The hall went dead silent after her father’s words.

He hadn’t raised his voice much, but the force in it rippled through the chamber like a blade slicing through calm water. Daniel shifted by the door, straightening subtly. My advisors, who had been hovering like shadows at the edges of the room, stilled as though afraid the wrong breath would draw his fury onto them.

Vanessa clung to her father’s leg, her sobs breaking into messy hiccups. Her face pressed against the fine fabric of his trousers, smearing dirt and tears on the neat lines.

“Papa, please,” she whispered, rocking against him like a child who’d scraped her knees. “Don’t...