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PROLOGUE

142 YEARS AFTER THE

REVOLUTION OF SOVEREIGNS

The air crackled like a gathering thunderstorirl entered the chaed everything

With effort, the queen turned her head on her pillow as she watched the little girl pad into the chahtly against her chest ahus

Maybe the queen’s guards weren’t even aware of the charge in the air, but she was suddenly conscious of the blood coursing through her veins, the quickening of her pulse, and the sound of each breath that she took--no longer ragged and wheezing

She turned her attention to the men who’d escorted the child "Leave us," she declared in a voice that had once been filled with authority but now came out hoarse and papery

They had no reason to question the coirl would be safe with her ownbehind her, her eyes widening, but she still refused to meet her mother’s stare

"Princess Sabara," the queen said softly, in her quietest voice, trying to gain the young girl’s trust In her daughter’s six short years, the queen had spent little tiovernesses, nurses, and tutors "Coirl’s feet shuffled forward, but her eyes remained fastened on the floor--a trait reserved for the lower classes, her , but she’d delayed for as long as she could The queen was young too; her body should have had , and she could no longer afford to wait Besides, she’d been grooirl reached her bedside, the queen held out her hand, tipping the child’s s princess to irl child born to me," she explained--a story she’d told the child dozens of ti her of just how special she was How important "But we’ve talked about this, haven’t we? You’re not afraid, are you?"

The little girl shook her head, her eyes bri with tears as they darted nervously one way and then the other

"I need you to be brave, Sabara Can you be brave for irl’s shoulders stiffened as she steadied herself, finding her queen’s eyes at last "Yes, Ma but ready

She will be a beauty in her tiirl’s s eyes She will be strong and powerful and feared, a force to be reckoned with Men will fall at her feet and she will crush thereat queen

She took a shaky breath It was ti the child’s tiny fingers in hers, the s from her lips as she concentrated on the task at hand

She ushered forth her soul, that part deep inside of her thattightly inside of her, still full of life in ways that her body no longer was