n Jord

breathing harsh in my ears. The laughter and wh

tie caught up, blocking my path. Her face was a m

voice dripping with counterfeit sympathy. "But you can't blame Harpe

of us who couldn't transform. A rem

empty. "Move. We have nothin

d, replaced by the raw, ugly spite I knew so well. "You think you're still th

ss meant only for me. "Everything that was yours will so

ase in my deepest insecurities. But the pa

"Is that so? Then you had best pra

satisfaction of a fight. I knew any reacti

a quiet, deserted corridor. The sudden silence was

t voice spoke

's w

ing into my throat. It was h

ing to shrink the corridor. Up close, his eyes were even more arresting

gh me. I took an instincti

tween us with slow, deliberate strides. He mo

a lightning strike, mixed with something ancient, like smoke a

e intense. "You are not worthless, Lady Jordan

with betrayal and scorn, he was the first per

ed but unadorned with the crest of any house I recognized. Everything about him screa

d," I said, my voice tight with caution

e didn't seem to mind my wariness. "It's quite simple.

ecipher. "And I, as it happens, have a predicament of

ally, as if discus

couldn't form a

d, a warrior's hand. "Since we have both been so inconveniently abando

ely blank. The world

lm, but it held a weight, a command, that was impossible to ignore. "In return

as madness. Ut

f my future, my name, my dignity

a lif

ld of his eyes, my heart poundi