Mag-log inNatashaI step out of my tent, fully dressed for the day, and nearly run smack into Sebastian. We both pull back at the last second, and I feel highly aware of close we came to touching.“Sorry,” I mutter.“My fault,” he mutters back. “I was just coming to find you.”I raise my eyebrows in surprise.
Owen“What the…” Diego sputters out as I slam the door behind us. I’ve brought us into the music room which is empty save for a smattering of instruments.I stare Diego down more intensely than I mean to. “What of Natasha?”My brother seems immediately on his guard. “What of her?”“Did they believe
Owen“Isaiah,” I call from the threshold to the library. The first shelf has been completely redone, and its sisters line the walls in various forms of completion.One of my most trusted guards, the one who befriended Amelia, the one who I struggle to be near for the way he reminds me of her, approa
NatashaI don’t stay at the campfire for long after Carolina and Missy are dragged off to bed by the man I found out is their uncle.I didn’t have the heart to ask where their parents are.“I think I’ll get some sleep,” I say as I stand. I’m surprised when people I’ve just newly met through Carolina
Sebastian’s smile grows impossibly wider. “Of course. You don’t have to ask my permission to talk to her.”“That’s what I said!” a male adult a few seats away says. He must be their dad or otherwise guardian.“Yeah, but,” Carolina says, glancing nervously at me again. She lowers her voice as she ret
NatashaDante was brought back to the kingdom this morning. He spent one night in the First Quarter, and warriors took shifts watching over him as he slept.Sebastian and another Sun Warrior I don’t know bagged him at dawn and walked him back to the Red Forest to find his way home. I wanted to go wi
OwenI rub my temples, pushing my chair away from the data in front of me. My father’s been giving me more and more work taking care of the kingdom so that I’m prepared to be king one day.As I take just a momentary break, my mind wanders of its own accord in the same direction it’s been wandering a
AmeliaI am frozen, rooted to this spot in the darkness. A patchwork camp lies out of hearing range to my left, an uninhabited forest even farther to my right. Behind me, behind Marion, extending in either direction between the forest and the camp, there’s nothing.Endless grass sways under the star
AmeliaThe absence of the prince’s touch is as abrasive as a cold wind.“Maya was injured,” he explains to this stranger who called him darling. I bristle, and I’m not sure if it’s because of her presence or the fact that he called me Maya. Again.“She’s unfamiliar with others and needs help with he
AmeliaMy cheeks heat, and my heart thunders in my chest. This is just like when I walked in on Prince Owen naked in the orphanage basement, back before I knew he was a prince. Except this is way worse, because now I’m the one who’s naked.The prince pats me on my bare back while I continue to choke







