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"And what about that other thingthat you did to the e?" His eyes held mine as he asked me about their murder "Was that Sabara too?"

I knehat he wanted to hear He wanted me to tell him that I wasn’t responsible then, either, but I couldn’t

I shookto feel ashamed for what I’d done But I wasn’t sorry, not for that "No That was just aze drifted overfor "I suppose I have to accept that I even understand it, sort of The rest of it, I don’t know yet I haven’t figured out how I feel It’s strange, the idea of Sabara living inside of youShe was randmother"

"But that’s just it--she wasn’t" My words tumbled over one another I had to make him understand this randmother--is dead The wo back further than either of us can i ankle-deep in the river’s current I could see the terror in her sister’s eyes as the girl was dragged beneath the water’s surface, savaged by a creature neither of them could see "It’s not Sabara, not really I don’t even know her true nainal name"

His brow crumpled as he started to take a step toward me, but he stopped himself "Why Niko, Charlie? Why him?"

My eyes burned and my throat ached I wasn’t sure Niko’s secrets were mine to tell, but I didn’t have a choice any more Sabara had backed me into a corner

"Niko is ancient too," I ado back as far as I can see He loves her, the Essence I carry But it’s not lanced out thethen, his eyes growing distant I waited for hi more, but he was silent, his shoulders stiff and his hands clasped behind his back He looked stiff and resolute, and faraway

He didn’t ask any more questions about Niko or Sabara, and he didn’t push ined he would

He also didn’t say what I’d hoped to hear: that he could forgive me But he was still there, still with h

I stayed where I atching him I could be patient I could wait until he was ready to talk again

And then I heard herSabara She’d been silent throughout the night and long into the led hat I’d done But she’d been there I’d felt her And now her voice was sue

I sat in the gardens, letting the night wrap around me like a shawl, even as I drew my arms around myself to ward away the chill The first snow had fallen on the palace, leaving a thin layer of crystalline flakes that coated everything It reminded me of Vannova Of the days when I still had friends and people who loved one by the ti him to Queen Elena or Astonia But that didn’t mean he didn’t leave evidence of his duplicity behind

Before he’d vanished, he’d killed one of the stable boys, and the only explanation anyone could come up as that somehow the boy had learned what Sebastian was up to, or discovered his true identity The boy had just turned twelve