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It was impossible to bend over with the bustier, and I relied on the maid’s assistance to tug the loose pants up to my waist.
A pair of studded heels waited by the bed, but I shook my head, insisting on comfortable fine leather boots instead.
As I sat in front of the vanity, waiting for my hair to be braided by deft fingers, Cryssa stepped to my side and placed her hand on my bare shoulder.
“I don’t disagree with our queen often,” she began, tracing a ticklish line over the curve of my arm. “But she is wrong to mistake a quiet soul for a weak one.”
She leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek, offering me a tantalizing view of her dusky breasts encased in shimmering sequins. I willed my body to respond, filling my lungs with her scent and the provocation of her lush body. As before, it was a futile attempt.
Disappointment sat in my belly like lead.
“You are strong in ways she refuses to see,” she whispered, her lips lingering against my skin. Her voice was a soft purr, silkier than the cups of the bustier. “But I see it. I seeyou.”
There was something in her gaze—an intensity that thrummed a sense of unease in my chest.
The crest of her pointed nails dug into my jaw as she turned my head to face her. “You will make a brilliant queen, dearest. I know it.”
Her gaze scored mine until she was certain she had made her point. Only then did she straighten and move away.
The maids took her place, slicking down my frizzy curls with gel before separating them into even halves for the fishtail braids I preferred. It was the only hairstyle that kept my curls in check for longer than a couple hours, and I wished to look meticulous tonight.
I watched Cryssa glide to the mantel, retrieving a small clutch from the ledge. She pulled out a powder puff and buffed it against her nose.
“You forget,” she said as she corrected her makeup. Her voice was faint behind the cup of her palm. “You’re all she’s got. You’re her legacy, and she will do what it takes to make you happy. Even if it makesherunhappy.”
Was it quite that simple?
I pondered Cryssa’s response as I ran a damp towel over my face and neck, wiping away any residual sweat.
As far as I could remember, mother had never approved of my choices. Not once had I heard a compliment, or a word of encouragement from her lips—and it wasn’t from a lack of trying.
When I’d decided to get a degree in community planning and agriculture instead of strategy or financial planning like she’d wanted, she had given me the silent treatment formonths.But as Cryssa put it, she hadn’t stopped me, although it was well within her power to.
Perhaps there might be some truth in Cryssa’s observation,I mulled, darkening my eyes with kohl, and dabbing a peachy color on my lips. While mother might disagree with me on most things, sheneededme.
And that was my only saving grace.
Another knock sounded at the door.
“It is time, Your Highness,” Carver intoned, and I glanced at my profile in the mirror. Red-rimmed eyes stared back at me, and my jaw was tight with tension. My only hope was that people looking my way would glance at the exposed chest rather than my far inferior face.
It was not perfect, but it would have to do.
Chapter Four
Zoei
Bleeding buggering hell.
A bloody farce, that’s what this was.
All these people converging in revelry, wearing their finest velvets and silks, lips parted wide with wine-induced cheer. Those very same lips wouldn’t hesitate to speak against me in a heartbeat should the house of Highblade show any weakness, any crack in its armor.
I leaned forward on the unyielding silver throne, resting my elbows on my knees as I surveyed the over-crowded room.
The people of court couldn’t be trusted—they were in attendance merely for the dramatics, to bear witness to a coronation once in their lifetime. Half of them had spoken up against me, thinking they were safe in the anonymity the Council provided. But they didn’t understand the lengths I would go to understand who was truly on my side.
From my vantage point, I took in the cacophonous laughter and glitter of flashy jewelry. Rubies were in favor at the event, a silent pledge to the hue of my soul’s sorcery, although diamonds often caught the light in a blinding display. The shine of them was incapacitating, and I had half a mind to order everyone in the room to pocket those ridiculous displays of wealth until the public coronation was over.
