♦YOU MUST HAVE READ THE PREQUEL, THE GOLDEN DUCHESS, TO READ THIS BOOK!♦
BEWARE--spoilers in this blurb, for those who have not read previous books! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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The world is upside down, and those you thought you knew... you no longer...
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Darkness greeted Prudence and Céleste once they slithered past the secret door and into the cliff. Derek had left a few torches lit, knowing she'd have to come home this way. The flames reflected on the dampened stony walls, showing the steps up. Chunks of rocks and crystals loomed around and above, acting as protection from the outdoors.
The drip-drop of water splattering on the floor accompanied them as they began their trek upwards. Prudence recalled how nauseous she'd been looking down, and that same nausea reanimated realizing the dangers she and Céleste were in. She gripped the sturdy banister and led the way.
Each step was coated in dry stone and marble, spiraling up in a circular pattern. As she climbed, Prudence's heart tightened. Antoine and Sébastien had wandered straight to death; Romain wouldn't be forgiving if he found them. But how to tell Céleste that her fiancé might never be released from the Giromian King's dungeons? How to send her home to her father without her beloved?
"Secret stairs inside a cliff," said Céleste, her voice faint. Her shoes clicked, echoing in the cave-like space, and her hand trembled as Prudence held on to it. "I would have never imagined that."
"I had no idea of their existence until an hour ago," said Prudence, remembering yet another of her mother's secrets.
Prudence panicked on the inside. On her path to the Inn, she'd eavesdropped on citizens claiming a carriage and several riders with Giromian colors had fled via the bridge. Had Pauline failed to catch Romain before he took off? Or were those riders decoys, used as ruses to trick Antoine?
Romain was smart and military-inclined; but Cornelius was the one pulling his strings. Cornelius would have suggested something as dramatic as setting fire to the forest and parts of town to draw Antoine out of hiding, wouldn't he?
It was a trap, flagrant and frightful, yet Prudence had allowed Antoine and Sébastien to rush head first into it. But there was no convincing them otherwise. The brothers were stubborn and sought peace, not war. Sébastien was skilled at keeping his cool and negotiating, but Antoine...
He thinks I have been wronged and will employ violence to defend my honor.
She'd sensed her feelings for him reanimating the instant she'd laid her gaze on him. The moment he'd pulled her deeper into his embrace, all her repressed emotions had exploded in her gut and she'd nearly fainted into his arms.
She'd never stopped loving him, and now was the worst time to figure it out.
"I am sorry for the commotion." Céleste's voice yanked Prudence from her thoughts. "We never anticipated this adventure would turn so perilous."
They weren't even halfway up, and Prudence was already breathless. "How many accompanied you on this adventure?" She heard Romain screeching in her head about armies and gunfire and revenge, and gritted her teeth as she grasped the banister tighter.
