Nora
"How brilliantly insightful you are, Madam!" Aura gushed.
"We must be prudent," Barbara instructed, her confidence absolute. "We shall begin currying favor with the ladies most likely to catch the King's eye next. Pay close attention during the upcoming palace receptions."
"Yes, Madam!"
Their voices swarmed around me like a cloud of gnats, their poisonous words intertwining with Clyde's cold declarations to form a symphony of my utter humiliation. The lava of anger and indignation in my chest surged, so hot and bitter I could taste it. I wanted to storm from my hiding place, to scream, to shatter their smug faces.
But what would I say? In his eyes, I was a tool. Replaceable. Disposable. A contract to be voided. What right did I, a pawn in my own tragedy, have to defend a dignity
