For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text.

Monarchial reigns (i) tended to be more (ii), dynastically speaking, than those royal courts in which palace machinations had not become a quotidian affair. In the latter, a pall of complacency would fall over the kingdom so that if suddenly there were an earl with an axe to grind, so to speak, his path to usurpation would be (iii).

Blank (i)

marked by intrigue

characterized by hubris

weakened by attrition

Blank (ii)

imperiled

volatile

robust

Blank (iii)

largely unobstructed

a treacherous one

hardly assured

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