The decision came quietly that morning. There had been no grand declarations, and no orders barked across the estate.
Just me, in my room, brushing my hair and staring into the reflection of a woman who ruled an empire but had never learned how to throw a proper punch.
I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Valentin had decided to attack me, to fight back. Yes, Elias and my other guards would have intervened but still, I wouldn't have been able to do much if I had been on my own.
That was going to change.
I knew what it was like to be helpless, to cower, to cry into silk sheets with a broken rib. I'd been powerless in the hands of too many men; my father, Gideon, and all those who had looked at me and seen nothing but a doll to be played with.
No more.
