When Yulia moved with the needle and the servant beside her carried a box of flasks, everyone immediately stretched out their hands, pinching the tips of their index fingers, eager to help so more blood would spill.
The motion was almost mechanical, obedient, like a ritual they had done a hundred times before. While the others busied themselves with the pricking, Oppera, who had walked Emma into the hall, noticed how Emma alone sat unmoving. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, face unreadable, as if she had not even registered the sting of bloodletting.
Following her line of sight, Oppera discovered that Emma was staring at Karnala. But it was no ordinary look. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, not simply studying Karnala but measuring her, as though silently gauging which of them would prevail should they ever cross in combat.
