Ironwood looked smaller from a royal convoy. That annoyed me. The pack had not become smaller. I had simply stopped making myself fit inside it. We entered the same courtyard where Ronan had stepped out of an SUV with Mira on his arm. This time the crowd was

The next pressure arrived in a silk folder. Of course it did. I was back in the capital less than a day when the succession committee requested a private audience. Three councilors sat across from me. Mara stood near the window because I had asked her to. Cassian w

Six months later, I stopped noticing the weight of the crown. Most days. The cross-pack treaty council had been arguing for forty minutes about winter freight routes when I finally closed the folder in front of me.

"Enough."

The room went quiet. Not because I used dominan