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He kissed her cheek, then her lips, and she tasted the salt of her own tears
• • •
On the way to the palace, the physical separation between theon, and she in the rear--was painful At the height of their coupling, they had clung to one another, unwilling to let the moment pass Every contact with Cade renewed her and renewed her determination She would find a way home, and she would take Cade with her After all the darkness she’d faced as a Green Rider, his presence was a parting of the clouds
This time she hadn’t even Raven to coon and Luke rode Raven up front Luke had asked Cade to tack up Raven, saying that if Karigan must escape quickly, it was best if the stallion was saddled and ready to go Luke was an expert horseone tooelse she was feeling, was a little jealous
It was not long before the buildings and the commotion of the city fell away, and they found thean remembered from the atlas--and in its center lay an island upon which sat the palace of the Serpentine Empire The palace was a collection of spires and copper roofs partially hidden behind a curtain wall, upon which guards patrolled To reach the island, they would have to cross first one narrow bridge to a sners had created a city and palace that could be easily defended but not easily escaped
A grassy, parklike sward made up the shoreline that circled the lake, but few made use of it, even on so fine an afternoon as this Perhaps being exposed to the palace and under the scrutiny of sothe shore It certainly an uneasy
They stopped at the checkpoint at the first bridge, the flag of the dragon sigil flapping restlessly in the lake breeze over the guardhouse Luke passed their papers, including the invitation from Webster Silk, to the Inspectors to examine His conversational chatter with the Inspectors was ravity of what lay ahead, it was not surprising
It did not take long for the Inspectors to verify the papers and open the gate to the bridge Luke and Raven led the ith Cade snapping the reins to get the an closed her eyes and tried to make herself small as she came under the eyestalks of a pair of Enforcers
Hooves clacked on the stone treadway of the bridge, and water plashed against the piers The lake air was fresh, and Karigan took a deep breath, finally opening her eyes A sailing vessel caular sails bent as it heeled with the wind It was too far distant to make out the people on board, but its proas the silhouette of a dragon’s head
The bridge was surprisingly long, but when they finally reached the second checkpoint on the san kept watching the sailboat carving through the surface of the lake until it disappeared froht beyond thenear the bridge in a V-for over her knee, but it was not enough to quell her rising uneasiness
They reached the island and were ushered through the heavily fortified gate of the curtain wall When she saw all the armed Inspectors and soldiers, and no few Enforcers, she realized that Luke’s plan that she flee in case of trouble was unlikely to meet with success Before they left the inn, Luke had mentioned how fast Raven was--much faster than Gallant, he assured her--but a bullet was even faster She must remember she could not outride the weaponry of this tile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>