early hours, was already stirring. Guards rotated posts, servants bustled in the kitchen, and Marco-Aless

yard, sketchbook in hand. She hadn't drawn since before the accident. The penc

hanged in just a few days. No longer the broken woman pulled from a burning c

thout a word. Sh

w you could d

didn'

e of the villa's arches, with a storm brewin

said. "It concerns the men r

id look up. "Y

who pai

d dropping to the bench

N

not a prison

Elena. You don't follow leads into back al

to kill me-they killed people I loved. I won't sit

nce settled

s world?" he said finally.

ch a

recision. D

forward. "Th

You don't know wh

show

is woman wasn't weak-she was wounded. But wounds could he

co. You follow every order. You don't act without command.

nded her h

t, the touch lingered. Not

hing

formed into a private training space. The floor had been

d, tossing her a training

it, breat

's b

the shadows once more, a flicke

e

or hi

r