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They leave me on my knees, and I hear him ask the man with the copper hair if he would like a drink For the next several lasses and low voices filter into the sitting rooh the ajar door, and I catch words that make my stomach sour with dread

Words like virginity and auction andI could roarounds with the birds and butterflies, but I don’t dare

Rowan is a strict enforcer, and I don’t want to experience the stinging bite of his leather belt like Faye did yesterday for disobeying an order Faye is hter of a servant, but she’s always been like a sister tohide-and-seek in the countless rooms and halls Before my parents’ plane went down last week, we had free rein of the rounds

Until Uncle Rowan arrived and changed everything

My parents have only been gone a week, both graves heavy and fragrant with fresh soil and sorrowful bouquets, but e of our lands before the sun sank below the horizon on the day of the wake I’one, I’m the queen of a nation A powerless child queen, because as uardian, Rowan holds all the power

“Why in God’s na?” so my misery “You’re not in the presence of the chancellor, princess”

I tilt my head and catch a hint of wild blond hair in my periphery “My uncle told me to kneel”

“Do you always do what you’re told?”

My brows pull together “Don’t you?”

“Much to ravation, no But your obedience is admirable”

“Obedience was important to my parents”

“Then I suppose you’ll be a perfect little wife someday”

The disdain in his voice piques aze h my chest He appears to be in his teens, and just as I suspected, his dark blond hair surrounds his face in chaos, flopping over his forehead and threatening to hide his eyes

And those sea-blue eyes are the reason for the sudden lack of air inabout his stare that sends me into a trance He circles me, footsteps slow and deliberate, and it reminds me of the way a lion preys on a prospective meal