Moonlight promised

shimmered like spilled salt, but

n gown clinging to her like a second skin. The silver thread woven into the

el chosen. Sh

urs and empty smiles. Somewhere among them stood Kael Draven

banister. Her throat ached with the we

oon to lie," a voice

rned s

led, her eyes wild with starlit visions. "Mari," she wh

st her ribs, but the silence had been trained into he

ing. "A shadow cleaving your mate mark. B

iberate. The sigil of House Draven. It had appeared the morning she

ush of soul-recognition. Not the

ur dreams?" Mari as

real you. With fire behind your ribs

h the terrace, carrying with it t

methin

ing *f

breath

ying at the border, the dark beyond pulsing like a heartbeat. A

d her wrist.

lse hamme

The one the Tr

nes. A dream half-remembered. Warmth in the dark.

ooked

figure w

-

side Kael at the high table, her face schooled into calm

aid quietly, not looking at her. "He expects we

ded, thr

u dreamed of. But the union will strengthen both houses. Tha

t. Like she was a puzzle pie

der Corvin Marell raised his gobl

clenched around

er, the doors

led throug

crest of allegiance. Just leather

, heart s

ne E

he room. Gold-fl

anded

ng inside he

with

recogn

-

ens, standing in the shadows bet

she whispered, but her fe

rough. "They told

flin

on. "The dreams. The mark that burne

rembled. "You.

ver f

epped forward,

corc

not her own: lips brushing her brow. A v

ees ga

caugh

eaking. "They tried to strip it

at him, dazed.

nd. Ours. It was real

break a bond,"

eak. Su

d turned

she b

aid slowly, "and Corvin Marell-

-

hadows of her garden, watching the moon rise abo

d," said a vo

idn't

beside her. "You kn

would," Althe

d have her risk our future

ost," Althea whisp

nk she'll c

hea said. "She just ha

-

yn Marell lit a candle beside a cracked sigil scrol

m," Liora s

he spell is failing. F

ped. "Can

We can reveal the truth. But

ed. "Then we

-

ched the stars with narrowed eye

e looked at him

idn't

. "You *will* marry her. You *will* bind the power of th

it," Kael s

he next moon rises soon. And blo

-

alone at

the mark on her wr

nother shimmered to life. An

of the

true

on shimmered

it, a sha

tu

ow slamm

candle