#Chapter 49 A Royal Showdown

Ember My presence is requested before I can settle in my office the next morning. A junior guard knocks once, tense in the doorway, and hands me the parchment without a word. He turns and leaves before I can ask anything. I recognize the royal seal immediately. The King has summoned me. I read the message twice. There’s no mention of what the meeting is about, but I know. It’s about what happened at the ball. My pulse begins to race. I take a breath, but it does nothing to slow it. When I arrive, two guards step aside without speaking. I’m ushered into a formal chamber. The Queen is already seated beside the King, her face unreadable. The King’s posture is stiff, and he does not look pleased. I bow as instructed. “Your Majesties.” The King doesn’t invite me to rise. He studies me in silence. “You caused quite the disturbance last night,” he says eventually. “A guard abandoning her post, kneeling in the center of the ballroom floor like some wet-nurse.” My jaw ti