The crowd went completely silent.
Vera and Thalia froze, color draining fast from their faces as they saw the king walking towards them.
Zarek stopped right beside Eliora. His eyes swept over Vera and Thalia, and the two women dropped to their knees.
"My king," Vera whispered, her voice trembling. "We were only... we were only greeting the queen."
He looked at Eliora, seeing the anger in her eyes and the tears threatening to spill, he placed his hand over her waist and pulled her closer to himself.
As soon as his skin touched hers, a strange shock ran through Eliora's head and her eyes rolled back. The noise in the hall vanished as she lost consciousness.
.....
When she finally came back to her senses, the first thing she felt was someone shaking her shoulders.
"Eliora! Look at me. Eliora!"
She blinked hard and saw Zarek standing in front of her, his face pale with panic. He was gripping her hands so hard his knuckles were white.
