LOGINThe guards pulled me up off my knees, and I let them.The room they put me in was on the east side of the palace. A bed, a wash basin, a window with bars over it. The window faced the city rather than the courtyard. The door locked behind them with a final sound.I sat on the edge of the bed and exh
Liora’s POVThe throne room was quiet for so long that I could hear the candles flickering in the air.Bianca tilted her head and looked at me from the throne like one might look at a bug they were considering squashing under the heel of their shoe. My father, for his part, continued to sit in my mo
Two hundred yards. One fifty.I kept walking.One hundred.The guards noticed me somewhere around fifty yards out. I could tell by the way one of them straightened and said something to the man beside him, both of them squinting in my direction. By the time I reached the edge of the torchlight throw
Liora’s POVCallum spotted the first patrol two blocks out from the palace. Four guards were moving in a loose line, torches throwing long shadows across the cobblestones. One glanced down our alley.I held my breath and pressed deeper into the shadows, but they kept walking, boots fading into the d
Liora’s POVMarcus was asleep within an hour of the plan being finalized.I wasn’t sure exactly when Zane came back. Sometime during the planning he had quietly slipped through the door and dropped himself into the chair in the corner without speaking, his arms folded across his chest, his head bowe
“Your engagement to Ambrose is still in effect, I take it?” Marcus asked.I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. “I’m not entirely sure. It could be, or Belinda and Bianca might prefer to have my head on a spike at this point, so…”“No.” Marcus shook his head. “They’d be foolish to kill a once-beloved
“Man, this is disappointing,” Mia sighed as she kicked aside some underbrush. “We’ve already reached the edge, and nothing—”Before she could finish, her foot suddenly slipped on a rock. Her ankle bent at an unnatural ankle as she fell with a cry.“Mia!”Zane jumped down from the tree he’d been clim
Liora’s POVThe morning after my father returned to the palace, I woke to the sensation of someone shaking my arm. Groaning, I cracked my eyes open to see Mia kneeling on my bed with a grin.“Wake up!” she announced. “School is canceled for the day!”“Hmmm?” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Why?”“Look
Liora’s POV“Zane! What are you doing here?!”I clutched my blanket to my chest, heart pounding. But not because of my compromising position in bed with my guard down. How long had he been standing there without me realizing?Had he heard me speak out loud?He held up one of those cardboard takeout
Liora’s POV“I can’t believe how excited I am.” Mia leaned in, nudging me with her elbow. “What about you? You’ve been smiling all morning.”“Have I?” I shrugged. “I guess I’m a little excited to see the royal palace for the first time.”The first time. Like I didn’t live there for my entire life. B







