“Precisely,” Peta said, stepping closer. She was not flaunting; she was offering. “You have generals for your armies, spymasters for your shadows, and accountants for your gold. But who guards the heart’s antechamber? Who holds the loyalty that cannot be bought, but must be felt ?”
“My ears, my hands, my mind, and my voice are yours,” she declared. “But these?” She gestured to the smooth, alabaster curve of skin above her heart. “These I pledge anew.” peta pledges her cleavage allegiance
She knelt, the velvet pooling around her. “From this day forward, every beat beneath this bodice is a drum march for you. Every sigh, every sharp intake of breath when you enter a room, is a salute. My loyalty doesn’t reside in my head, where doubt can fester. It lives here.” She tapped the hollow of her throat. “And I have decided it will die here, for you, before it ever whispers a disloyal word.” “Precisely,” Peta said, stepping closer
Then the Sovereign laughed—a real, unguarded laugh that startled the court more than the pledge itself. “Rise, Peta. Your allegiance is… accepted.” But who guards the heart’s antechamber
At the foot of the throne stood Peta.
“And what do you want in return for this… thoracic devotion?” the Sovereign asked.
“Your Magnificence,” Peta said, her voice a silken purl that cut through the court’s murmur. She did not bow. Instead, she placed a hand on the plunging neckline of her gown of midnight velvet. It was a calculated gesture, theatrical and absurd, yet delivered with the gravity of a high priestess at an altar.