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Then she silently cursed her only son, whose seed was more plentiful than her own, yet not one of the the skills required to rule a countryunable to provide her hat she needed
If only the whispers from the past could be proved true If only she could find the One, a survivor to the old throne, the lost heir who could succeed her But even if such a girl did exist, the queen would have to find her first Before her eneet to her
Until then, or until another suitable child was born, she must remain in power She must stay alive
She scrutinized the servants as they went about their work, never casting a single glance in their queen’s direction They understood their place in this world When her chief adviser crashed through the doors, he barely drew their attention
Sabara watched as he rushed forward and bowed low before her, waiting iain
She stared at the top of his head, drawing out the ti that it e made his back ache
Finally she cleared her throat "What is it, Baxter?" she intoned, giving hiht at last
He cast a suspicious glance toward the servants in the room, and two pairs of eyes stared back at him But the e, both sets of eyes shot doard, anchoring to the floor beneath their feet
& Be the eastern border If Queen Elena insists on siding with the rebels, then she’ll have a fight on her hands And blood on her conscience" He paused, just long enough to take a steadying breath, before continuing "But I fear we have a bigger probleer simmered below the queen’s cool exterior She shouldn’t be dealing with suchto war reports, or deciding which troops to sacrifice next, or wondering how long until the rebel factions would have her palace under siege These should be the problems of a new ruler, not a decrepit old woirl servant--the new one--and she willed the girl to raise her eyes, daring her to break not only etiquette, but law, by casting her gaze upward in the presence of a language above her own
The girl had been in the queen’s service for only a couple of weeks, but that was long enough to be noticed, and long enough to understand that her queen was not a forgiving one She knew better than to look up at this moment, and she kept her eyes focused on her feet
"Well, what is it? Say what you’ve co he wouldn’t have disturbed her if he didn’t have news Her eyes reroveled, bobbing his head respectfully He was unaware that he did not have his queen’s full attention "The rebellion grows stronger We believe their nuht they took out the train tracks between 3South and 5North It was the last re trade line between the north and south, whichinto the cities seeking food and supplies It’ll take weeks to--"
Before Baxter could finish his sentence, Sabara was on her feet atop the dais, staring down at him "These rebels are sitheirl made her fatal error Her head moved, only millimeters The shift was barely perceptible, but her eyes