Duchess Lyria's glare could have sliced through steel.
Maribel barely had time to breathe before her mother stepped between us, posture rigid, expression carved from icy disdain.
"You cannot be seen with this woman," Duchess Lyria hissed.
Did she just— This woman?
I blinked slowly, letting the words sink in.
It was me.
[Wow. Brave. Or stupid. Or both.]
I know right, I always wonder where people get the confidence to disrespectful someone powerful than them.
Maribel rolled her eyes. "Mother, stop. Go away."
Lyria's nostrils flared. "If you stay any longer with her, you'll be ostracized by the other ladies and yourlife will be ruined too."
I inhaled slowly, deliberately, letting the tension stretch like a taut bowstring.
Calm. Polite. Regal.
She stared back, as if daring me to lose control. I wouldn't.
Then her venomous gaze landed squarely on me.
"You think I don't know what you did to that poor girl Clarisse? Bullying her—"
