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“By about two days,” said a voice that wasn’t Shira’s but held a vaguely familiar tartness

She rubbed the crustiness fro beside her Short, spiky, white-blond hair A thin face that looked a decade older than the wolass pendant And a wicked slacier blue eyes

“Lady Karla?”

“Kiss kiss”

Cassidy struggled to prop herself up on one elbow—and failed “What are you doing here?”

“Looking after you I was at the Keep visiting Uncle Saetan when Vae arrived howling that you were dying and needed help fro a Healer and a Queen, I figured I would kno to deal hatever happened So here I am” She paused, then added, “Lucivar is here too”

“No,” Cassidy groaned “Not Lucivar”

“Oh, he’s not the worst of it” Another pause “Maybe he is the worst of it, but he’s not all of it”

Hell’s fire “What happened?”

“You were an idiot”

It was said lightly, but Cassidy heard the anger under the words

“You let your power floithout restraint, without limit,” Karla said

“I’ve always done that,” Cassidy protested

“Then youlike a slap “That did you no harive-and-take of power is done so often it doesn’t take that much power to renehat had been used But this land wasempty, Cassidy I don’t think anyone has enerations You were a drop of poay fro it If that Warlord Prince hadn’t had the sense to pick you up and get you into the house to break the connection to the land completely, at best you would have been broken back to your Birthright Tiger Eye At worst” Karla shook her head and sighed heavily “Well, there’s no reason to dwell on that, is there? You still wear the Rose And thank the Darkness for that”

Yes Thank the Darkness for that

Inforot herself propped up on one elboo days? I’ve been asleep fortwo days ?”

Karla nodded “We can call it ‘sleeping,’ which is a very generous word to use since even the deepest healing sleep usually isn’t that deep—not when there’s hope of the person coe to bring you to the Keep so Jaenelle could look at you Then you shifted to a more natural sleep, and I decided to wait a few e”

Keep? Jaenelle? Damn If Lucivar was here, she couldn’t brush this off in her next report to Prince Sadi And if she had been “ill” for the past two days

“The First Circle,” Cassidy said

“They couldn’t figure out how to declare war on a vegetable garden, so they’re waiting for so to recover The only reason this roo every breath you take is because I wear the Gray and outrank them all Also, I threatened to rip the balls off any h to enter without my permission—and Lucivar threatened to break all the bones of any man who eventried to enter”

“Lucivar threatened my court?”

“Court, fae He was too pissed off about what happened to you to be particular about whose bones were going to meet his fist”