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"Me too," I said, elina’s rooeways of the palace and casting light wherever I went There was no escape, no place I could be alone

I knew, even before I’d left Angelina’s rooive her one final good-night kiss, watching her lids flutter, her eyes flitting back and forth beneath them as she finally succumbed to her exhaustion, that it hadn’t worked

She can’t help you She’s not strong enough to keep me at bay Sabara was still with ainst the wall, and an araze in lared at him until he turned away once more The affairs of the queen were not his concern, unless there was a matter of security at hand And at the moment I knew I appeared safe, despite the fact that I was anything but

Black coils of invisible sh and around me, until they were all I could see or hear or even breathe I was suffocating in Sabara’s insidious grasp

"No!" I insisted, poundingain He wasn’t hter erupted, echoing o each and every nerve fiber of my body Poor child Poor, wretched child You have no idea what you’re up against No idea how to stop round, sickened by how close to the truth her words had hit My heart shuddered violently within the dwindling space of o away I hadn’t figured out how to ht of me curled in a ball on the thick carpet uard’s voice co from somewhere outside of me "Are--are you okay, Your Majesty? Do you need help?"

I didn’t answer I couldn’t I concentrated instead, focusing everything I had on s her treacherous voice, the one that tempted me with its malice That whispered evil and deceit

She isn’t ain and again and again

I droppedmyself to draw in one breath, followed by another, and another The re sparks as y I had, clutching my hands into fists as I wrapped my arms protectively around myself

"Go away," I told her in a shaky voice And then louder, more resolved "Leave me alone!"

The only sound I heard was the whisper of booted footsteps, the guard’s steady gait as he rushed away fro to hi from within I stayed there for what see to see if she’d return, if she’d come back to torment me The oily black smoke that had just moments earlier choked me, seemed to have vanished, evaporated into oblivion, and now I could breathe again Clearly Freely

It wasn’t until I felt soainst my ear, that I dared to openthis, Charlie" Max’s words scolded entle and filled with unspoken reassurances "You’re scaring the guards" He pickedainst hi an unsteady rhythm, and I knew the real truth of his state It was him

iv

When I heard the knock atoff the headache I’d been fighting all day "Tell hiet off the bed where I was spraithtemples "No more lessons today I can’t take any h day, and Baxter, Sabara’s forhis best to pull rew thin But patience wasn’t what I needed now, and the idea of facing Baxter for yet another lesson made my head pound even more violently

What I really needed was sleep And peace and quiet inside ht before

Max had carried ently putafter he thought I’d fallen to sleep But sleep had been tenuous and hard to hold Like so ht carried on the dawn

Eventually, after he’d gone to his own cha instead to concentrate onqueen wouldwas all I did

Zafir’s voice interrupted hts "It’s Brook, Your Majesty"

At his words, I bolted up "Let her in" I jumped off the bed and was already halfway to the door when Brook came inside "Where’ve you been? You missed our lesson yesterday"

She dropped low before reet me formally, but before she could say the words, I stopped her "Please don’t, Brook It’s onlyhiht once more