The goddess had seemed unable to keep her in the dream space. Maybe she wasn’t lying about being weak, thought Sara.

The soft dawn light streamed into Lily’s bedroom. Despite her determination to rot in bed, Sara was also curious. She had low expectations, but she opened the diary to a date that had yet to pass.

I was asked to accompany Princess Celia at the next market day. She knows of my struggles at home and with H. It will be a relief to walk with her in the city for an afternoon.

A few days later:

There was a terrible accident yesterday. Celia is injured and I don’t know what to do. The commoners in the market square began to riot after a private guard shot a young thief. 

They focused their anger at the royal carriage though we had nothing to do with the inciting event. These common fools are violent and ignorant. I am starting to understand why the king wishes to limit their movements before harvest.

Lily was not painting the most sympathetic picture of herself. It made Sara cringe.

Celia allowed me to visit but did not remove the bandages from her face. I have heard the rumors, and she will likely never be the same.

Father and Henry both blamed me separately for allowing Celia to be harmed. I should have thrown myself in front of the knife.

Sara’s heart ached for Lily even as she judged the young woman’s choices.

Celia has healed physically, but not mentally. The unrest in the capital doesn’t help; she says at night she can hear gunshots in the distance, even from her palace bedroom.

That is nearly a mile from the city streets through dense royal forest. I wonder if she is imagining it. She is still shaken, and I have lost a great ally in the social world.

Sara shook her head at Lily’s selfishness. Her friend was traumatized, and she was worried about her social status? She continued reading, conflicted.

Henry was less distant than usual today. He tells me that the merchant guilds and the banks have allied with the more organized commoner gangs. They despise the residency requirements imposed upon the commoners, which limited their ability to hire employees between cities and counties.

Sara had a feeling Lily was not documenting the extent of the unrest, nor the extent of the prince’s ‘distant’ behavior.

I was given a great opportunity today. That dumb country girl, Lady Isabella Polk, approached me at Celia’s first salon since her injury. I must have appeared sympathetic, for she told me she is donating part of her income to the commoners who have lost their jobs.

She didn’t seem to realize that supporting rebels is treason. I told her she was doing a good deed. I will tell Henry tomorrow, and perhaps, if he is pleased, we will have tea.

Sara vaguely remembered Lady Isabella comforting her after the tea party; calling her a ‘dumb country girl’ was cruel of Lily. On the other hand, betraying Isabella’s confidence was an easy choice if it improved Lily’s situation with her fiance.

Henry was very pleased! He has even agreed to attend several public events with me. He sent several dresses and an unusual amount of jewels to our house. Father also treats me well these days. I think he is too distracted by the problems in the duchy to deal harshly with me.

Sara was not surprised to find that Lily’s happiness did not last.

The newspapers have criticized me heavily for my extravagant dress at the opera last week. They found out that Lady Isabella was arrested for her donations, and have cast her as a charitable saint in comparison to my wasteful villainy.

Sara cringed at Lily’s callous words. Her disregard for Isabella and the common people made Sara want to slap her. Villainy was an exagerration, but wasteful was not.

Henry is very annoyed. He spent crown funds on my dresses and jewels to encourage the merchants to remain loyal. Those same merchants are now canceling contracts left and right, claiming they can’t find labor or materials. Henry refuses to see me; I hear he is with Lady K in the palace.

Father is uneasy with the state of affairs in the capital. He has ordered me to stay in the palace while he returns to the duchy.

I must now watch Henry dote on K with my own eyes, day after day, while cannon fire echoes from the city streets. I must purchase more cosmetics. My eyes are rimmed red and I cannot stop crying.

The rebels call themselves a revolution now. We laugh in our tea room but the king is planning a retreat from the capital.

The revolutionaries have started attacking the capital. H says his father will take care of it. I am so scared. They will not forgive us…

Sara was now caught up with the line that had shocked her on her first day as Lily. Even with context, the ending came too quickly. Lily’s fine cursive had begun to shake as she penned her final words.

The people are rioting in the streets. I am writing this from H’s chambers, where I can hear the roar of their angry voices through the window. They press against the palace gates and scream for our heads. I chose to wait here because I hoped that he would look for me.

The king was removed to a more defensible castle days ago, leaving us to organize an orderly retreat. Henry has done nothing but comfort his darling and scream at his servants.

My maid tells me that Henry and Katrina have abandoned the palace. I am alone.

Sara felt pity for Lily despite her cruelty and her short-sighted obsession with Prince Henry. Lily never allowed herself to curse or blame Henry in her own diary. She waited in his chambers until the very end, desperately hoping he would come for her. It was the foolish behavior of an abuse victim. Sara continued to read the scrawled entries with a heavy heart.

I have been imprisoned in the city jail. They let me keep my journal and pen because they were not jeweled, but they took everything else.

I am sitting in this cold place in my petticoat and chemise. I am so hungry. Did H get away?

The final pages were stained with tear drops.

The people held a trial for me yesterday. The jailers put a canvas bag over my head and dragged me to the square. It was difficult to hear the charges but I heard the verdict: death.

I am sorry. Please, I am so sorry. What did I do? I hear the church bells and I pray.

They are calling the people to the square so they can witness the greedy witch’s death.

I was not that terrible, was I? I just wanted Henry to love me. Why did he leave me here to die?