Maroon Cypress
On the day the Crown Prince staged his coup, I threw myself between him and the old King without a second thought.
In my past life, I'd sent word ahead about the Crown Prince's plot to my husband, the Second Prince, Cyrus Pattison. Cyrus arrived in time to save the King, and once the old King passed, he took the throne — and I became Queen alongside him.
But the woman he'd truly loved had died that same winter.
He said nothing about it to my face, but he never let it go. The resentment festered underneath, unspoken and unforgiven.
Then, on the day I gave birth, he had the midwife take my baby away and made me watch, helpless, as my own child froze to death in the winter cold.
I screamed at him, demanding to know why he'd done it. He only sneered.
"If not for you, would Marilyn ever have died? This is simply a debt paid in blood. Consider it mercy — from your King."
I went half-mad, clutching my dead baby's body, until the cold finally dragged me under.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the Crown Prince staged his coup.