The sound of metal hitting china catches your attention, and you look to where the royal family is seated by a grand table upon a raised platform. A young man in red finery, whom you know is the heir to the throne, holds a bronze hand to his throat as he gasps for air. The crowds around you begins to murmur, then shout in horror as his eyes protrude out, his veins pulsing against the thinning skin. All goes still as he drops onto the table with one final raspy breath.
