est. Birds sang in indolent concert, and the mist crawled in delicate fingers across the un

om thirst, and my breathing was like dry leaves in a storm. I had survived the night

on't remember the gasps of shock or the rough-but-gentle hands that reached for me. I on

. We need to get her

e to my survival - but then it was ju

is?" a second voice as

id, "but look at her-she's a shi

mth of the stranger involuntarily. My eyes flickered open for a moment - long enough to see the royal insignia st

not regula

the king

leather, metal, and pine filled the air. I was conscious of the tremble of a hors

rushing damp hair from my for

onsciousness, the

hed. The terror lingered-but subdued, as if

in a huge room-high ceilings with carvings, velvet drapes on wide

bed. A

ight scent of lavender. A gray-haired woman with kind eyes s

," she whispered. "No

dry and chappe

ing. "You were found by the royal patro

w seconds to sink i

nd me. "I. I shouldn't be here," I breathed, fe

ep, unfamiliar voice

iffe

tood and dropped into a

Ki

owly, and t

lders. His hair was black as the night, brushed back from a face so heart-stoppingly handsome. But it was his

re near death when my men brought you in," h

my throat

r your name?" h

" I whi

as if the name itself were treasure. "Well, Liana.

ent weaving through every word. "I'm a.

in anger - in something profound.

fools cast aside what they do not understand. I

nce Darius's cruel rejection, someone had spoke

ing hands. "I don't even

"Then let me help y

e midst of firelight, royalty, and a kindness

ve. No

ho

maybe. I had been brou

ided was the beginning f