**THE BRAZEN SERIES is part of the GOLDEN UNIVERSE**
♦YOU MUST HAVE READ BOOK ONE, A BRAZEN MAIDEN, TO READ THIS SEQUEL!♦
♦♦It is ALSO recommended that you read THE GOLDEN GIRL/DUCHESS/PRINCESS & QUEEN to better understand events in this novel, as...
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♪ Now I see a pattern, I'm getting rid of it Yeah, I know I need a change 'cause I'm tired of feeling drained ♪ {MARINA—No More Suckers}
Harriet woke the next day with a hangover level migraine—yet she hadn't had a drop of alcohol since her last mishap. She threw her pillow off the bed and groaned, wondering if some day, in some distant future, she might awake without pain.
Stress... it is all due to stress.
More at ease in her own home—empty as it was becoming—she no longer needed to cloister to her quarters. So she opened the curtains, dressed, and threw her hair up into a chignon, leaving it loose enough so that the ties didn't worsen her headache. Stomach grumbling, she headed downstairs for something to eat. The chef welcomed her in the kitchen, though not without a frown—she had gotten rid of his favorite sous-chef—but whipped up a hearty breakfast for her. One without poison; Harriet watched the process from start to finish.
When she returned to her office, belly full and scalp less painful, a sealed letter awaited on her desk. It was early—no later than eight o'clock—and she had no inkling how it got there before she'd arrived. Hadn't she locked the door the night before? Or had she been too dazed and exhausted by the day's events to pay attention?
The seal on the note was the same crown and olive branch as yesterday's, with P.J. at the bottom.
"Another message from the Prince?" Her cheeks warmed and she refrained from smiling as she settled in her chair and broke the seal.
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"Me?" She set the paper down, hands trembling as she reached for the mug of tea she'd brought upstairs with her. A few drops spilled over the rim as she approached it to her mouth. The scalding liquid splashed onto her lips and dribbled down her chin, but she was numb. "They want me to... choose?"
Since her youngest years, Harriet had wanted to be rid of her father, to be far from him and his cruelty, from the frightening men who came and went from his office. She yearned to change her name and start anew with a family that cared for her. More than once she'd pictured herself happy and wondered what that word even meant.
