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"My princess My queen The throne is yours for the taking Coather the deposed barons, the forgotten sons, the dukes shivering in the forest They’ll rally to our cause, to your cause My queen, we can take it back We can e was ic repelledI’d done, fronoring hts and ioal I had decided fro would stop e to attainin his disdain for Keen, so cruel behind his eyes, that twisted erous

As gently as I could, I extricatedhis head in a way that was cold and calculating, like a snake I’d seen once at the zoo He was all sharp lines and warning as he stood With great control, I pulledand let out a soft hiss of warning

"Is this not what you wish?" Hearing the threat in his words, I showedof succession where it rested, hidden in a pocket of lanced at Keen, one eyebrow cutting upward "Because Freesia is not a land of softness"

With a speed even he couldn’t ers curled just so He held perfectly still, unflinching at the perfectly parallel cuts I’d left on his cheek My mother had slapped me like that once, and I had worn the shah blood to heal it smoothly

"It is not yours to choose what Freesia will be, little half-baron," I said in Sanguine, the words falling as heavy as icicles from my chilled lips I could taste the sharp, sweet bite of the winter wind in every word, and he must have felt it, too Mikhail dropped to his knees before me and kissed the hem of my dress, a display my mother had always enjoyed but that had always made me squire of fealty, but it didn’t feel as if his heart was in it

He stood and inspected Keen with impersonal curiosity

"How do you stand it, ht quarters with such tender prey She smells as pure as the first snow A delicacy Have you tasted her?"

My sto Keen after e’d been through together on the Maybuck

"She’s my servant I forbid you to touch her"

"So exotic," hethe air "I wouldn’t hurt her I’ll just have a taste I would say you owecorpse of Big Gar

"Owe you?" I felt the anger rising, the beast and princess inhis blud But I heardan enemy into a tool "Very well Allowof succession, sliding it onto the correct finger The fervor lit his eyes again when he looked on it, for the thing had a certain end "You want a true ruler? Give me your wrist"

He held out the same ar his wrist in one hand, I pressed the ring firmly into Ravenna’s mark, and Mikhail hissed as a cloud of cold steam rose from his skin

"That is the Tsarina’s Crest You are sworn"

I pulled the ring away, and il Dark red patches e center stone and the crown of topaz around it Ravenna’s brand had disappeared

Mikhail’s eyes shone with respect and awe, a correct and natural result of the ceremony

"It’s true, then," he breathed, and I nodded soleht of the cro BetrayFreesia back at the first snow"

"Your word, ain, more sure this time "I am yours to command"

I smiled, cold and certain "You alere"

"What first?"

"Get me off this ship I can’t be discovered Where is Casper?"

Mikhail shrugged with a wry s, until he bowed his head and said, "So it begins I will find hi"

He slipped out the door before I could respond His quick acceptance ofcontrol of my country from Ravenna started to sink in Whether or not I wanted the heavyit was the only acceptable choice And Mikhail had taught me that even those who professed to be on athered, rallied, dominated, and co up and looking around in confusion "What the hell?"

"We’re about to go If you have valuables, stow thee Gandy aside to open the closet, but she h of the pirates by then not to resent his fate I knehere she hid her golden ball, but I didn’t knohat else she, the necklace, and the ed in htened the laces even further and checked the hter sounded in the hall, I had decided that there was nothing more I needed from the Maybuck

Keen sidled into the blind corner behind the door, Kitty’s knife in hand Mikhail entered first, looking vexed Behind him, Casper appeared with his arer

"What about pizza? And chicken wings?" the hed, an easy and mellow sound "Oh, law You could just pick up the phone, and they would deliver it to your door With Coke and those little cheesy things and cinnaoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>