na

e air, swallowing th

lass. She was trying to frame it as a domestic dispute-a simple matter of a disobedien

confidence. He saw my demand not as a call for truth, but as a delaying

ion was fixed on the doorway, where my

r and steady. "Go and fetch Doctor E

pression and eyes that missed nothing, gave

ed Bowen into the room moved to block her path, their hands resting on

isdain and produced from her sleeve a small, silver disc. Engraved on its surface was the sna

took an involuntary step back, clearing the path. The Shadow Guard answered only t

cheek. They had known, of course, that I was assigned a royal guard, but they had dismissed

was: a princess of the bl

ootsteps echoing in the stunned silence. The balance of power

s body gave a tiny, almost impercept

and dawning unease. This was the first taste of a vengeance I

just want to clear my name. I wanted to

nce between myself and my husband. My gaze

d your mother were so eager to condemn me, to believe the worst wit

formality. "Trust?

You dare speak of trust

ntirely on Bowen. "This union, forced upon me by my

every lonely night, every whispered insult from my first life fue

ice cut through the silent room, "that I, Fiona A

e room seemed

n a second head. Dissolve the union? A wolfless princess, a political pawn, was d

her face shifting from rage t

cry, her tear-filled eye

action blooming in my chest. The suffocating