Rimea swallowed hard, her elegant composure fracturing just enough to reveal the raw, jagged anxiety beneath. She cast another quick, nervous glance toward the far end of the gallery, where two royal guards stood posted near the grand stairwell, before leaning closer to the queen.
"Please my queen I have two things I would like to ask of you. First, It is about Daeron," Rimea whispered, her fingers lingering on Aurelia's sleeve before she pulled her hand back and clasped her fingers tightly together. "My husband and I... we visited him in the lower dungeons less than an hour ago. Valerian has him bound in cold iron, locked in the dark water-cells beneath the eastern keep."
Aurelia raised an eyebrow, her posture remaining perfectly still. "A predictable venue for a man accused of high treason against his sovereign."
