Bound To The Crown I Was Never Meant To Wear

a Blackwood had known her entire life. The Royal Sovereign Academy loomed beyond them, immaculate

wa

flashed somewhere beyond the hedges, though she didn't turn her head. She never did. From the time she'd learned to walk, she'

tight and unfamiliar

before the rest of her life became unavoidable. The crown. The

the main building. A uniformed atte

ack, Your

zed with quiet activity, students arriving, staff moving with purpose, the hum of a world that contin

e of it. She

ld books-comforting, familiar. This place had shaped her as much as the palace had, perhaps more. Here, she

that was t

murmured, handing her a slim tablet.

ough the neatly arranged timetable. Political Et

she s

itical Philosoph

ust slightly. Enough

ickly. "Highly recommended. J

. New lecturers came and went. Brilliant minds passed through th

he name

Her suite awaited, unchanged, pristine, impersonal. Large windows overlooked the east gardens. Ne

window. Beyond the hedges, the academy stretched out

exha

inst stone walls. Aurelia took her seat in the second row, as she always did, visible but

opened, the

atic. It was something subtler

a look

ured, purposeful. She was tall, composed, dressed in a charcoal blazer over a si

lara

only a moment,

hing inside her had been tilted off its careful axis. Not attracti

e, professional, unreadable. Elara turned to set

ng easily across the hall. "I'm Dr. Voss. I'll be l

Refined. Her tone held

just to the content, but to the cadence of Elara's voice, the precision of her words. She

bout force. It's about permission. Who grants it

's pen

he words felt unc

ething long dormant in Aurelia's mind. Questions followed-sharp, probing and E

ly spoke, it surpr

nly, "for someone born into pow

anced at her. Ela

led fully on Aurelia. Not as a ti

ence st

ends on whether they are willing t

eyes

thing shift again

conversations buzzing with renewed energy. Aurelia

s nothing. A good lect

ing

r things, Elara's

High

ia tu

sture professional. "If you have time," she said, "I'

ia thought. Of c

eplied smoot

n her chest, the sense that this moment, this meeting, was

anged with gr

th a look held on