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I glanced at the fabric, and recalled the flags I’d seen at Vannova, the night of the ball I hadn’t stopped to study them individually, I’d only taken in the splendor of them as a whole But now that he said it, there had been a red oneone with a cri Gaullish, just like the writing on the nize its sound" I tried to iine why these men, these Astonians, would want ainst me And then I remembered that Queen Elena had tried to invade our country once before "You don’t thinkElena wouldn’t dare"

Zafir stiffened But it was Brook, her jaw tightening, who said the words aloud "If she’s behind this, then this is war"

brooklynn

Brooklynn stared into the water at the edge of the pond, watching as theto decide what the hell was the matter with her It wasn’t as if she’d miss him, as if he’d been the kind of father who’d co but treat her as a servant from the moment her mother had died And when she’d joined Charlie at the palace, he’d all but disowned her She should be rejoicing his death

So why did she ache? Why did she feel a hollow space where her heart had once been?

She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to shed a single tear She had no use for tears Not now Not over hi to see as approaching She’d recognized the voice clearly enough It was Charlie--her queen

"Brook, I’m sorry," Charlie said in a voice filled with sincerity She still wore the bloodied nightgown, covered only by a thin robe "I--I didn’t want to" She didn’t finish her sentence

"Don’t apologize," Brook said, her own voice flat, emotionless She turned back toward the water that rippled with bursts of orange and pink and gold "He doesn’t deserve your apologies"

She could hear the footsteps behind her, as Charlie ca shoulder-to-shoulder at the pond’s edge "No," Charlie agreed "He doesn’t But you do You’retwisted in Brook’s gut I’m not hurt, she tried to convince herself, but she couldn’t say the words aloud She couldn’t say anything at all to Charlie

A long silence filled the space between the Charlie would stand there pretending that everything was okay between the her father was acceptablejustified or not

She wondered too, when Charlie had become a killer Or if it was even Charlie she stood beside now

The idea that Sabara was in there--inside the body of her friend--o

From the corner of her eye, Brooklynn saw Charlie ap between them, and she withdrew before the queen could touch her "Brook" Charlie’s voice came out as a plea

"Don’t," Brook answered "Justdon’t"