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Heated by the knowledge of her power over this insignificant woht that it was, indeed, an honor to serve her, Levana was te that Solstice kneel to her, knowing it couldn’t be easy in her condition Or threatening her business’s reputation should she be displeased with the gloves when they arrived Or suggesting that Solstice give her the ratitude, and watching her struggle to give up so that clearly had so much value--to her, and to her livelihood

But Levana buried the fantasies before her tongue could betray her

Solstice would surely tell her husband, and then Evret Hayle would never again refer to Levana as Her ulped, hard, and forced a s into the shop Perhaps this hy she’d come So that Solstice would tell her husband about the princess’s unexpected visit, and that Levana would even be wearing one of her designs to the coronation Levana’s heart warenerous princess she was She wanted him to think about her, even if only for a moment She wanted him to admire her

And so, she lied "The honor will be allsuch an exquisite piece I can see why Sir Hayle has sung your praises so highly"

Solstice flushed with all the joy of a woman in love, and Levana left, quickly, before her own bile could burn her throat

By the next , on the day of Channary’s coronation, it seeranted permission to pretend that the assassinations had never happened, that theMarrok and Queen Jannali would live on peaceably in their history texts, and that young Channary would make for a most fair and just ruler Levana wasn’t sure how many people believed this, and no doubt those who did had never ht to the throne went unquestioned even by her They were, after all, the only known heirs of the Blackburn bloodline, that distant ancestor who had been first born with the Lunar gift Channary, as the eldest royal daughter, would be queen, as her son or daughter would rule next, and the generation after that, and the generation after that It was how the crown had been passed on since the day Luna became a monarchy, since the day Cyprus Blackburn created his own throne

Levana would not be the one to disrupt those values now, no matter how much it irked her to know that silly, vapid Channary would spendher lashes at handso their country

But Levana was only fifteen years old, as she was so often re at all, is what Channary would say, or any one of the thau to swear fealty to her Their bias see as thirteen, with or without the advice of a council

Levana stood on the third-level balcony, staring down into the great hall where the funeral had been, where her sister had sobbed until she could hardly breathe and then fainted, or pretended to faint, and was carried away by--of all the guards--Evret Hayle, as standing nearby when it happened Where Levana had been left alone to blunder through an unprepared speech of lies and fake tears

The grays were gone now, replaced with the official colors of Luna--white, red, and black An enor the Lunar insignia in shiinated back when Luna was a republic It depicted Luna and the capital city of Arteround, with Earth--once their ally--in the distance It was a majestic piece, but it was impossible for Levana not to think that it would have been even ers of Solstice Hayle

Though countless servants were toiling away in preparation for the cereown at that lad for the temporary serenity in the empty hall

She had selected a siloves delivered to her cha They arrived in a white box, wrapped in crisp tissue paper and accompanied by a little note fro

The gloves were even h the palace s, and the eined The threads began with flourishing Ls placed covertly on her pal around her forear vines that then blended perfectly with the chains that continued on to her neck

She al there, and she couldn’t keep away a fantasy that she was the one being crowned that day She hadn’t yet decided on an acceptable glamour for the occasion, so in that moment, she becaant, with those ever-s eyes

But no She didn’t want to be Channary She didn’t want her beauty, not if it came with her cruelty and selfishness as well

No sooner had she thought it than another wohts

I do not believe you have ever la taboo and reprehensible, and strangely right in the very wrongness of it Levana thought of her flawless colets of dark hair draped over her shoulders, of her almond-shaped eyes and the way her lips had a just-kissed hint of rouge to theh the idea that the redness was caused by a kiss was quite possibly a product of Levana’s own envy She thought of Solstice’s thick, flirtatious eyelashes, and how she had see She thought of Solstice’s stomach, plump and round with the promise of a child