I wake before the sun rises, knowing that I need to be ready to face my peers. I have been stripped of my titles and they will wonder why. My promotions put me in the spotlight, sure, but I’m sure that gossip will feel like nothing compared to what it is now that I’ve lost them.I wash and dress qui
It isn’t just about the insult. It also confirms that no matter what I do I’ll never be enough for him, not even as a guard.My nausea returns, in full force. I try to breathe through it, moving to press my back against the cool stone wall. After a minute I shift and allow myself to slowly sink into
Bianca smooths the sleeve of her dress before stepping inside Kaine’s office, uncomfortable with how fragile her position in the palace felt in light of his assassination attempt. She takes a deep breath before smoothing her expression into one of concern.“I heard about the incident,” she says, til
Robert delivers the sealed envelope in silence, as he always does. He bows as the Queen takes it from his hand, then steps back.She opens it slowly. Her expression is composed, almost bored, but as she reads the final line, her eyes pause, only for a second. She folds the paper and sets it aside.R
EmberI do my best to keep my composure as I head toward Kaine’s office. My breathing is even and my expression is blank. I nod to the other guards as I pass acting as if nothing has changed. To them it hasn’t.Only Jake knows how hard I’ve been working to bring down Lady Chantarelle. Even he doesn
I am going to raise the baby. My decision doesn’t come all at once, but slowly over the course of the morning. It starts as a quiet thought, an idea, but every time I look down at my stomach the that thought begins to solidify.I try to be logical, to weigh the consequences the way I would any patro