The banquet hall was completely stuffed and yet there were additional halls set up for the lesser nobility that wouldn't fit. In our room I spotted the king and queen, Duke Orla, and the crown prince.
The duke hardly took his eyes off me, which made me uncomfortable, but someone else was doing the same thing. Someone I didn't know.
He had the same dark hair as the duke but instead of brown, his eyes were a smoky gray. I had never seen such eyes. Sadness pooled within them but they still stared at me with the intensity of several suns. It was a bit alarming.
"Percy," I whispered. "Do you know who that man is?"
"Which one?" he whispered back.
"The one staring at me!"
"Lots of them are staring at you. You are possibly the prettiest debutante here; you are going to get swarmed on the dance floor," he predicted grimly.
