I wouldn’t have a say. I didn’t expect to. It was a miracle that he had waited so long to marry me off. I always wanted to imagine it was because some part of him wanted to arrange a pact with a man who was worthy of me. But with each word he spoke, I knew. It was something else entirely.
They would use me as a bargaining tool to ease the pain our kingdom felt.
I wouldn’t even get to smell my mother’s roses before they bloomed.
My fingers traced the rim of my gilded teacup—the sun glinted off its raised embellishments. Rose petals floated to the top of the pale liquid.
“It’s too hot for tea.” I exhaled.
“Drink. It’ll do you a world of good.” Milana’s expression softened.
The liquid jostled around the cup as I trembled. “They said he couldhandleme.” I couldn’t stop thinking about their words.
“Princess.” Milana’s hand slid over my shoulder. “You know how your father is.”
“Cruel…fueled by his hatred for his eldest daughter?”
She straightened her features, fighting a smirk. “Your spirit is too much like your mother’s.”
“She never challenged him. And even when I try not to, he still sees me as a threat.”
“You were too young to notice, but your mother…” Pain flashed in her eyes. Her death still haunted us both.
“Was never someone he could love.”
“I’m afraid there’s more to it than that.” Her words dropped to a whisper.
Whatever it was—nothing would explain the way he spoke to her. The way he spoke to me. My father would never call me his favorite. Every attempt I made to maintain the peace failed.Now he would pass me off to another. Someone he didn’t want to ally himself with at all.
Tea seared my throat as the door creaked, but I only stared into the cup.
“Lady Reina is here to see you, Your Highness,” Milana said.
Reina’s blonde curls trailed over her delicate, pink gown.
“You sent for me?” Reina curtsied as she entered my chambers.
I gestured to the velvet sofa beside me.
“You look displeased,” she said as she sat down.
I wished my mother was there to handle the news alongside me.
“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?” Reina asked.
“A marriage is being arranged for me.” The words clawed at my throat.
Her blue eyes glistened. “That’s wonderful news. When did King Ardyn inform you?” She slid her teacup onto the table with practiced precision.
“I overheard it.” Milana’s brow raised as she organized the dresses in my wardrobe.
“Don’t tell me these things—it’s unseemly,” Reina scolded.
I was about to be bartered for supplies, and yet Reina knowing what she shouldn’t was her biggest concern.
A shrill cry echoed from my balcony. I rose to meet it.
A hawk perched on the railing. Its head rotated.
