**THE PRINCESS SERIES is part of the GOLDEN UNIVERSE, and considered a sequel to THE GOLDEN QUEEN/A BRAZEN LOVE**
♦YOU MUST HAVE READ THE GOLDEN UNIVERSE NOVELS AND THE BRAZEN NOVELS TO READ THIS SERIES! AS WELL AS BOOK ONE, PRINCESS OF CANDOR!♦
In...
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♪ There's no song for the choir There's no hope for the weary ♪ {Lykke Li ft. ASAP Rocky—No rest for the wicked} [EXPLICIT WARNING for the song]
Having forgotten to shut her curtains the night prior, it didn't surprise Cordelia to wake to a stream of weak sunlight swarming over her face. Her cheeks were blotchy and sticky with tears—she'd fallen asleep crying, too distraught over her situation to care that she usually hated crying.
Sitting up, she wiped her face and at once started at a knock on her door. She held the covers to her chest, wondering what time it was—it couldn't be later than six or seven, but she didn't have a clock in the room to check.
For a moment she worried it was Helen, seeking to sneak in for who-knew-what reason. But the voice coming from the other side of the door was a low, mousy one Cordelia recognized as one of the serving girls'.
"Miss," she knocked again, "Lord Read asks that you dress and meet him in his office promptly."
Cordelia squinted at the wall opposite her. "What time is it?"
The serving girl cleared her throat. "Eight o'clock, Miss. Please, do hurry."
Without another word, the girl hurried off, her footsteps fading down the hallway.
Cordelia pondered what would draw Lord Read to summon her so early, but she dressed in haste. She struggled to fix her face into something presentable. The crying the night before had been more intense than ever—her heart hadn't relented and continued to fill her with emotions that clogged up her lash-line and placed an acidic, sorrowful taste in her mouth. Every time she thought of Helen, the tears replenished. It destroyed her to know that she'd have to be blunt, again, with her, and likely be mean about it this time. She wished there was another way... but Helen needed to understand there was no hope for them.
I have to be with Thomas, and she has to accept it.
She groggily made her way downstairs, encountering few servants on the way. Lately, it seemed they were never bustling about, or avoiding her, which she found odd. Upon her arrival at Read Manor, there had been staff-members everywhere, busying about fixing the most minute details that only Lady Read would have pointed out. Now, they were sparse, hiding, dismissed, possibly fired? The Reads didn't lack for money, that much was clear with all the lavish parties Lady Read had held and the luxurious food they ate.
Cordelia knocked on the Study door, then opened it to reveal Lord Read seated at his desk. Lady Read was behind him, fussing with biscuits and tea on a doily-lined platter that didn't belong amidst the clutter of papers. Helen sat across from them, head tipped down and hands clasped in her lap. And near the threshold was Thomas, who stiffly greeted Cordelia while waving her in.
Thomas closed the door, then settled against it. And if he was here, included in this meeting, it must have meant whatever Lord Read wanted to speak to her about concerned him.
