Tempting the Wrong Prince
“You built the gallows with your own hands, Mother, and put me on them.”
She flinched, not much, but enough for me to see it. “I gave you heirs,” she said firmly, though her voice tightened at the edges. “Heirs that would secure your crown.”
“They are not heirs,” I snapped, fury lashing through me. “You would know that if you cared enough to read the laws you claimed to uphold. Children born outside wedlock could not inherit the throne. Even if I had married Rachel today, James and Eleanor would never be considered royal. Do you realise what you’ve done? You forced life upon them for your game, and now they will grow with the stain of bastardy on their shoulders.”