LIORA’S POV
The cane cracked against the desk, inches from my hand.
I jerked back, my heart leaping into my throat as I stared up at Lady Maelis.
“If you cannot pay attention, Lady Liora, perhaps we should extend today’s lesson by another hour.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I was listening, I just…”
“Just what? Daydreaming? Wool-gathering?” Lady Maelis’s thin lips pressed into a disapproving line. She was an older woman, rail-thin with severe features and gray hair pulled back so tightly it looked painful. “A proper lady does not let her mind wander during instruction.”
I bit back the retort that wanted to escape. It had been three hours already. Three hours of posture corrections, tea-pouring techniques, and the proper way to address seventeen different ranks of nobility.
My mind
