After a rather unpleasant hour, in which Annalise had to explain no less than three times to her personal guards, the captain of the palace guards, and then the captain of the city guards what had happened, she was finally escorted back to the castle. Her hands hadn’t stopped shaking, although they’d slowed enough that…
Up close, the man’s stinking breath wafted over Annalise like a miasma from rotting garbage. His worn leather vest had several deep scratches, and there were several dark stains on his pants that looked like blood. “Let me go. You don’t know what you risk by being near me,” she said. She tried to yank…
Annalise never imagined she’d miss the feeling of wind across her skin. The sun filtered through the autumn leaves overhead, creating a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the ground. As the tree branches swayed with the light breeze in the garden, the earthy scent of fallen leaves and fresh earth surrounded her. She…