Chapter 282: The Boat Date With Duke Frostmere
Lyria's POV
It was the next day, and I was on my date with Duke Marcellus Frostmere.
We were on a boat.
That was the only thing that made this entire experience bearable. The lake stretched out before us, calm and still, its surface catching the pale morning light. The boat glided across the water with an easy rhythm, the oars dipping in and out.
I had never been on a boat before.
The last time I had even been near this part of the palace, I had been fourteen. I had hidden here to cry after one of the Queen's particularly cruel punishments. And I remembered the way the reeds had swayed at the water's edge, the way the trees had bent toward the lake as though they were listening. I had sat upon the bank and let the tears fall, and only after I had cried my heart out did I leave.
That had been years ago.
