The following morning started overcast. Before the sun even began to shine its fullest, rain poured. The courtyard was drenched, and there was discernable flooding at the back of the castle. Cook Hannah cursed in her kitchen as water splashed through the door’s threshold. Horses were neighing, panicked at the thunderstorm. The smell of earth was overpowering, wafting even up to the tower where the princess contemplated her escape.
While the feel of Adrian’s lips was still fresh on hers, Soraya knew that fleeing with him at this point was not an option. Leaving her father and her mother while a strong Queen Drusilla lurked, her presence evident at each turn, could be deadly. It was in the way her mother’s visits to her room became less regular. It was in the way her father lost his imperi
