yn'

g under the weight of desperation. "I'm not here to trick

d with something else. As I stepped closer, he flinched. His body coiled as if expe

each him. Not empty reassurances. Not well-rehearsed lines

ived most of my life being beaten, starved, treated like property. The Ashfords owned me. I was nothing to

thing in his expression shift

want to eat warm food without having to beg for it. I want to fall asleep withou

le

esting for cracks in my truth. He finally exhaled,

you into this?" he aske

, I'll be buried beside you. That's the law, right? That's w

l be disappointed then. I don't have m

I could stop it. "Why are you dying? You were onc

mmed back into place. "Didn't you say

d, just

ly, trying not to let the rejec

linical, but inside I felt anything but detached. When I saw the condition of his back. Red,

t illness. This

? Why had the heir of the Si

amage beneath. Blood had dried into a crust that fused the gauze to the s

hough his pale, clenched j

the truth showed in the way his hands grip

y, freeing the skin without tearing it.

s were

eep enough in some places to show glinting shards of bone. Pus oozed from raw tissue. Rot had

do you see why I s

thing that can be done," I sa

s have tried. My body's given up. Whe

Tell whoever sent you that their wait w

yone," I said firmly. "And I'

taken abac

tiseptic and salve. Dust coated the caps, and the label

ed?" he asked, voic

said, me

d. I don't care what the others

nd, but didn't

h care. He winced, and once I saw a tear slip from th

d and ointment, but I felt... steady. Solid. As though I'

g me. His blue eyes, haunted and

ut maybe...

staring at the ceiling,

And if he did, I'd be dragg

t let tha

was impossible, the palace was locked tighter than any

n it ca

gna

cuted. The unborn were considered sacred and untouchable

with a new, dange

convin

to the kitchens. If I was going to care for h

nstead made my

imp vegetables, sour meat, and half-rotted fruit. I searched for so

. "Is there anythin

her gaze flat. "Not

, molding squash from a bin, chopped o

asked, though I alrea

e food onto an ornate silver tray, the kind reserv

st tig

im scraps. Garbage

t healing. They were poison

orway, fists clen

nted hi

d to save him, I'd have to