C267 ARIA STANDING INSIDE THE COURT

The doors of the Blood-Fed court opened slowly.

Aria had never grown used to the sound.

The hinges did not creak. The wood did not scrape against the stone. Everything in the palace moved with deliberate precision, as if the entire structure had been built to remind mortals how easily they could be crushed inside it.

Two guards escorted her forward.

The court chamber stretched wide and cold