POV: Aphrodite
Titles rot when stripped of meaning.
The King announces the twins' trial the same way he announced everything else in this court — as fact, without ceremony, with the complete expectation of compliance and the total indifference to whether compliance feels comfortable.
"The Alpha-born," he says, and his rough ancient voice carries the words across the throne room to where Draco and Lucen are standing. "Command my guards. Prove the worth of your bloodlines."
I watch the twins absorb this.
