Two words. Calm. Measured. But they carried enough weight to stop an emperor mid-declaration.
She stood slowly, her movement drawing every eye in the Winter Hall. The silence, already profound, somehow deepened further. Even the floating light orbs seemed to dim slightly, as though the very air was contracting around what was about to happen.
Her silver gown caught the light as she rose, making her look almost ethereal. Untouchable. A figure carved from ice and authority and decades of unchallenged power.
"If I may."
It wasn't really a request. It was a statement wrapped in the thinnest veneer of propriety.
