The Rose Bargain

The Rose Bargain

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith Listening Length: 10h 30m
YA&Teen Read Online

London, 1848—For four hundred years, England has been under the control of an immortal fae queen who tricked her way onto the throne. To maintain an illusion of benevolence, Queen Mor grants each of her subjects one opportunity to bargain for their deepest desire. As Ivy Benton prepares to make her debut, she knows th...

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Chapter Two

Three Months Later

The doors to the atelier are thrown open to the street, bursting with so much activity it’s impossible to keep it all inside. Girls and their mothers spill out onto the sidewalk in a crowd so thick we have to elbow our way in.

The seamstress has been slow to let out the hem of my sister’s gown to fit me, and I know well enough it’s because we haven’t spent enough money in recent years to make us priority customers. My mother knows it too, but she just keeps on smiling in that pinched way of hers.

I wish I could have done this some other day, when there would be fewer people to hide from, but tomorrow is the first of May, and there is no time to waste.