LOGINI barely manage to find a waste bucket before everything I had for breakfast retches out. My throat burns. My vision is blurry. I dry heave every single thing in my stomach, warmth seeps out of the corners of my eyes. I can’t breathe. The smell of blood is everywhere. I sit there, holding the edges
The smell of rotting flesh is disgusting. Its muscle memory to pull the gloves over my hands, pick a scalpel off the medical tray. The body on the metal table in front of me has no head. ‘You have to take a sample of flesh, a sample of blood and take a look at the internal organs.’ Aunt Cynthia’s
How adorable. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks so, since when I turn back around, everyone from the fourth prince and the first order to passing strangers and our coachman is looking on in disbelief. Is it so difficult to imagine Zen would get along with children? “Don’t leave your mouth ha
“My Lady, am I mistaken or is the fourth prince avoiding me?” I look up from knotting the satchel to my belt to face Zen. There’s a slight furrow in his brows, and he looks at Lukas, standing far, far from us and talking with the first order soldiers. The fourth prince has indeed, been avoiding Ze
I need to move. But even as I think that, I cant bring myself to move. He’s holding me too firmly, I think, entirely reasonable. I won’t be able to slip away like this. Even the most critical part of me can’t find that to be entirely an excuse. After last night, I doubt there’s anyone who would lik
I wake up to the sound of a door knock. My sleep hazed brain registers the sound, recognizes it, and promptly ignores it in favor of cuddling into the warmth of my bed once more. I don’t want to wake up just yet, since last night I fell asleep so late— Last night? My eyes open, blurry with sleep,
“I have a question.” Just as Dinah sits down, she looks up with dark eyes gleaming with curiosity. I take a seat by her side. “Go ahead.” She leans back as much as she can, until her feet hang slightly above the floor of the gazebo. The fur of the cape brushes her jawline, and Dinah looks ahead i
When he says nothing, finally, I wretch my gaze to Zen. In the pale moonlight cutting through the small new leaves and web of branches, I can see both his arms wrapped around his stomach. Is he… shaking? Zen bursts out laughing. He’s laughing so hard, and so unrestrained for a moment, I even forg
He steps back, as gently and easily as he’d enveloped me in his frame, and once his shadow is gone, I’m left standing alone in the bright light of the moon. Was that a pep talk? Right now?! I walk the rest of the distance and stand at the podium, my face still warm. But it doesn’t matter! He’s righ
I curse under my breath “I’m not ready yet!” “You’d better be.” The Empress is standing above us before I can blink “Your Majesty!” I stand hurriedly to curtsy “You said it’d be just after this song ends, but it hasn’t yet— “It takes time to move everything into place.” The Empress says, her voic







