a P

n the heavy,

a hundred conversations, the glittering light of a thousand candles reflected in j

in the ha

seemed to dip. A hundred pairs of eyes

ink on a brightly illuminated page. A disco

ference as my gaze cut a straight path through

he t

h

r he had fought so hard to become. He wore formal robes of black and gold, his dark hair swept back fro

ping second, our eyes me

, he loo

ooked through me as if I were a palace

art cracked. Pain, sharp an

d he had sat by my bed, his eyes red-rimmed. "Aria, when I am King, I will

ing to the tallest spire of the Citadel. "That will be your room

s. The bitter taste of fo

it fall on the woman seated in the sm

lle V

ardrobe, but hers was embroidered with a thousand tiny diamonds that glittered like a captured constellation

elonged here, in this

the chasm between us. She

her soft brown eyes met mine. For a fleeting instant, I s

ability. She leaned closer to Damien, a subtle, practic

is brow. He shifted slightly, his body creating

hammer blow to my chest. It shattered

g under the admiring gazes of the court. Isabelle's father, Duke Van

descended the steps of the

arried across the hall. "Welcome to the Obsidian Citadel." The

King shows his

a large stone pillar. I became what I was tr

saw Isabelle's brother, Caleb Vance, a man with a cruel t

ding between them and their new Luna.I tried to shrink further into the shadows, to erase mys

t never tr

action of his attention was always fixed on my corner. His eye