"From your father? The king of Ornth?" I asked, tilting my head. "But that's...good news, isn't it?"
She let the letter drop, staring at it morosely. "I was close with him once. An only child, born in their twilight years. They were so proud when I was accepted into Western University, and ecstatic when you freed me from my curse. They're the ones who approved my engagement with Jarrod."
"Then what happened?" I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
Her shoulder slumped. "Alverin. You know what he did to me, what I did, and, well, so did they. So did everyone. That's why the nobles hate me so much. In Blacksand, here, and...Ornth."
"But they had to have understood you were cursed! You were forced to do that."
