#Chapter 11: The Gift Beneath the Crown

(Violet’s POV) The palace glittered like a dream built to break people. Even from the outside, it shimmered in the winter air, all gold filigree and glass towers, as if daring the moonlight to outshine it. Lanterns lined the winding steps. Guards in black and silver flanked the great marble archways. When the car door opened, I adjusted the fall of my gown— —Deep crimson silk, fitted tight through the bodice, the skirt sweeping out like a firestorm. Its off-the-shoulder sleeves clung delicately to my arms, and a sheer silk shawl, nearly translucent, was pinned high across my neck with a golden brooch. A beautiful illusion, one meant to draw the eye. But it wasn’t for fashion. It was for the scar. The one at the base of my neck. The burn left by a forced rejection mark. A wound carved by a bond that should’ve been sacred. I never let it show. I stepped out, the shawl catching in the breeze. Ronan saw me—and stilled. His breath caught. “...Violet,” He looked st