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Perhaps it’s not you he’s protecting, the whispers taunt, but his own fortune Why hurt the queen who holds the strings of his purse? Why else does he stay?

Maybe they’re right The whispers burrow intotheir little claws in deeper, and the rest of the ride passes in silence Finally, we reach the gates at the back of the palace, and the carriages roll into the royal grounds

I have been the Queen of Kenettra for a year And yet, entering the palace grounds still feels strange and surreal This had once been where Enzo, as a child, had dueled with a young Teren in the courtyards, where Teren had watched the princess Giulietta froraced these paths, had been pointed at the throne room where he was meant to sit, what I had once wanted to help hione, an abomination somewhere on the other side of the ocean Even his sister has long passed into the Underworld, and Teren isin the throne room

Alone Just the way you like it I have to force away the ie of my sister’s face, the tears I’d seen on her cheeks as she turned her back on me for the last time I push aside a vision of Enzo and his look of utter hatred as we faced each other on the deck of Queen Maeve’s ship As if in response, the tether between us pulls taut for a asp

Soh theto control io opensto greet us, and when they see me, they lower their heads I pause for a moment before we enter the palace to look at each of the victory Go bathe, drink, and rest I will tell your captains to clear your training schedules for today Reuard now, and you will be afforded every luxury If anyone fails to meet your expectations, report them to me, and I will see to their iht up at that I leave them before they can respond Let theave the they could ever desire It should keep theio toward a small side entrance He waves two of his former mercenaries over to follow o, I see Magiano lounging near the back entrance of the palace, dressed as if ready to head for the baths, while one of the royalto hi hiiano s off in the direction of the baths

They’reyou behind your back, the whispers say You heard the, didn’t you? What makes you think your precious thief will stay by your side? As they talk, the scene I’d just witnessedthehis lips, and hi a secret in her ear My chest burns, filling with fire and pain

Perhaps you should show theain

"It’s not real," I say under my breath "It’s not real" Gradually, the illusion fades, and the true scene replaces it again My heart ha at eon keeper tells io says, jerking hts I turn to hi this for the second tiiven a new set of clothes"

"Good," I answer Teren had killed several Inquisition guards over the past few months, those who had not been careful in his presence Now they approach hi hiio says He pats the hilt at his side "Weak"

Weak? We fall into silence again as we enter the palace and round slopes slightly until we reach a set of stairs winding into darkness, and here, Sergio takes the lead I follow him, while other soldiers trail me Our steps echo down into the depths

"Ru in the Skylands," Sergio says after a while

I look at him, but his eyes avoidto strike us again?"

"I’ve heard nothing" Sergio is quiet for another beat, and his face is draith a strange expression "Although some say your sister es of iosubtle reht be My pattern of conquests--Merroutas, Domacca, northern Tamoura, Dumor--is no coincidence It is the order of countries where Sergio has heard that Violetta ht be "Send a scout and a balira in Beldain’s direction," I finally say

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sergio replies

The original Inquisition Tower still stands, the very same one that Teren had once used to hold one on several occasions to see him in my desperation I was tempted to keep him in the saeons meant for the most important of prisoners, the ones to be kept close

And I want Teren very, very close

The dungeons are a cylinder spiraling into darkness, barely lit by slivers of light peeking through gratings froo, the dahter around me as cold air prickles row strange ht and trickling water Survivors I aer Society, the old cavern where we all used to train We, as if there were still such a thing I cast out the uidance, his sa tear froer than that