Chapter 239: The Point of No Return
The Queen's eye twitched.
A crack in the polished surface of her composure. She regarded Duke Valenridge with a gaze that had frozen lesser men where they stood, but the Duke did not flinch. He simply waited, his pale green eyes steady, his posture relaxed.
"Your Grace," the Queen said, her voice cool, "do you know what a physician is?"
Duke Valenridge tilted his head.
"Do you know what propriety is, Your Majesty?"
The Queen's smile faltered, thinning at the edges, becoming something sharper, more brittle.
"Are you daring to speak to me in such a manner?" she asked.
The Duke's expression did not change.
"I speak to people exactly as they speak to me," he said. "Your Majesty knows precisely what I mean by that."
The Queen stared at him.
