ra

or, then footsteps, quick and heavy, and a voice too low to make out. Something in

e far end of the hall, the door to Casimer's study stood ajar, lamplight spilling ac

owl, dark herb dregs stuck to the bottom. Casimer stood behind the desk, his face unreadable, and beside

e tight. "The tonic soup was brewed

listened without a word. Then he walked around the desk, slowly, and crouched down in front of the woman who had nursed him sin

mer caught her before she hit the floor and lowered her d

eryone had believed the Crown Prince was a frail invalid. Yet he had j

corridor and sliding back into the warm bath in the west guest wing, s

aised him, and what I felt was not fear but something that ached behind my ribs. He had trusted her.

new what it cost to survive it. If anything, the man who had gently lowered his poiso

mer

d wiped the drops of blood from my knuckles, look

er memories were already fading, drowned out by the venom and the begging that had poured from her lips just now. Some part of me had loved h

er and turned to Dan, who stood with two

r body to the wild dogs

nswered, motioning for the

ow and looked out at the faint glow of fire

ing men to roll up the bloodstained car

city. Burn that shrine to ash, so that every citizen of

sin and dried them, my thoughts drifting back to those stubborn amber