n of Zelal held the reins in a sturdy grip as he leaned over the horse's mane to avoid the low-lying tree limbs and the thorny

approach him when every motion he made was to warn them off, hunting after him as if he were the prey. Him, the Queen's assassin. Stupid bastards. Didn't they know that with a simp

ception and mercilessness far exceeded the ordinary man. It was a trait that the Queen found useful. Without them, and if she chose, he'd gain the condem

mines and to marry his childhood sweetheart. But Mato was dying, her family lived in pover

royal court. He was given the privilege to serve, but the job given wasn't one that he enjoyed. I

's royal lands, land laden with gardens and riches and many pleasurable things, repeated over and over in his mind. Mat

weak to do more than squeeze his hand. Her eyes, darkly ri

t happens or what she expects of you, please com

ss to him than she did, or perhaps in her faithfulness she showed absolute trust, one from a loving woman to the man she believed in. That desire

nt. Her face paled when his eyes

an, pandering off to a standoffish distance. His distancing, not hers, because Mato was too

gh it was a struggle not to strain away, he knew she felt his reticence to touch her in return, to tell her all she yearned to hear. As her mouth puckered an

ing more. So n

manded must be done. Finally, when the silence became unbearably long, and his mouth pressed shut with no intention of repeating any vow, Mato sighed. Her eyelids flickered,

stian was neither kind nor gentle. Baz leaned over her and quickly kissed her forehead. When he got back, he'd change. For

from the noose that choked him, he said, "I'll com

his neck by a promise that Sebastian regretted, a pr

n't matter. She didn

t they were rarely alone, and in his respect for her, he made sure that she didn't get involved with the shallow crowd he was forced to stay in contact with. Mato could never endure the backstabbing and lies

is gaze hardened and his body straightened with military precision, showing himself as the warrior he trained to be. He adjusted his weapons across his bo

ht not return, back to Mato's side. If he failed his queen, his head would greet others from a ste

im away also from the only woman he ever felt affection for or completely

another one of her missions, Sebastian's urge to maim and destroy wasn't curtailed to his prey. Hi

e bride to the stony façade required to enter the royal court. To live where others died. His sanity demanded the change. Each time he was summoned, he hoped it

in her impossible task, any life of his own halted yet again. The path leading south narrowed and dipped, the terrain turning rocky, its vegetation sparse. Baz crossed the Tanje River th

ould quicker die from the dearth of food or water in his own homelands than to have his body rot in that forsaken place. At least where he came from, he knew its

sed night encompassed, talking all the way into the dawn. Fire crackled in puny pits as the crowd gathered and listened, Jin's voice permeating their silence. Sebastian, unlike all

a command of station he bowed to. He listened, despite how he loathed agreeing. He listened, as

ted from her, accentuating the authority she wore around her like a protective cloak. Obsidian hair coiled around her fac

is hierarchy and the lofty position among her courtiers, he knew the law. Obey, or become another casualty. His posturing before her didn't stop the realiz

ing to fill her with the greediness of his blade, to disengage what wa

strange, delectably scented spice making him woozy and compliant. His gut turned to jelly. Terror riddled i

whatever is necessary, but do not harm

the p

orsaken lands and you will find it. It should b

be dead by the time the sun rose high in the silver-tinged sky. Sebastia

Mato, Mato. Repeating his future bride's name like a mantra kept his head bowed and

e crime she wanted him to commit, any logic he had left hinging on the shreds of truth and humanity he clung to

ed his favorite horse, satchels filled with food and water

re than once to return to his home, to the Vesturin where those in poverty slavishly mined to gain the Regent's elusive riches. Shadow's Blood. The gem's rarity ma

se lusting after a higher power, the men of the New World Commonwealth, began not long after. The fanatic

if his secrets made him dead inside. He'd continue to risk everything to keep he

ction, acting as the merciless hand of the Queen. He fought. He betr

d. Days turned into weeks

moonrise. Trying to keep his future bride in his thoughts, he remembered every detail o

l strength, was now nothing to him. Ru was a stranger, a hated one. Baz acknowledged him whenever they intercepted

ealous man, when it happened, Sebastian longed to reach for his knife and to gullet the bastard. He resisted the urge, as he re

over her, Ru seduced his future bride. Mat

was for adversity. Baz conceded when Mato begged leniency. And now, as he traveled far away with no expectation of returning, he had no cho

or let her run out of the firewood that keeps her warm, or fucking allow confrontation

immediately agreed to the terms set before him. Maybe it hadn't been the smartes

his eyes greedy. "I'll

, an eerie tenseness swelling up between them, their combined pride festering and singe

amn inappropriate thing. Mato deserves to fee

discounting any air of agreement.

low her to suffer just because I'm gone, and if I h

wever, give her this, even if it were the last gift he ev

urn, and I assure you I will, Mato's mine. Mine. Remem

his deadly fangs. Baz wasn't vulnerable to Ru's brand of raptor-like stealth, but Mato was. It wouldn't sur

didn't matter what Sebastian wanted, anyhow. He'd do anything-anything-

wounds weren't easily visible. "I could leave he

than you ever intended to, keeping my bride content. If you leave Mato without, I'll know." His gaze swept over the blond-haired man sta

n't be here. Your throat would already be sli

I respect that about you." He leaned in. "But believe me, I don't screw around when I sa

it. The words from Jin ran over him like a coat of honey, sickening sweet. A promise he'd not soon forge

should be loved. The knowledge that his affections were unlikely to change didn't matter. He promised her father. Sebastian's promise meant

ing him squint. In Yrurra, light radiated from night to dawn, and from dawn till night. It couldn't compare to the effervescence now burning hi

his stallion the first casualty of this daunting mission. Sebastian feared he was next. The wind knocked from him at the fall, and Baz crouched on the dusty ground, his knees holding the weight of hi

down from the sun. He couldn't leave the horse in the open to rot. Scavengers wou

he animal's grave. Even though his horse would turn to dust, the headstone was testimony

, but as the day crept by, Baz still had found none. A smart man traveled as the silvery moon stood high in the sky, and as a soldier, he kn

and over the Vesturin from the seas, even the dustiness that rose from the quarries along the mines. He wanted it more than anything. As the

hile his muscular thighs ached from the burden of lifting his body over crevice and blighted ground, time and time and time again. Baz wa

Unless he found water soon, he'd faint. Then what good would he be, vulnerably e

his failure, mockery aced by a smarmy grin. Imaging the expression from his former friend roused Seb

oss his dry lips, an offering from his queen. An ode to her cunning, but the benediction th

hers found her beauty to be a treasure. Not him. Baz wanted to rip her sultry smile from her lips. He wanted nothing to do

cause they meant salvation. He must find the portal. Excuses and pitia

passageway existed. No one knew exactly where, not even the queen.

tale, breathless air, and the harsh humidity that pummeled thickly against his weary body. The reckless hope of finding th

ly pulsing heart. He paused, considering the landscape. Her mission was impossible. He was a fool for not driving a knife t

fulfilling her desires-and through it-his. Pain of Life. Humiliation of Hope. Shadow's Bl

stia

, if he survived what man was surely never meant to enter, the ring was his offering to his bride. Because what no one knew was its existence, a ring set with Shadow's Blood, half to a ci

fully mounted upon the thin silver band. The leather cord holding the ring wrapped like

ed that there was more out there, out beyond the Regent's cruel oversight. Opening the door and returning through unscathed

to

ng the portal's entrance eluded him. Heading southward for a destination not on the Yrurrian maps, Sebastian a

d so much heartache and destruction for others.

tter this wa