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The country could not afford Zachary to be distracted by his love of a coerous for Karigan There were those ould stop at nothing to protect the Hillander-Coutre alliance Were a co what har’s court Laren would do all in her power she could to keep them apart

Then, if that wasn’t enough, there was another matter she must address with Lady Estora—the secret they shared The secret the Riders kept It put Laren in an aard position, caught between the wishes of her slain Rider, F’ryan Coblebay, and the trust of her liege lord

She shook her head, wondering why everything had to be so bloody complicated

TO THE HAWK’S TAIL

After Karigan and Fergal passed through the outeran reined in Condor and turned in her saddle to look behind her While the nearness of the city wall blocked h on its hill, a s its facade of bright stone against the nable it stood, built by the saled roofs of the city stood gathered beneath its shadow before disappearing behind the wall

“Be well,” she whispered, unsure of whom she addressed The city would take care of itself, she knew, and very suddenly she felt bereft, exiled froht as well be a hundred miles from them

She sighed and turned away fro shouted at by the guards at the castle gates had not dian had infore one’s horse across castle grounds, but there was generally no reason to rush through town, especially with all the traffic She refused to let hi else, so he challenged her order by urging Sunny into a fast walk, constantly nosing her ahead of Condor

Sunny now had an annoyed look in her eye and shifted her stance with a definitive swish of her tail She was probably wondering what she had done to deserve this young wiggly creature on her back instead of a highly trained cavalry on the reins, he an in the least

Carts ruoods for market day Far whole cartloads of bright orange purain

“You know,” Karigan said, watching another cart roll by, this one full of wine casks, “if you hadn’t been so eager to hurry out of the city, I could have shown you sootten us here much sooner”

The Winding Way, the h Sacor City, roped around the city in lazy turns froineers to foil the progress of an invading army The Riders, andside streets and alleys While invaders could potentially use those same side streets, their narrowness would cause an entire army to jam up