All Chapters of USURPED: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Jade breathed in the market's stink, the rotten fruit and wet earth, resting thick and sweet at the back of her throat, that she felt her shoulders ease. The rain didn't touch her the same way it touched everyone else. It beat against the wooden stalls and turned the streets soft with mud, and she only watched what it did to the people. Merchants crowded under the roofs, voices raised over the downpour as water slipped down their necks.Others moved quickly past with hoods low and eyes on the ground, hands wiping rain from their faces instead of holding on to what they carried. Coats hung loose on their shoulders as their bags swayed with every step. None of them looked up. Jade felt her pulse quicken. She liked people better when they weren't paying attention.She pulled her hood lower and drifted to a cloth merchant stall, close enough to almost seem like a buyer. Her eyes wandered over the colourful fabrics, rolls of dyed wool hanging heavy and wet. She ran her fingers on them like

The sight of the gate stole the little breath she had for that moment. The iron was twice her height, carved with the same crest she had seen earlier on the coin that was already ruining her afternoon. She barely had time to look around the gate before she was forced through them, marbles shined under her boots, gold plated on every wall, of course there was more wealth in the hall than in the entire Low market saw in many seasons. Her chest still rose up and down from the run while she gasped for a steady breathing. Her wrist burned where the rope bit deep, she was sure there would be bruises on them.None of that mattered as the one thought that kept hitting her head, over and over as sharp as a blade. 'They are going to take my hand.' Fear took control over her entire body, she trembled and sobbed softly as quiet as a whisper. At this point, fear wasn't going to save her fingers, only her wits could. She had to use it and come up with something believable even though her pulses hamm

The Queen didn't leave when Adrian asked her to. She stood rooted in place, staring at Jade like she was something offensive, a costume worn wrong, a joke made in poor taste at the worst possible moment. "Get out," she finally said, though the words weren't aimed at Jade at all they were on her husband. "Margaret..""Get her out of my sight." Her voice shook, grief and fury tangled so tightly together that Jade couldn't tell which one would win. "How dare you Adrian. How dare you bring some street girl in here and dress her up like my daughter?""I did what's necessary." Adrian's voice softened a bit."Necessary." The queen's laugh was broken, humourless. "Necessary was to bury Aurelia properly. Necessary was letting me mourn her instead of hiding her death like a stain on the carpet. This_" she gestured to Jade without looking at her, she couldn't bear to hold her gaze for a second at a time_" this is not necessary, this is mockery."This is survival," Adrian said, his voice hardening

Chapter 7Somewhere in this palace, a dead girl’s ghost was picking out her breakfast.Jade hadn’t slept enough to laugh at the thought, but it still circled in her head the moment a knock came at her door.“Enter,” she said, then immediately felt stupid.A young woman slipped inside carrying a tray, eyes down the second she crossed the room. “Breakfast, Your Highness.”She set the tray down without looking at Jade properly. That was a huge relief, Jade realized. It wasn't fear. This girl thought she was looking at someone who’d simply come home.“You don’t have to be so formal,” Jade said before she could stop herself.The girl blinked. “Of course, Your Highness. We’re all just so glad to have you back.”“What’s your name?” Jade asked suddenly. “Nessa. Then came a pause. I served you before you left for Bellmere.”Bellmere. Jade filed the name away. It was another piece of the lie. “Of course,” she said. “Bellmere. I don’t knowwhere my head’s been.”“Travel does that.” Nessa h

Dinner in the palace, Jade was quickly learning, was less a meal and more a performance with cutlery.The long table was covered in more silver than Jade had ever seen in her life. Candlelight spread across the faces of people she didn't fully trust and plates and utensils she still didn't know how to use properly.Adrian sat at the head of the table, with Margaret beside him. Her expression was carefully arranged into something that almost looked warm, if no one looked too closely.Jade sat across from several nobles Vosk had briefed her about that morning. She had already forgotten half their names. They all blurred together, just like everything Vosk taught her, until the moment she actually needed to remember.Lucien's chair sat empty. He was absent, probably in one of his phases.Jade noticed it right away. It wasn't exactly relief, but her chest loosened a little. At least there was one less person watching her through the meal."The Prince sends his apologies," Adrian said, befo