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"I hardly think that’s likely And even if it’s true, her plan failed, didn’t it? She poses no threat to me now"

"You underestimate her How can you trust someone ould betray her own brother? She’s ruthless and--"

"Ruthless and powerless Without the dukes’ help, even I could have done nothing to regain my throne"

"You’re not as shtened, and tension rippled through his muscles Every one of Isabel’s defensive instincts snapped into alertness, but before she could ain "I disagree," he said in a perfectly steady voice "And I’m curious to knohy she bothers you so much"

It was a , rather than on the tension still struh him, and even then she didn’t knohat to say She knehy Clarisse bothered her so one He would come back for his sister--he would never believe she had betrayed him And because of that, Isabel couldn’t shut him out of her mind She had to think about hierous Even now, standing in front of her king, Isabel felt a dizzying sense of disorientation when she met Kaer’s blue eyes instead of Rokan’s brown ones

"She bothers er to you"

Kaer hugged his knees to his chest, staring out at the pine-covered et down froer," he said softly "Yet you’re doing nothing to get rid of him"

"I told you--"

"I knohat you told ed "I suppose I expected the Shifter to do better"

Isabel had no reply to that A sudden gust of wind blew past the the blond strands of her hair She ih the breeze was clear

"I want to trust you, Isabel" He spoke with his eyes still trained on the horizon "It’s what I’ve alanted When I heard you were at the imposter’s court, I waited weeks for you to realize your mistake and ride back to the Mistwood I knew that if I could get you alone, you would remember whose side you were supposed to be on I never stopped believing in you"

"Then don’t stop now," she said "I am on your side That’s why I’azed at her wistfully, wanting soive Rokan had looked at her like that, too, toward the end She hadn’t been able to give him what he wanted, either

The stone beneath Isabel’s feet felt too thin to support her weight She thought of half a dozen things to say, discarded the Rokan had been a fleetingdeviation froain She would regain her ability to shift, she would get out of this skin with its memories of failure and confusion, and she would continue to protect the rightful rulers of Sa after Rokan was dead…

That thought hurt, a pain so sharp and sudden she had no defenses against it For a crazy moment she wished Rokan was here, that she could tell him how to stay ahead of Kaer How to stay alive That she could explain…

Explain what? That she wished she could betray hi? That he had beenbut a weapon?

Isabel walked across the rooftop toward Kaer, waiting until the last htly away to hop onto the battleht next to him She looked down at the courtyard far below, then stepped off the edge

Air and stone whistled past her as she fell She thought of wings, ofthat could be lifted on the wind and scattered through the trees She fell, heavy and solid, trapped in a body that couldn’t fly or float or disappear

She twisted at the last e of the sill she had knoould be there, and pulled herself through the ith hands and ares’ dining cha

Once she had thought that if she saw the ground rushing toward her, she s to carry her away Well, she knew the truth of that now

And what difference did it s, they wouldn’t carry her away Nothing would carry her away She was here, and she shouldn’t want to leave Not anyht person