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"I " I looked down and fiddled with the tassels on the pillow

"You were nothing but the beast," he said gently "It wasn’t your fault I can’t believe you were that close to drained and still able to come back at all"

"It was the music," I admitted "That and the blood"

"You’re a Beatles fan, huh?"

"What?"

"Inside joke Betweennot to sound as if it mattered

"Sorry, princess," he said "But your Mario is in another castle"

Before I could ask what that h the door Casper and I ju The girl se in the air

"Dinner’s in an hour, and we’re expected to dine at the main table I told Miss May that Anne’s probably too pukey to show"

For reasons I couldn’t yet conte into that roo Miss May made my ferocity override my fear

"Dinner? Oh, I wouldn’t dareexpressions of surprise ood reason not to eat, now that you’ve spread the word about what a horrible traveler I ao?" Casper asked cautiously, as if I was going to attack himy previous behavior

"I don’t knohat sorts of tales the people of Sangland tell about Blud reat control Nearly all of our lower-ranked palace servants are Pinkies My firstto bite aMy manners and self-control are i the Maestro or killing innocent people," Keen added, andme And she hasn’t killed anyone in at least four years" Casper shot her a disapproving look "You knohat they say about when you assume"

"I’ave me a sly wink before she slunk back out the door

"Get back in here, Keen It’s not safe for a girl like you--"

With admirable quickness, she shut the door before he could finish

"I am cursed with unruly wo at the door Keen had just slammed That proved it--she’d seen ? Did Casper have a clue? And, more important, what did she want from me as payment for her continued silence?

"Do you think you’ll be able to get through dinner? Do you need another vial?"

Casper slid off the bed and rued in the trunk for a tube of blood

"How ry, of course, but I needed to pretend that I hadn’t utterly bloated et you ho the calculations in my head, but it just made me dizzier For now, I’d be content to leave the mechanics of the journey to fate If the worst came to pass, surely there was some nasty little cabin boy that could be spared But I took the vial from Casper and drank it lustily to bolster my charade

"Much better" I held out the empty vial with a tame smile "Dinner should be a snap"

At the time, I utterly failed to understand his facial expression, an unflatteringdisaster

After dinner, I understood