#CHAPTER 88: The Slap Heard Around the Palace

MAEVE POV The rest of the morning flew by, and before long, I found myself with an adequately made bracelet and a mildly dry throat from all the talking I’d done. I survived the lesson. I still wasn’t sure how, but I did… and it felt so natural. Not once did I feel like I had to put on a mask or pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I was just… me. Once I was alone, watching a few of the girls and Charlotte start to collect some of the projects that had been left behind, I felt Queen Leonora’s presence approach me. “That wasn’t so terrible now, was it?” she asked, gazing at me carefully. “I… actually really liked it,” I admitted. “I’ve never been able to just… talk to other girls like that.” And I got a cute, handmade bracelet out of it, I silently added. “I know I warn you and Charlotte about being careful with the people you talk to, especially when you fully enter our world, but it is possible to make friends. And, as you can see,” she said, gesturing to the unknowin