Eiravyne stumbled backward, her heel catching on the hem of her thin nightgown, but she didn't fall.
A choked, soundless gasp escaped her throat as she spun around and fled into the pitch-black corridor.
She ran with reckless speed, her bare feet slapping cold against the jagged floorboards, making no effort to quiet her footsteps.
Tears finally burst free, hot and furious, burning across her pale cheeks and blurring her vision until the towering stone archways melted into a disorienting, shadow-strewn haze.
The explicit, dripping arrogance of the princess's whisper roared in her ears, looping over and over alongside Karl's cruel taunts.
"Urag is the King's lap dog... . I am going to fuck you raw."
The distance back to her bedchamber felt endless, a dark labyrinth closing in around her, suffocating her from every side.
When her hands finally slammed against the heavy oak of her door, she threw herself inside, shoving the massive door shut .
