Dionne
The silence was absolute.
It felt like no one moved or breathed and my heart simply stopped beating.
Oh goddess. Oh goddess, what have I done?
The teapot slipped from my nerveless fingers, clattering against the floor. The sound echoed through the chamber like a death knell, and I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but stare at what I'd done.
The King's eyes, which had been their usual gunmetal gray, began to shift. Gold bled through the iris like spilled wine, almost swallowing the gray. The temperature in the room plummeted, and I watched in frozen horror as his fingers curled against the armrest of his chair, the wood groaning under the pressure. His jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jump beneath his skin.
Then he inhaled sharply through his nose, and the gold in his eyes receded. His hands unclenched slowly, deliberately, like he was forcing each finger to release one at a time.
