Marsha’s Reviews > A Treachery of Swans > Status Update

I peer into the room. Within is a restless dark, lit by a scattering of dying candles, the obscure silhouettes of furniture forming odd, crooked angles. This must be the sitting room--Rothbarte works at a writing desk, hunched over a heavy book and muttering to himself. The Couronne gleams in his hair.
As I watch, he raises his hand to take it off and then freezes, his fingers just inches from the golden circlet.

I try not to look too closely at the bloodstains on my brother's shirt. Try to ignore the way my chest twists in pain, seeing him like this. Try to tell myself there's nothing more I can do right now without arousing suspicion. I know I have to try and free him. But I can't bring myself to tell him that. Perhaps it's because a cruel part of me wants to watch him squirm, in revenge for abandoning me five years ago.

Floor-length, it fits like a glove--before having it delivered to the palace, Rothbarte had enchanted it to adjust to the wearer's shape. It's done in the most recent of fashion, the front adorned only with a strip of metallic black lace. The neckline is low, exposing my shoulders and collarbones, and the sleeves end at my elbows in lacy pleats. It's a striking design, guaranteed to make an impression.