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Sebastian raced forward, shoving his way through the throng of soldiers and shouting at Brooklynn as she jumped off of her horse, even before she’d come to a co? You can’t ride hi the horse’s coat and swiping away layers of thick, frothy sweat

"Where’s Charlie?" Brook de the stable

master’s concerns for the ani out to hi that she should be asking after Queen Di Heyse now, rather than her childhood friend "Where’s Charlie?"

Aron looked frazzled as he threw his arms in the air "I don’t know I’ve searched everywhere, but I wasn’t here when the train started h his already rumpled hair "I haven’t seen her I have no idea if she was on the train when it pulled away"

Brook turned to her"Was anyone here? Did any of you see your queen?"

Heads shook, and a the buzz of voices the consensus seemed to be that no one knehat had happened to her No one had seen where Charlie had gone

Brook paced, her shoulders rigid and her boots pounding angrily against the rough-hewn timbers that served as sidewalks Her hair whipped wildly around her face as she muttered to herself When Aron tried to interject, tried to ask her what shehi and lifted her chin "We’ll take an hour," she shouted, loud enough to be heard by everyone "One hour Break into parties of three and search everywhere, and I mean everywhere Homes, businesses, schools, and brothels I don’t care, if it has walls, search it In one hour we’ll roup" She turned to Sebastian "You take care of the horses" At Sebastian’s gaping expression, she added, her expression softening, "You can have five men, but that’s all I’ll spare" She stepped closer so her soldiers couldn’t hear "Get therain and water, whatever we need If we don’t find Charlie in the next hour, we’re heading north"

xi

Zafir looked downright homicidal He looked like he wanted to wrap his hands around the throat of the h the undersized doorway and throttle him

Or maybe he would’ve preferred the use of weapons To make it a slow and torturous death

But he was in no position for fighting of any kind He’d been gagged and restrained, both by ropes and chains A wise choice on the part of our captors, since surely rope alone wouldn’t have held the royal guard

His eyes blazed with deadly determination as they alit on et you out of this

I believed hilanced around, taking in our e was more of a hovel really, built from stacked stones, of course, and sealed with soht have beenwas too short, even forfeel Filthy straw covered the dirt floor, serving as ainst one wall, re me of a nest There were a few chairs that served as the only real furniture I could see, set randomly about the one-roomed structure Zafir seemed to be bound to the sturdiest of the lot

"What do you ith us?" I spun to face the h the back alley exit of the tavern Outside, another ether, the two of the horse-drawn cart, where Zafir had already been bound Like Zafir, I’d been shoved to the cart’s floor, forced to keepa potholed road out of town

Or I assumed that here ereout of town Because when I was finally allowed to rise again, there was no train depot or tavern--no buildings at all, in fact--in sight The ground, which had started out pitted and uneven, had grown nearly perilous over the course of our journey, as we’d cliht the train had been jarring, it had been nothing coed together, causing stars to burst behindstraw off ed the entire tiain, "What do you want from us?" Only to be answered with a curt "Hush now Be still"

Now, standing within the fetid walls of the cottage, the black-eyedto reveal teeth that were rotted by decay "I apologize, but it had to be that way, Your Majesty We had’ta get you outta there without anyone knowing it"

I took a step backward, staggered by the fact that these men already kneho I was, that I hadn’t sihway robbery

I was here because of who I was As was Zafir

"Wh-wh--" I tried, but my voice seemed to catch in my throat

"Wh-wh--" The , his hunched fra Histhat was doubtless listened He waved his hand dise accent It was Englaise, but fro and his a’s were too soft,his sentence sound like "Leet me eexplan" He eyed Zafir suspiciously "And then I’ll let your o"