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Seconds pass I feel his eyes on aze, so I focus hard on the hands resting atop my skirt My dark skin lies in sharp contrast to the blue ofit I should have Mara file it for , when his father died in a riding accident By reputation, he is intelligent and char That’s all I know"

His voice is so tight that I look up to try to read his face It’s hard and deter moment

I need to fill the silence, to explain, so I say, "I know I’ll s will not be a consideration So it’s silly to hopebut I can’t help itThat is, I hope I ood man Like Alejandro I know he didn’t love h that escapes is al--pity, rabs ruff whisper, "I can’t ih for our queen But if such a man exists, ill find him I swear it"

I s hard "Thank you"

The h the doorway Hector drops my hand and lurches to attention

"Your Majesty!" the mayordomo pants "He’s here Lo Chato frorant immediate audience? You’re scheduled to see Lady Jada next I could ask her to wait"

My startled reaction has dislodgedwhen strands of hair are yanked out by the roots "Did Lo Chato coives me a shiver

"Yes, Your Majesty"

I set the crown on the edge of h, to wear it "Then send him in," I whisper

He bows and exits the office

"Be ready," Hector says to the guards, and hands move to scabbards; eyes shift toward the door With a ers A sives hie of motion for a sword

The mayordomo enters and says in a clipped, formal voice, "Your Majesty, I present Lo Chato of the Wallows"

A figure glides into the roo black cloak with a deep cowl that shadows his face He drops to one knee, bows his head, and waits silently

"Rise," I say, hoping he doesn’t notice the tre for a tickle of war to indicate whether the person before

The cowled htens

"Remove your hood"

He raises his hands, and I already know, even as he slides the hood back from his head--by the pale peach of his hands, the preternatural grace of his reen ashair the syrupy gold of honey

It takes only a split second forhiers in defensive position

The us My forear intoto see clawlike points embedded in his nails

His nails are cracked and encrusted with dirt, but they are free of barbs And unlike the uncannily perfect anii I encountered, he has faint lines across his forehead; a patch of dry, peeling skin across his nose; and weary, bloodshot eyes Not blue, those eyes And his hair is not white

Not a sorcerer, then I breathe deeply throughof relief

Still, an Invierno has been secretly living in roup of e of the guards’ swords, gaping at the creature he escorted in I say with a steadiness that surprises me, "The secretary will return soon from an errand Please head him off And tell no one, not even Lady Jada, the nature of ratefully

I gesture to one of the guards to close and bar the door

The Invierno regards me calmly

I’"

"Your Majesty commanded it, and I obeyed" He speaks perfect Plebeya, without even a trace of the clipped ii

"Why would an Invierno feel compelled to obey me?"

"I am Your Majesty’s loyal subject"

Not likely "Is Lo Chato your name?"

"A title"

"Do many Inviernos carry the title of ‘Lo Chato’?" I ask, too tentatively

"We have more Chatos than you have condes," he says

I don’t want to call hiuage, hty as the Thunderstors "It’s a coe callfamiliar"

"Ah, yes Please explain why you live in a cavern beneath the Wallows"

"I first came to serve as a Alejandro’s court for several years As the war began, I found it necessary to go into hiding"