"Your Highness."
The maidservants dropped into deep, synchronized curtsies the moment Gabriel strode into the sunlit chamber.
He barely acknowledged them, his mind racing far ahead of his body.
"Where's Mother?" he asked, his eyes already scanning the empty seating area.
"Her Majesty has gone to the rose garden," the eldest maid replied quickly, smoothing her apron. "I'll fetch her at once—"
"Gabriel?" Mabel's gentle voice cut through the air from the doorway. She stood framed in the arch, a light shawl draped over her shoulders. "What is it, darling? You look—"
She stopped, reading the storm on his face before he turned fully toward her. The maidservant froze mid-step, sensing the shift in the air. The other attendants quietly retreated to the corners with their heads bowed.
"Katelyn… She's been abducted." Gabriel delivered the news to her. Noah's tiny face turned upset hearing that name.
