The Empress's Second Chance

or chose officials and ladies for the court, a grand affair that could make or break a family' s fort

y hands, her grip tight and her

to do this for us.

hard as steel. She wanted me to go to t

Just go, make a brief appearance, and fail gracefully. No one will know. On

iliar, her words a chilling echo from

e moment it

I went. I failed as instructe

ork as the lowest-ranking intern in the Ministry of Works, treated worse than a servant, enduring endless hu

urn, I arrived to the sight of red lanterns and fes

ily, was marr

her, his gaze averted. My mother stood with them, beaming with pride. She saw

pat, her voice dripping with disgust.

st thing I heard before the cold and hunger finally claimed me. I collapsed in the s

en, I

andalwood in the air. My mother was holding my

have to do

my lips. I was back. Back at

hings would

looked straight into her eyes. A co

will

f, her smile returning. "Good gi

asn't f

Sarah Thompson. And

younger brother, David, who had been lou

y?" he asked, his eye

d of its usual warmth. "I said, I' m going

omposure cracking. "Emily is the one who has been prepar

draw a straight line without a ruler? The same Emily w

usion in his eyes. He had always been easily swayed by her and Emily, always t

e my entire life, playing on my desire for her approval, my sense of familial duty. She had made me sacr

edling tone. "Emily needs this. Her future depends on it. She' s not as strong or as tal

mail she had used for years. She would praise my c

ed prettier in them." The prized art supplies from my late father were given to Emily because she "needed encoura

marry, was now hers in that other life.

ver my mother' s shocked face

id, my voice low and steady. "From

s life was mine. This opportunity was mine. I would seize it, and I w

aving them speechless in my wake. The f

life swirling in my mind. Desperate for a breath of fresh air, I slipped out into t

e, I nearly collide

es," a deep

but his bearing suggested a much higher rank. His features were sharp and defined in the moonlight, and his eyes held a startling

out," he noted,

ld her ground. An unreadable emotion stirred within me, a mix of apprehension and a strange

for you, Your Grace,"

hint of a smile playing

a slight nod and continued on his way, disappeari

I didn' t know it then, but our paths were destined to cross

e was abou