PHIN

celain cracking against the saucer. "Lady? Don't you forget, if it weren't for

ll-mannered maid of yours over here. I will teach her how a ser

t with me from my old home, the only one I trusted.

my face. "Are you questioning my ability

suggesting that an order from my stepmother carries more

reminder of the shift in power. It

rds won't save you! It seems you've gotten a high opinion of your

gh her tirade, not loud, but

outside the door, entered immediatel

internal affairs of this castle. I find that... questionable. Please send a rider to the capital. I would like you t

dom of the crown, and Lord Gideon is the King's own brother. I doubt the managem

ord's demesne was a grave offense. For a non-noble to do

She was just a servant. If this reached the Kin

he oppressive aura of a dragon-kin knight filling the room

she collapsed onto the floor in a heap. "No! That won't be necessar

feet and practicall

ther servants in the hall, who had been watching from a distance,

well-admiration. I had won, not wi

hour later, an unexpected and unwe

mi

e a mask of cold fury. "Seraphina!

ighness. To what do we owe

. "You dare ask me? You sent your mother's aide a

on Grimsby is a servant, not my elder. Secondly, my only elders n

Your Highness, is that any way to speak to your elders? Perhap

hisper, but it hit hi

im, his face turning a blotchy red as he gasped for air, utterly humil

n, why trouble yourself with His Highness?" My cousin, T

"You've wed a corpse, cousin," he drawled, low enough that only I could hear. "A pr

m. "Mind your tongue, Tristan.

a living statue company, when you could be... kept warm?" He leaned closer, and the reek of wine and cheap co

n answer. I only lifted my ch

the kind of trouble I had spent two lifetimes learning to su