To Snap a Silver Stem

I want him to hurt. To bleed. I want him to snap, just like he snapped me. Once upon a time, my world was small and sheltered. Everything changed the moment I stepped over my Safety Line, barreling towards a coupling with a man I hardly know. He wants me. All of me. Dunked in a charged political pit, I must secure the ships needed to quell the spill of murderous beasts still flooding the continent. But one wrong move could spur the war I`ve worked so hard to avoid. I`ll wear the dress and the cupla and the shoes. I`ll do it all with a smile on my face. Because everyone`s watching. He`s watching--hunting a fissure in my frosty shield, trying to scrape back the layers and see my ugly insides. He`s unyielding. Unguarded. Changed. Why is he looking now when I`ve got everything to hide? Secrets sprout, truths bloom, and more than one of us will snap. Crowned in the crippling weight of my mistakes, I must atone. Even if it costs me my life. Fear was my overlord. Now, it`s my prisoner.