Liam had expected the imperial palace of Agaron to be impressive.
He had not expected Cecil to describe half of it as a collection of architectural inconveniences that the imperial family had been too sentimental to demolish.
"That staircase," Cecil explained, gesturing toward a magnificent flight of white marble steps beneath an enormous crystal chandelier, "has been responsible for three broken ankles and an incident involving Orfeo that Father refuses to discuss."
Liam examined the staircase.
"What happened to Orfeo?"
"He was twelve and convinced he could fly."
"That sounds concerning."
"It was considerably more concerning for the chandelier."
Michel, who had been walking beside Liam with one hand wrapped around his fingers, looked up.
"Orfeo broke the chandelier?"
"Orfeo has broken several things," Cecil replied. "We are discussing the chandelier because you are not supposed to know about the others."
Ophelia immediately became interested.
"What others?"
