Princess TalenaSecurity at the palace had tightened since the incident which left a vacation villa destroyed, a number of staff, knights, and security personnel dead, and a strange new sense of clarity in its wake.My nightmares move between the faces of those lost and the image of him walking away and leaving me behind.It was not exactly pleasant.The incident at Virex Caelum had shaken those who knew, but most people had no idea of the extent of what the attack had actually created. My father was trying to keep it that way.Without context, people attempted to understand it through the only means available to them. Hearsay and rumor, some through magical means, but mostly hearsay and rumor. People preferred to frame what happened as something contained and expected, something that fit cleanly into reports and briefings. Those who were better informed debated whether the attack had been an attempted kidnapping or an assassination. There had been many nights of discussion, but as the months passed, the distinction mattered far less than anyone was willing to admit.I did not care about any of that. My concern, my desire, was squarely on seeing him again. Because if I was being honest, if everyone was being honest, we all knew that if he had not appeared when he did, I would not be here. That conclusion required no speculation. At best I would have been taken and used. At worst, assaulted and discarded. Neither outcome held much appeal."You are fidgeting," Nira said quietly beside me. "Stop."I did not look at her."It is my party," I replied. "And I will fidget if I want to.""It is a state function, not your party," she said, adjusting the fall of my sleeve with careful precision. "And you will behave accordingly."She said it with force but affection. I sighed and willed my hands still.The corridor ahead opened toward the main hall, and the difference in security (...)