Cruel Crown

There is nothing so terrible as a story untold

And you're late." "I prefer chronologically challenged.

A strange prince, an even stranger night, she wrote later. I don't know if I ever want to see him again. But he seemed lonely too. Should we not be lonely together?

There is no greater pain or punishment then memory.

We all have scars and ghosts of our own. Some drove us to the Scarlet Guard, and some were because of it. I know the sting of both.

I'm Barrow. Shade Barrow. And you better not get me killed.

The only person in my head is me. Tibe is not the same. The crown has changed him, as you feared it would. The fire is in him, the fire that will burn all the world. And it is in your son, in the prince who will never change his blood and will never sit a throne. The only person in my head is me. The only person who has not changed is you. You are still the little girl in a dusty room, forgotten, unwanted, out of place. You are the queen of everything, mother to a beautiful son, wife to a king who loves you, and still you cannot find it in yourself to smile. Still you make nothing. Still you are empty. The only person in your head is you. And she is no one of any importance. She is nothing

I am married to a prince who will one day be a king. Usually this is where the fairy tale ends. Stories don't go much further than this moment, and I fear there's a good reason for it. A sense of dread hung over today, a black cloud I still can't get rid of. It is an unease deep in the heart of me, feeding off my strength.

You're a special kind of stupid

Risk is part of the game.

Nonsense, you're quite interesting when you try

I'm good at what I do.

The diary ended unfinished, unseen by any who deserved to read it. Only Elara saw its pages, and the slow unraveling of the woman inside. She destroyed the book like she destroyed Coriane. Still she dreamed of nothing.