Kessiri hissed through her teeth. "Why are there this many pests crawling underfoot tonight? It's genuinely starting to grate on me. And now a maid, of all things, finds the nerve to mock me to my face. Fine. I'll repay this insult. I'll repay every single thing that's gone wrong this evening, down to the last drop."
The aura pouring off her dropped a cold weight of fear over the whole room. Most of the spectators were already scrambling for the exits the moment they felt the danger coming, though a rare few stayed put to drink it in. One of those few was Rora, bellowing at the very top of her lungs, "Kill! Kill! Kill her!"
The two girls flanking her answered in flat unison. "Shut up."
Rora turned, her sluggish brain taking a moment to register exactly who she was standing between. The two princesses. Seraphina and Elira. Both wound tight as bowstrings, and after firing one withering look her way, they snapped their eyes straight back to the scene.
