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"Be a dear and take those to the kitchen, Julian, won’t you?" she said, jabbing a long-nailed finger at the candies "The staff will be so grateful"

It took all Coriane’s strength not to scoff "The staff" was little more than a Red butler more ancient than Jessamine, who didn’t even have teeth, as well as the cook and two young maids, ere soht enjoy the candies, but of course Jessa them They’ll end up at the bottom of the trash, or tucked away in her own roo by his twisted expression But arguing with Jessamine was as fruitless as the trees in the corrupted old orchard

"Of course, Cousin," he said with a voice better suited to a funeral His eyes were apologetic, while Coriane’s were resentful She watched with a thinly veiled sneer as Julian offered one arift Both were eager to escape Jessamine’s domain, but loath to leave Coriane behind Still, they did it, sweeping away froht, leave me here You always do Abandoned to Jessamine, who had taken it upon herself to turn Coriane into a proper daughter of House Jacos Put simply: silent

And always left to their father, when he returned fro for Uncle Jared to die The head of House Jacos, governor of the Aderonack region, had no children of his own, and so his titles would pass to his brother, and then Julian after him At least, he had no children anymore The twins, Jenna and Caspian, were killed in the Lakelander War, leaving their father without an heir of his flesh, not to mention the will to live It was only a matter of time before Coriane’s father took up the ancestral seat, and he wanted to waste no ti so Coriane found the behavior perverse at best She couldn’t iry he rief It was an ugly, loveless act, and the thought of it turned her stomach But I have no desire to lead our family, and Father is a man of ambition, if not tact

What he planned to do with his eventual rise, she did not know House Jacos was sovernors of a backwater with little ht And of course, Jessamine, to

She took a seat with the grace of one half her age, knocking her cane against the dirty floor "Preposterous," shein a beaood help these days"

Especially when you can’t pay them, Coriane sneered in her head "Indeed, Cousin So difficult"

"Well, hand the," she said One clawed hand reached out, flapping open and closed in a gesture that made Coriane’s skin crawl She bit her lip between her teeth, chewing it to keep fro Instead, she lifted the two dresses that were her uncle’s gifts and laid the, Jessamine examined them as Julian did his ancient texts She squinted at the stitching and lacework, rubbing the fabric, pulling at invisible stray threads in both golden dresses "Suitable," she said after a long moment "If not outdated None of these are the latest fashions"

"What a surprise," Coriane could not help but drawl

Thwack The cane hit the floor "No sarcas of a lady"

Well, every lady I’ve met seems well versed in it, yourself included If I can even call you a lady In truth, Jessamine had not been to the Royal Court in at least a decade She had no idea what the latest fashions were, and, when she was deep in the gin, could not even re was on the throne "Tiberias the Sixth? Fifth? No, it’s the Fourth still, certainly, the old flaently remind her that they were ruled by Tiberias the Fifth

His son, the crown prince, would be Tiberias the Sixth when his father died Though with his reputed taste for warfare, Coriane wondered if the prince would live long enough to wear a crown The history of Norta was fraught with Calore firebrands dying in battle, mostly second princes and cousins She quietly wished the prince dead, if only to see ould happen He had no siblings that she knew of, and the Calore cousins were few, not to mention weak, if Jessaht Lakelanders for a century, but another ithin was certainly on the horizon Between the High Houses, to put another family on the throne Not that House Jacos would be involved at all Their insignificance was a constant, just like Cousin Jessamine

"Well, if your father’s communications are to be believed, these dresses should be of use soon enough," Jessamine carried on as she set the presents down Unconcerned with the hour or Coriane’s presence, she drew a glass bottle of gin froown and took a hearty sip The scent of juniper bit the air