A'S

Laurel Forest, "mad with love" as he comforted a weeping she-wolf under the moonlight. The romantic t

forces her to her knees, her eyes

and authoritative. "She was kept in the dungeon

n smell the scent of h

unt. "I will win the grand prize for my wife," he declares to the assemble

f form magnificent. But as the race nears its end, I see Seraphina talking quietly with one of the event officials. A m

its leg buckling. He's forced to slow, his lead va

ration. "I'm sorry, my love. The horse..

cond prize?" I ask

says, waving a dismissive han

one I'd overheard gossips saying was a lost heirloom of S

e," I say, chang

ase. He helps me onto a gentle mar

Seraphina, begging her to ride too. She demurely refuses

ers the course behind me. We ride, the wind cool

e back and see Seraphina, her face set in a hard line. She yanks on her reins, d

, the air knocked from my lungs. Dazed, I try to

he kicks the horse's side, driving it forward. I see i

no time

ousness fades into a black, roaring tunnel, the las

Seraphina, who has feigned a fall from her own

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