**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, AND...
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♪ I wait up, don't wanna wait up for you, baby Still I wait up, lonely in the canyon ♪ {Lykke Li—Deep end, alt version}
The Baroness had been right—Cordelia and Helen had needed a drink, if not several. They'd only been accorded one glass of a dark tinted red wine, however. Cordelia tried not to slurp it all up in one go, desperate for it to make her dizzy and numb. It tasted of summer and berries, and with an aroma that stuck to her tongue and lingered even after they'd been returned to their room.
The sun had set, and Helen hurried to ignite their meager count of candles, as Cordelia fell onto the bed with a sigh.
"Adelaide. Our luck only continues to get worse," she said, scrubbing her face, praying to erase the image of the red-headed viper Queen who'd spoiled her family for years and then nearly destroyed them all.
"You said former Queen of Totresia?" Helen finished igniting the candles then joined her. "And former Duchess of Terter? Refresh my memory, as I fear my history lessons did not speak of her much."
Though she wanted to smile knowing that Adelaide's name didn't carry much weight in history books, Cordelia couldn't bring herself to show any happiness, any positivity. "My mother and her father conspired to have her marry Antoine, instead of Marguerite, who was his favorite. They succeeded, causing Marguerite to run away and stay out of court for three years, during which my mother erased her name from the country." Cordelia heaved herself farther onto the bed and rested against the rusty headboard, knees tucked to her chest. "When Marguerite returned, everything spiraled. Mother's schemes were put to light, as well as Adelaide's. But while she should have been sent home to mend her reputation, she went off to Giroma, intending to marry the King, but ending up with the Duke of Terter. As far as I have been told, this was... intentional."
She hissed at the recollection of Adelaide's serpentine-like climb through the ranks, her fall from grace, and her restoration as a powerful noble at Cornelius' side. And then how the foul-mouthed, prissy woman had been ousted as the vile creature who'd been involved with poisoning Cordelia's father many moons ago—resulting in his death.
"She is a leech, a monster. It was because of her and her father that my father died, and she ruined our family and almost got many of us killed on many occasions. Marguerite was too kind-hearted. She and Antoine made a deal for Adelaide to reside in a nunnery, but had it been my decision, I would have had her beheaded at once."
Helen's eyes widened, but if she was afraid or disgusted by Cordelia's comments, she didn't show it. If anything, a hint of lust sparkled in her gaze, as if turned on by the idea of Cordelia wishing death on her foes.
"Charlotte, Adelaide—they are still active in their schemes. And I unfortunately have no means to warn my loved ones that our enemies still surround us, still plot to harm us. Napoléon," Cordelia gulped, "is not our only threat."
