Azriel's Point Of View
I watched her freeze.
The color completely drained from Seraphina's face, leaving her green eyes wide, wild, and utterly overwhelmed. Her throat hitched, her tiny hands trembling as she abruptly reached down for her leather purse resting on the side table.
For a moment, she looked like a creature caught between fight and flight, torn between the urge to run and the paralyzing weight of what had just been said to her. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, rapid bursts, as though the air itself had grown too thin to breathe.
Even her fingers seemed to betray her, fumbling clumsily with the purse's clasp as if her body had forgotten how to perform the simplest of tasks.
"I… I'll be leaving first," she stammered out, her voice frantic, completely unable to look any of us in the eye. "I'm... I'm late for my appointment."
