I waited patiently in the royal office of King Ashton as he spoke to the royal doctor in the doorway. Just like what I usually felt when he was around, the opulence that surrounded me was overwhelming. The room was grand and spacious, with high ceilings decorated with detailed carvings and gold leaf trimmings. I’d noticed it before, but that time I first stepped in here, the argument of King Ashton and his father was more overpowering.

My thoughts kept returning to what King Ashton had said earlier in Queen Donovan’s chambers—that he couldn’t focus because of my presence. What did he mean by that? Was it possible that I...