He stepped forward.
Every instinct told him to stay in the background. Stay low. Be invisible.
But that chance had passed the moment the announcer said his name, and Felicity's jest hadn't helped either. The princess didn't mean to put him in a difficult position. On the contrary, she adored him. But she had no way of understanding just how precarious his and the others' presence truly was here. To her, this was all harmless fun —a lighthearted jab to break the tension.
To him, it was a noose tightening around his neck.
He could feel the shifting weight of the room. The curiosity. The animosity. The suspicion. His party had drawn more attention than a pack of wolves at a sheep auction, and now every pair of eyes—noble and royal alike—were watching to see how the stranger would move.
So he did what a predator biding his time did when surrounded by other predators.
He smiled.
Calm.
Controlled.
Polite.
