---- The pause was brief; as soon as they recognized the Dukes crest, they let us through.
I shifted thece curtain slightly.
Outside, the city was bustling, lively, busy.
Thad never seen such prosperity before.
My eyes darted across the massive stone buildings we passed, the crowded streets, filled with exotic goods and spiced aromas.
Ten years...
the world had moved on without me.
"Fix that expression.
Remember who you are now," Freya muttered, adjusting her headscarf.
With every meter forward, we drew closer to the hill, to the Dukes castle.
When the carriage finally stopped, I felt the coachman dismount.
Sweat dampened my back.
Panic coiled around my throat.
?My daughter.
Iam doing this for my daughter.
I cannot fail? I swallowed the lump in my throat, and as the door swung open, I adjusted my gloves and stepped into the role I had to y.
Katherine Pembroke died in that asylum.
I am Rosse Everhart.
The Duchess of Everhart.
---- From the moment I saw him, everything about him fascinated me.
His roughness, his wild, piercing blue eyes, his sharp and masculine features...
his disdain...
Tears spilled from my motionless eyes.
?Not once...
not even once...
did you ever want to make love to me, Elliot? sek KATHERINE My body rocked with the movement of the carriage, the coachman urging the horses forward, hoping to reach Everhart Duchy before nightfall.
I pulled back the curtain, peering outside.
The green hills stretched endlessly toward the horizon, sheep grazing in the distance.
The sun sank behind the ever-present ck clouds that never seemed to leave.
In this realm, light always had to fight to break through the darkness.
"Dont be nervous.
You ll do just fine," Freyas voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I met her wise, dark eyes and nodded.
I hadnt eaten since we left.
I couldnt.
Even a piece of bread refused to go down my throat.
Nervous? That word didnt even begin to describe what I felt.
Freya had been our nursemaid, the only person in that house who had ever genuinely cared for me, and now! wanted her toe with me so I could protect her.
I twisted my hands together, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind.
The journey continued, and soon, the carriage halted before towering walls.
---- would be condemned.
I didnt know where it hade from.
I always suspected our mother had been the strange oneshe died after giving birth to us.
We never knew her.
Father never spoke of her.
By the time Katherine regained consciousness, she was already on her way to that mental institution, locked away.
Father didnt have the heart to kill her, so he hid her.
I took her ce, her daughter, and became the betrothed of the Duke living in the countryside.
It was a rushed, discreet wedding.
People whispered that I had been pregnant out of wedlock, but no one dared to say it openly in front of the Duke.
However, they didnt respect me.
He never gave me my rightful ce.
I knew exactly what the servants and even the people of the Duchy whispered behind my back? ook I staggered toward the bed, but my legs wouldnt hold me.
Tripping over a fold in the carpet and my own feet, I copsed onto the floor.
So much pain...
It felt like that thing inside my body was consuming me, tearing me apart.
My heart beat slower and slower.
Ilet out a bitter smile, staring at the white ceiling, my trembling hand pressing against my chest, my vision growing blurry.
In my final moments, I thought of him.
I did love him.
---- Katherine might die.
Then, Katherine lost control.
Her body began to glow with eerie, supernatural lights, magic swirling around us.
Nana almost had a heart attack from the shock.
But it wasnt the first time Katherine had done this.
Years ago, when our dog died, she had lost control the same way.
Father never knew.
I had kept quiet, terrified that Id be used of carrying that same supernatural gue.
The baby was born, but Katherines body was covered in unnatural markings.
She floated above the bed, eyes nk, hair billowing around her.
It was horrifying.
Nana tried to calm her down.
She handed the baby to me.
She nced fearfully at the door.
My father called from the hallway, asking what was happening, and Nana looked at me pleadingly.
She wanted me to stay silent again, to hide my sisters abomination.
Not this time.
"Aaaahhh! Katherine, what are you doing?! Whats happening to you?! Father, save us! Father!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The baby wailed, shaken by the chaos.
My father, rmed, burst into the room, shoving the door open.
Among the bloodied rags and soiled sheets, he saw what had be of my sister.
This time, there was no justification.
Nothing could make her the favored daughter over me.
If anyone found out Katherine had magic in her veins, our entire family