Written by Mickey 8/25/2026

The Day Everything Changed

Hello Friend,

It’s Mickey.

One of my favorite moments from The Patient Crown is when Godiva realizes that freedom is finally within reach. 

“No one had ever fought for her like that. No one had ever stood between her and the whip. Not since her mother died. Not since before the cellar, the shouting, and the heavy iron chains. 

Mrs. Gilchrist, trembling under the Prince’s steady gaze, reached beneath the counter, grabbed Godiva’s small canvas satchel, and thrust it blindly toward her. Rose grabbed her threadbare cloak, wrapping it tightly around her shoulders with white knuckles, while Mr. Gilchrist simply watched in stunned, helpless fury, completely stripped of his cruelty. 

Godiva gathered her few meager possessions—her needle case, a spool of silver thread, and a spare wool skirt. Everything she owned in this world fit into a single small bag. 

As she stepped toward the open doorway with Rose holding her left hand and Jasper walking right behind them, the freezing rain outside seemed to lose its sting. 

For the very first time in her life, the world felt clean. 

Prince Aldric held the door open for them, shielding them from the wind with his broad velvet cloak as they stepped out onto the cobblestones where a royal carriage waited. 

As the heavy carriage door closed behind them with a solid, echoing thud, Godiva looked through the glass window at Prince Aldric as he mounted his horse beside the escort. His expression was serene, calm, and unshakable—a living shield standing between them and the dark city of Hagard. 

Godiva pressed her trembling hand to her chest, feeling the steady beat of her heart. 

This was not just an escape. 

This was not merely a change of masters. 

This was a deliverance.” (Excerpt taken from The Patient Crown Chapter 3) 

When I wrote this scene, I wasn’t thinking about castles or crowns. 

I was thinking about the moments in life when everything changes. 

The moments when you’ve spent so long surviving that freedom almost feels impossible. 

The moments when you’ve carried fear, guilt, pain, disappointment, or exhaustion for so long that you forget what it feels like to breathe without that weight on your shoulders. 

What I love most about this scene is that Godiva doesn’t rescue herself. 

For years she has been fighting, enduring, surviving, and trying to hold everything together. Then someone steps between her and the life that has been hurting her and says, “Enough.” 

I think that’s why this chapter means so much to me. 

Sometimes we spend so much time trying to be strong that we forget God never asked us to carry everything alone. 

Sometimes hope arrives when we least expect it. 

Sometimes freedom begins with one open door. 

Sometimes deliverance looks like finally realizing that someone else has been fighting for you all along. 

No matter what your story looks like right now, I hope you remember this: 

Your current chapter is not your final chapter. 

The rain won’t last forever. 

The chains won’t last forever. 

And there is still hope waiting beyond the door.  

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped.”  
-Psalm 28:7- 

Love,
Mickey Moretti

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