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Of course, Jessa Even as Coriane was laced into her wedding gown, an hour frolass "Look at your bearing, those are Jacos bones Slender, graceful, like a bird"

Coriane felt nothing of the sort If I was a bird, then I could fly aith Tibe The tiara on her head, the first of ets easier," Queen Anabel whispered into her ear Coriane wanted to believe her

With no ly accepted Anabel and Robert as substitute parents In a perfect world, Robert would even walk her down the aisle instead of her father, as still wretched As a wedding gift, Harrus had asked for five thousand tetrarchs in allowance He didn’t seeiven to the bride, not requested of her Despite her soon-to-be royal position, he had lost his governorship to poor eleefully took up the governance of Aderonack

After the ceremony, the banquet, and even after Tibe had fallen asleep in their new bedchamber, Coriane scrawled in her diary The pen letters and blots of ink that bled through the pages She did not write often any Usually this is where the fairy tale ends Stories don’t go ood reason for it A sense of dread hung over today, a black cloud I still can’t be rid of It is an unease deep in the heart ofdoith sickness It’s entirely possible Sara will know

I keep drea of her eyes Elara’s Is it possible--could she be sending ? I must know I must I must I MUST

For her first act as a princess of Norta, Coriane e Julian into her household Both to hone her ability, and help her defend against what she called "annoyances" A carefully chosen word Once more, she elected to keep her problems to herself, to stop her brother from worry, as well as her new husband

Both were distracted Julian by Sara, and Tibe by another well-guarded secret

The king was sick

It took two long years before the court knew anything was amiss

"It’s been like this for some time now," Robert said, one hand in Coriane’s She stood on a balcony with him, her face the picture of sorrow The prince was still handsoray and dark, leached of life He see But Robert’s was an ailment of the heart, not the bones and blood, as the healers said of the king’s ills A cancer, a gnawing, riddling Tiberias with rot and tumors

He shivered, despite the sun above, not to mention the hot summer air Coriane felt sweat on the back of her neck, but like Robert, she was cold inside

"The skin healers can only do so much If only he’d broken his spine, that’d be no trouble at all" Robert’s laugh sounded hollow, a song without notes The king was not yet dead, and already his consort was a shell of hi that a painful, diseased death waited for hi Robert as well He cannot succumb to this I won’t let him