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Chapter 1

QUEEN MALINA

Gold, as far as the eye can see

Every inch of Highbell Castle carries the telltale shine In the past decade, people have traveled far and wide across all of Orea just to look upon it It is heralded for its nificence, the people always i splendor

But I remember how it used to be I reate I reowns in every color and the dishes on the tables hite to match the Colier hair I reht and clear

Things that were once feather-light now take several e and history now glisten as if new Even the roses in the atriuain to sprout a new bud or fill the air with their perfume

I grew up in Highbell Castle I knew every rough rock and speckled stairway I knew the dark grains of wood on theframes I can still recall the way ether with stone and diamonds cut from the mountains to the east

Soht, trapped in the tangles of nize this place at all, not anymore

Most days, I don’t even recognize myself

The dignitaries who visit revel in the gloss and glamour They stand awed by the precision of every surface’s change and celebrate Midas’s power

But I hbell used to look

Every gray nook, every raw chair, even the ugly blue tapestries that used to hang in s you come to miss once they’re stripped away from you

I kneas going to pine over the loss of control over Sixth Kingdoreed to marry I knew I’daddressed by my old name and title, Princess Malina Colier

But I never anticipated that I’d feel the loss of the palace itself It wasn’t so I could’ve predicted would happen Yet rooed before lass

It was exciting at first, I can’t deny that A gold castle in the frozento e that would ensure I could stay here, in my home, to carry on my royal bloodline

But here I sit, insince ripped away I have no heirs, no fanition of the very place I grew up in

I’m surrounded by wealth that holds no value to me

This castle, the place where randfather ruled, where all of n It holds no comfort, no excitement, and certainly no fairy tale