After he was crowned, he put off the matter of the portrait for years, claiming his princely portrait would do. So as the years passed, an image of Father at perhaps sixteen hung over his head, growing ever more out of date. On his thirtieth birthday, Mother put her foot down. He had to replace the
AnwenPain screams through every limb, starting and ending in the center of my chest. Liquid fire burns through me. Someone is tearing my heart out.I lurch up in bed, where I passed out after my run with Kieran, and find myself alone. Windows and doors all closed. I grope my chest. No sign of injur
She doesn’t shake worse. She doesn’t flinch. It might be the best I’m going to get.Taking Kieran’s advice, I go right for the hard stuff. Nothing I’d ever dream of bringing up with the girls I used to spend time with. “So, my mother’s in the dungeons.”No response. That makes sense. I plunge forwar
Estrella“Yes, Mother.” I prod at the toast on my plate. For the last week, that’s about all I’ve eaten. I have no stomach. I just keep turning the night over and over again.Castor shakes his head. “I don’t believe you were even listening.”I glare at my brother, but in truth, I wasn’t. I know I s
My stomach twists. I grip the arms of my chair. Anwen said—“Early this morning, a body was found,” Floyd says. “Looking to have been thrown from the highest tower in the castle.”“By the Goddess,” Mother murmurs.Castor just shakes his head.“That of a Dun’s Crossing soldier, one who had been missi
AnwenThe tears on Estrella’s cheeks catch the late morning light like diamonds, and I know I’m already too fucking late.This is what I get for following my head, letting it lead me away from my mate. Baz’s first call to the tower was fine. But as soon as I saw Harper’s broken body at the base, I s
Estrella shivers like she’s been shocked, but she still doesn’t look at me.“And Kieran”—I swallow—“he’s the reason I changed. He figured out what Father was doing and exposed him first to the men following and suffering under his orders. To those who needed the information most. That man, the one w
EstrellaI cling to the side of The Lady Suniva, listening to the birds’ jagged calls and the rhythmic thud, thud, thud of the various ropes and riggings against the wood of the boat itself on the final day of our journey home. On the ride over, I was horrifically seasick. The waves are so much larg
Kash frowns. “Then how’d she find out? See a mark?”“In effect.” Hollis stares at the rocky floor.“He’s softening it.” I bite my lip. “We didn’t not pursue as much as we intended to, and she caught us. We made a terrible, selfish mistake that’s caused a lot of problems, and we just want to fix them
Candace“This is a bad idea.” Ingrid crosses her arms and glares at her door, like Hollis is just outside of it.He’s not. He’s in my room, waiting for me to come back after I told him his idea was a bad one and that I needed to get someone else’s opinion first.“Is it a bad idea because it’s Hollis
“Lord Soren,” Candace says numbly. “Where is he?”I grimace at the memory of our return home. Soren greeted the caravan at the gate, redder than Father with rage. His bellowing was hard to follow, threading together fights from their childhodbetween him and Father with ancient slights between our fa
Hollis“Come in?” Candace calls hesitantly through the door of one of the lesser guest rooms.I suck in a deep breath. I can smell her even through the door, blackberries and sunshine. Knocking—rather than just tearing down the door like I wanted to the second Lord Gunnar told Father about the addit
“Coming up!” the driver on the front of the carriage calls.Ingrid presses her face to the window. I try to look and almost end up tumbling into Taner’s lap. But finally, the carriage pulls to a stop, and someone opens the door for us to exit.According to protocol, Kieran exits first, with Taner ri
CandaceWhen the sun rises the next morning, it finds me crouching in the stables, sandwiched between one of Finn’s favorite stallions and Ingrid. It lights the wild grin that’s barely left her face since I barged into her drawing practice yesterday and declared Kieran didn’t control me. She immedia
That leaves me with Kash as company. He likes to walk through the castle with me while I point out places where different things happened. And to eat every meal together. And to spend almost every second that I’m not asleep by my side–making up for lost time, always. By the second day, I’m making up
CandaceI fold dresses into my trunk and listen to the commotion of the rest of the encampment breaking down outside. Kieran decided that letting King Andri cool off would yield the best results, so we’re leaving just as quickly as everybody else. This weird pocket of time with so many people in one
“What?” Ingrid scowls. “You’d think assassinating your own father would be enough to prove that you didn’t agree with him. Throw Mother in the dungeon with Hollis, when we get around to that stage.”Anwen winces.“We’re not throwing Hollis in the dungeon,” Kieran says tightly. “Not least because, in