LOGINI wouldn’t egg him on when he was in a mood like this. On our own, we each showered and changed. We read while in bed, utterly ignoring each other. Grayson went to bed first, his back to me. I turned off the light, set my book aside, and went to bed too, my back to him.The distance between us felt
Lillian’s POVI was grateful for Clara’s warning, because all day long, through the brunch event, the lunch event, tea, and dinner, I heard others talking about the rumors like I wasn’t even present.“They’ll be such a lovely couple.”“And think of the political gains! To have the kingdoms tied toge
Lillian’s POV“Did he send you?” I asked Ivory.“No,” Ivory said. “But I saw what happened, and where he went. I knew you were waiting. When I found out you hadn’t been told, I came here myself.”I lowered my chin. “Thank you for that. Maybe he thought he wouldn’t be so long. Or he lost track of tim
Lillian’s POVI placed my hand in Grayson’s, and his fingers closed around the back of my palm. People were whispering around us. Even Odette lightly gasped. But Grayson paid them little mind, and with his attention all on me like it was, I had a difficult time looking away from him long enough to n
Lillian’s POVSo focused on planning and training, the days ticked by and before I really knew it, the day of Odette’s welcome banquet, my birthday, arrived. I had only seen Grayson in passing, not spending more than a moment’s greeting since he had kissed me in the ballroom during planning.At nigh
Lillian’s POVWhen I wasn’t pushing myself to my limits on the training ground, I dedicated myself to actually planning Odette’s welcoming event. I wasn’t looking forward to the event, and I still had unhappy feelings about it taking place on my birthday, without any acknowledgement of my birthday a
Or I had thought he was teasing. In hindsight, he was likely mocking me openly.Piers seemed different. He was listening attentively, like my opinion mattered.“If you like paintings, then you must see the galleries here,” Piers said. “What do you say? How about you and I sneak out of this stuffy pl
Lillian’s POVJosephine proved true to her word, and I was provided a gown shortly after. The corset was snug against my ribs, digging uncomfortably into my wounds. But the dull throb was nothing to pains I’d suffered in the past. If anything, it only made me feel more alert, which I needed to be af
Lillian’s POVI pulled the hem up to my ribs. The skin along my left side was purple and scraped raw where I'd hit the stairwell railing. The old lash wounds on my back had reopened in two places, thin lines of red seeping through the closed skin.Grayson knelt beside the bed. His hands were steady.
The drug turned my muscles to sand.I sagged against Calvin's chest, my arms hanging, my legs gone. He held me up with one arm around my waist and kept the cloth over my face until the room went soft around the edges.When he finally pulled it away, I gasped. The ceiling tilted."W-what—" My tongue







