Once inside the royal palace, Elira slowly made her way to the royal court, where Prince Aranthor would preside over the award ceremony.
At first, she had been indignant about the beauty pill. She had not liked that her worth would be measured by something as trivial as appearance, but she had pushed it aside. This was not the time for pride; it was the time for pragmatism.
And now she saw that Eldrin had been right.
As Elira walked through the hall, she could see the change in the eyes that looked her way—admiration replacing scrutiny, intrigue replacing dismissal.
In her entire life, Elira had never once thought that she would be stepping inside here. She was a slave, a nobody but now she was going to be dealing with the most powerful noble family in their lands, the royal family.