Thorn

rusted, was pressed into my

ks as she knelt before me on the floorboards. "Please, climb through before the morning guard rotation! The Obsidian Fortress is a slau

out, my fingers wrapping around hers to

an estate of my own, and emptied ten thousand sovereigns and my mother's apothecary che

, bewildered, her mout

d utterly unshakable. "Wipe your face and take the bu

my eyes, she swallowed hard, wiped h

hout restriction, yet rich enough to remind everyone in this house whose blood ran in my veins. Tucked securely beneath the heavy folds of the skirt, the leather

and jars, while Linnet carried the smaller wooden case of gold and ledgers.

ll was

r, Theron Thorne, holding court beside the royal envoy from the High Conclave. He was laughing, clinking a goblet of sp

d against the polished bla

poorly hidden mockery, morbid curiosity, and th

s into a stern, grief-laden mask of patriarchic dignity. He strode towar

he left, letting his palm

ng in close so the envoy couldn't hear. "Control yourself. Step into the carriage, act like a dutiful daughter of the Thorne

eyes, tilting my head wit

y across the silent hall, bouncing off the stone pillars. "I am merely eager to be

murmurs broke out

aggerated innocence, "where is Stepmother Concetta this morning? I

e near his left templ

n morning fever," he ground out through clench

hat hot bowl of Drake-Tongue broth to my bedchamber. I suppose drinking every drop of her own hospitality must have been terribly hard

the hall turn

e might draw his broadsword and cleave me in two on the spot, but with the roya

snarled, stepping aside, his voi

sure," I s

lance, stepping out of the great oak d

riage; it was a reinforced iron coach painted a lifeless, matte black, barred across

a prisoner being sent

estate guards hauled my mother's he

ing onto the hard leather bench inside. Just before the groom pulled the iron doo

ter Chloe, wrapped in silk, staring down at th

right hand, I gave her a slow, deliberate little wa

L

shadows. The driver's whip cracked like a gunshot, and the carriage jolt

bundle to her chest, shivering

he wheels carrying us away from the Thorne lands. Slowly, I reached down, letting my

behind. The vermin

ng to be broken. For the first time since my soul o