-

th like sorrow left

tyard in an eerie rhythm. The sky hung low, thick with bruised clouds, casting the palace square in

eyes to the sting

flayed raw. The rough wood post behind her was splintered and stained, the silent witness of

n't give

he wore wa

ter. Weaker. But so

hunger of the bored and privileged. Some brought umbrellas. Others simply watched

am I

the Shanghai skyline-bright lights, glass towers,

bl

om someone she once called

di

no

udal-era execution courtyard. Her assassin's senses

s not a

-

ravel, "found guilty of dishonoring her family, attempting to seduce and poison the Duke of Hei'an. By ord

an-echoed acr

d ribs. Her new lungs ached with each breath. She was starved. Beaten. Publicly shame

rowd

lay hands on t

face could save h

and failed! What a fo

-

t react. She

silence was bought in flesh. She understood the politics of punishment. P

er, feeling for the knot in the rope.

once killed a man with a br

ll e

out who se

n every last

body's pain. But before she could m

carved in the shape of a snarling beast. His sword was long,

sed th

ll into a br

th

to

-

across the cour

old. A

ain seemed

d into view-slow, steady, soundless. Guards parted like

a shadow sharp

oosely at the nape, a raven-shaped crest sewn over his c

s expression unreadable beneath t

obsidian blades d

. Duke o

queror of the North. The Bl

cities that defied him. They said no woman ha

il

-

om her chin, her hair wild and wet

oment... some

d ever so slightly. Like a man looking not at a c

hem of his cloak draggin

cutione

the old pr

d, his voice quiet, but sharp enough to make a grow

peror h

the Duke said

n-before him. Her back bloodied, her

n? No. A vi

had killed men greater than

ow, Li Ze

us, priva

bind

ow

ked at one ano

our Gra

tion," he said, loud enou

s not

Li. Duchess

wi

-

broke in

s backed away, as though her bruised b

e Lin s

Wi

rotect her. No histor

le

s someth

wor

e k

-

led forward-but did not fall. Her body

ring over her now. He leaned

ou really?"

parted, her eyes sharp-but

d, his express

rned and walked away, his voice e

her to th

w: the Duke has c

s not choos

-

ence, Yue Lin stood barefoot, bloo

onster. Rescue

e assassin's training, beneath the time-

only the