Penny's heart thumped once—hard—but her composure returned with noble precision.
She drew a slow, steady breath, lowered her gaze just slightly, and executed a perfectly measured curtsey.
"With all due respect, Sir William," she answered, voice calm and disciplined, "neither to my knowledge am I married, nor am I betrothed to anyone."
Her words were poised, elegant… and cautious.
But before anyone could respond—
BOOMING LAUGHTER ripped through the forest.
It was so loud, so brazenly powerful, that the birds nesting in the canopy burst into flight in a frantic storm of feathers. Even the Nagas flinched, their coils tightening in instinctive alarm.
The laughter came from the large, ornate carriage Sir William had escorted.
A soldier sprinted forward and yanked the door open.
What stepped out… shook the entire carriage.
A massive foot. Then a leg thicker than a tree trunk.
