail so crucial that omitting it would mean the ruin of her kingdom and her life alike.
"My lord!" she cried suddenly, her voice breaking through the suffocating stillness. Her words echoed off the cold stone walls.
"Please… forgive me for not telling you this earlier. I did not tell you of the gift for the mission."
