Maya’s POV
“Wh-what is happening?” Leo stammered.
Sebastian held out his palm and a crystal orb shimmered into existence above his hand, suspended midair like a summoned moon.
Shock cracked through the hall like splintering glass. Mouths parted. Spines stiffened. The air turned electric. The room reacted as one, staggered, breathless, disbelieving.
“The Crystal of Truth!” Princess Hannah choked out. “That hasn’t been summoned in — … ”
“Centuries,” one of the elders whispered.
The orb pulsed softly, illuminating the hall with a cold, otherworldly glow. Within its core, mist swirled, slow at first, then violently, as if sensing a lie in the room.
“I heard that the crystal materializes only to protect the truth!”
“Even the greatest kings have tried to summon it but the Crystal of Trut
