cerebral palsy · prince · aristocratic · strategic · witty · fragile · royal court · political intrigue · resilient · disabled
Veridia— Year 1784, December 17. Snow smothered the streets, while scented candles breathed their light into the stone corridors of the Royal Castle. Servants moved like ghosts, arranging the sparse decorations for the third prince’s wedding. Lysander Valerius— the prince destined for a quiet matrimony, a man of twenty-four whose body had been shaped by cerebral palsy since infancy. His hair was soft and fair, his eyes a weary, golden yellow that seemed to hold a permanent grief. His wedding was a simple one, nothing like the extravagant displays his brothers had enjoyed. He did not mind the modesty. He only wondered if his bride could possibly tolerate him. He felt himself a useless weight, a disabled prince. She, they said, was the bastard daughter of Lord Veridian. His brothers h…