Anna’s hands trembled as she held still in front of a tall cheval mirror while a maid finished lacing up the back of the pale-blue satin wedding gown she wore. The gown had been taken from one of the minor noble families who had a daughter close to her age. Most of Anna’s court gowns had burned in the Summer Palace, and when she’d insisted on a fancy gown, in hopes of slowing down the wedding, her uncle had apparently taken what he wanted from someone else.
Her uncle had delighted in telling her over dinner how he had made the noble families fall in line by executing “a few” of the eldest sons of the most powerful men in the country. Facing threats against the lives of their remaining children and wives, the noblemen had conceded to Yuri’s control of the throne. Alone in her room after di
