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Near the water basin, she found a crude mirror of polished tin inside a bauised by the thick bronze plate of the hel under the leather ar chamber, back into the bedroo to say about the king?

Luce turned to Bill and raised the heavy leather hel now

Bill blinked, and for once th surged through Luce Disguising herself as the head of the army was, she realized, exactly what Lu Xin would have done As a common soldier, of course De would be on the front lines in this battle And she was going to find hi, the Zhou ar We must request your presence!

I believe there's soed It was deep and scratchy and echoed around the room so violently that Luce flinched, but she didn't turn to look at him She unbolted the heavy bronze handle and opened the thick bamboo door

Three reeted her anxiously Instantly, Luce recognized the king's three closest councilors: Hu, with the tiny teeth and narrowed, yellowed eyes Cui, the tallest one, with broad shoulders and wide-set eyes Huang, the youngest and kindest on the council

The king is already dressed for war, Huang said, peering past Luce into the e looksdifferent

Luce froze What to say? She'd never heard the dead king's voice, and she was exceptionally bad at i Well rested

After a deep, relieved sigh, Luce nodded stiffly, careful not to send the helestured for the king--for Luce--to walk down theand Hu flanked her, andthe soldiers Cui walked directly behind Luce,her uncoabled ceilings, all glea white, the same jade and onyx statues at every turn, the same bamboo-framed mirrors on every wall When finally they crossed the last threshold and stepped into the gray , Luce spotted the red wooden chariot in the distance, and her knees nearly buckled under her

She had to find Daniel in this lifeti into battle terrified her

At the chariot, the king's council rateful for the arripspear with a wooden handle and a curved spike a few inches below the spearhead Your halberd, Majesty

She nearly dropped the heavy thing

They will take you to the overlook above the front lines, he said We will follow behind and meet you there with the cavalry

Luce turned to the chariot It was basically a wooden platforreat wooden wheels, drawn by two ie was h for about three people to sit or stand A leather awning and curtains could be re the passenger soh the curtains, and took a seat It was padded with tiger skins A driver with a thineyes and a battle-ax climbed up to stand at his side At the crack of a whip, the horses broke into a gallop and she felt the wheels beneath her begin to turn

As they rolled past the high, austere gates of the palace, sun streareen farmland to the west The land was beautiful, but Luce was too nervous to appreciate it

Bill, she whispered Help?

No answer "Bill?"

She peeked outside the curtains, but that only attracted the attention of the droopy-eyed soldier as supposed to be the king's bodyguard during the journey Your Majesty, please, for your safety, I estured for Luce to withdraw

Luce groaned and leaned back against the padded chariot seat The paved streets of the city must have ended, for the ride beca like she was on a wooden roller coaster Her fingers gripped the plush fur of the tiger skin

Bill hadn't wanted her to do this Was he teaching her a lesson by bailing nohen she most needed his help?

Her knees rattled with each jolt in the road She had absolutely no idea how she'd find De If the king's guards wouldn't even let her look out past a curtain, hoere they going to let her near the front lines?

But then:

Once, thousands of years ago, her past self had sat alone in this chariot, disguised as the deceased king Luce could feel it--even if she hadn't joined with her past body, Lu Xin would have been here right now

Without the aid of sooyle And, e that Luce had alory in Chich?n Itz? She had witnessed and finally understood the depths of his curse in London She'd seen hi her froh the pain of her death in Prussia as if he were under a spell She'd seen him fall for her even when she was snotty and is in Milan and understood how iven up in Heaven just for her She'd seen the tortured look in his eyes when he lost her in Moscow, the saain

Luce owed it to him to find a way to break this curse