Lugh had barely taken a single step forward when he was abruptly attacked.
It was a sneak assault—sudden, savage, and launched with an extraordinary amount of force behind it. One moment he was walking, and in the very next, time seemed to freeze for him.
Everything slowed to a crawl as his thoughts surged forward at the speed of light.
This was bad.
Very bad.
This wasn't a contingency he had accounted for.
He had anticipated etiquette, formal decorum, the cold but predictable maneuverings of the elite.
He had expected them to be shackled by rules and tradition, bound by their titles and obligations.
Never—not in his most paranoid moments—had he imagined a Prince would resort to such a cowardly, underhanded move.
It was beneath royalty.
It was beneath dignity.
And yet here it was: Prince Wittman, attacking without warning.