"What did I ever do to her for her to want to kill me?!" Iryna demanded, her voice a harsh, low whisper that carried perfectly across the rug. "Seriously, Gillian! Am I really that terrible of a guest? Did I look at her wrong? Did I breathe her air?"
Marielle and Elios had been long gone from the room, but before they left with others, Gillian had made sure to give them both a quiet, earnest word of thanks for stepping up and keeping her company when he was called away.
The moment they had privacy, Gillian didn't waste any time. He walked Iryna through everything he knew, leaving nothing out. Starting from the moment he stepped out of her room, he recounted every conversation, every decision, and every discovery in the exact order they had happened, all the way to his audience with the king and Gillian's decision to go down and examine the maid's body himself.
