Prologue
The castle gates sulked in the dusk. They curled and bent upward, cutting black shapes into the orange sky. Dido stood before them, her hood pulled over head, and her dark dreadlocks tucked inside her cloak. She tilted her chin back until the castle’s highest gable rose into view.
Behind these gates the castle’s windows glittered. The stained glass scratched fractals of rainbow light across the castle’s stone walls. In the tallest tower, a window sparkled scarlet—a gradient of red glass pieced together to form the shape of a rose.
Dido’s nose twitched. She thought she smelled the sharp, sticky-sweet scent of Delusion. But when she swept her head to the side, the sensation dissolved. She bent and pressed her palm against the cobbled ground.
Below her, a world raged. And above her, the castle of Liore stood protected by its black gates. She smiled. Let the castle revel in its security, but she knew—like every Rebel did—the irony in its sense of safety. Those dark and twisted gates belonged to the ancient Liore, a kingdom unbound to the Realm. A monument once stood over this city, and when the world fought, the tower fell.
Yet here it was, reshaped into the guardian of the royal family. Like a beast in hibernation, it bided its time.
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The Princess Wars: Belle
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