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Logan Gyre was sitting in the mud and blood of the battlefield of Pavvil’s Grove when Terah Graesin came to him It was barely an hour since they’d routed the Khalidorans, when the ed to devour Cenaria’s aran had issued the orders that see, then dis the Cenarian ca on a low rock, heedless of the mud His fine clothes were so spattered with blood and worse they were a total loss anyway Terah’s dress, by contrast, was clean except for the lower fringe She wore high shoes, but even those couldn’t keep her entirely free of the thick mud She stopped before him He didn’t stand

She pretended not to notice He pretended not to notice that her bodyguards--unbloodied from battle--were hidden in the trees less than a hundred paces away Terah Graesin could have only one reason to co if she was still the queen

If Logan hadn’t been so bone-weary, he would have been amused Terah had come to him alone as a show of vulnerability or fearlessness "You were a hero today," Terah said "You stopped the Godking’s beast They’re saying you killed hian shook his head He’d stabbed the ferali, and then the Godking had left it, but otherelse had stopped the Godking, not Logan

"You commanded it to destroy our eneed It already seeuess the question is," Terah Graesin said, "did you save Cenaria for yourself, or for all of us?"

Logan spat at her feet "Don’t givetoto threaten You’ve got a question forask"

Terah’s back stiffened, her chin lifted, and one hand twitched, but then she stopped

It was the hand twitch that captured Logan’s attention If she had raised her hand, was that the sign for her e of the field, but the first thing he saasn’t hertwo of the astoundingly talented archers Agon had armed with Ymmuri bows and made wytch hunters--had stealthily circled behind Terah’s bodyguards Both wytch hunters had arrows nocked, but not drawn Both an could see thes were clearly visible

One archer was alternately looking at Logan and at a target in the woods Logan followed his eyes and saw Terah’s hidden archer, ainal The other wytch hunter was staring at Terah Graesin’s back They aiting for Logan’s signal Logan should have known his streetwise folloouldn’t leave him alone when Terah Graesin was near

He looked at Terah She was slian of his an didn’t know about her an didn’t know that she had the stronger hand "You swore fealty tounder less than ideal circumstances," Terah said "Do you intend to keep your troth, or do you intend to ht, could she? It just wasn’t in her, not even when she thought she had total control over Logan She would not ht he’d already made his decision, but he hesitated He remembered how it felt to be powerless in the Hole, how it felt to be powerless when Jenine, his just-ife, had been ly wonderful it felt to tell Kylar to kill Gorkhy and see it done He wondered if he would feel the sa Terah Graesin die With one nod toward those wytch hunters, he would find out He would never feel powerless again

His father had told hian had seen what happened when he did what he kneas right, no matter how foolish it looked at the time That hat rallied the Holers around him That hat had saved his life when he was feverish and barely conscious That hat had made Lilly--the woman the Khalidorans crafted into the ferali--turn on the Khalidorans Ultiht had saved all of Cenaria But his father Regnus Gyre had lived by his oaths, through a e and ritted his teeth all day and slept well every night Logan didn’t know if he was as much of a man as his father He couldn’t do it

So he hesitated If she raised her hand to order herthe covenant between lord and vassal If she broke it, he would be free

"Our soldiers proclaian said in a neutral tone Lose your temper, Terah Order the attack Order your own death

Terah’s eyes lit, but her voice was steady and her hand didn’t s in the heat of battle I aive this indiscretion"

Is this what Kylar saved me for?

No But this is the an stood slowly so as not to alarm either side’s archers, then, slowly, he knelt and touched Terah Graesin’s feet in subht, a band of Khalidorans attacked the Cenarian ca into the darkness In the an Gyre and a thousand of his men to hunt them down

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The sentry was a seasoned sa’ceurai, a sword lord who’d killed sixteen men and bound their forelocks into his fiery red hair His eyes probed the darkness restlessly where the forest and the oak grove met, and when he turned, he shielded his eyes froht vision Despite the cool wind that swept the ca, he wore no hel But he had no chance of stopping the wetboy

For one-handed on a broad oak limb If he were still a killer for hire, he’ddifferent now, the Night Angel--immortal, invisible, and nearly invincible--and he only served death to those who deserved it

These swordsmen from the land whose very name meant "the sword," Ceura, were the best soldiers Kylar had ever seen They had set up ca They cleared brush that ht conceal the approach of enemies, banked their sed their tents to protect their horses and their leaders Each fire warmed ten men, each of whom clearly knew his responsibilities They moved like ants in the forest, and once they finished their duties, each ambled, but they didn’t drink, and they kept their voices low The only snag in all the Ceurans’ efficiency seemed to come from their armor With Ceuran ba the Khalidoran aro at Pavvil’s Grove required assistance Scale mail mixed with chain and even plate, and the Ceurans couldn’t decide if they needed to sleep arned to each other as squires