"Why don't you join us, dear queen?"
Mercedes froze in place.
Not the figurative kind of freeze.
Literally, the air around her dropped ten degrees.
Her expression was a mixture of:
horror,
shame,
exhaustion,
and that kind of shock that only someone who has slept badly for six consecutive days and heard things they shouldn't have would feel.
"WHAT??!" Mercedes choked, almost tipping her own icy scepter. "I DIDN'T—YOU—HOW—"
The words came out truncated, as if each syllable was an attempt to restart her internal system.
Strax blinked, too innocent for someone who had caused a six-night auditory diplomatic collapse.
"Calm down," he said with a nonchalant smile. "It was just a joke."
It was a lie.
He wasn't joking.
And Mercedes knew.
All the color drained from her body to her face.
"You— YOU—" She pointed at him, trembling. "Don't make that kind of provocation with me when I'm… when I'm…"
She searched for words.
She couldn't find any that weren't humiliating.
