Chapter 68 Tensions With The Royal Court

• The news came like a whisper at first. A rumor passed from ear to ear, slowly gathering speed, until it was no longer just a murmur—it was a roar. Amelia’s name echoed in the royal court, carried on the winds of change, and it sent a tremor through the hearts of those still loyal to the old regime. I knew it was only a matter of time before they came for me, before the royal court would decide that my rise was too dangerous to ignore.
• I had known the royal court well. I had grown up there, surrounded by the opulence and intrigue of the king's palace. But the palace I had once known was no longer the same. The walls, once gilded with gold and light, now seemed to exude a coldness that matched the shifting loyalties within. The once united court had fractured, its seams showing in the tense exchanges, the whispered conversations behind closed doors.
• Blue and Grey had tried to prepare me for it. They knew the cost of power, the way it could corrupt and divide. But nothing could have truly prepared me for the pressure I felt now, as the weight of an entire kingdom seemed to press down on my shoulders.