<- Chapter 129 Riley folded the piece of paper in half again. ‘The Fifth Story’, was written on the outside of his letter. I hope he found what he was looking for. She rose from her father’s throne. My throne, she reminded herself.  My father in the crypt and my mother strewn ash. She made…

<- Chapter 128 Epilogue -> Cora stood outside the stinking grate.  She held the baton in one hand.  The miniature cannon rested on a wooden tray in her other.  She stood in truth. “Sovereign?”  The opera glasses were fixed on the cannon.  “Is that you?  Are you still unblemished?” “It is I, Coretta Hart, Sovereign…

<- Chapter 127 Chapter 129 -> The Gallians had offered only a cursory pursuit.  For good reason.  This far north in Gallia, there was nowhere to go.  The Eible Sea to the east and the Broken Swamps to the west.   Riley did not slow, even when the soldiers pursuing disappeared.  Alexander kicked his horse…

<- Chapter 126 Chapter 128 -> Her prison had grown, but remained entire.  The first night Cora had free rein of the castle, she explored the bounds.  Every door she found on the outer walls had been mortared shut. How are goods moving in and out? The question stood in her mind as she gathered…

<- Chapter 125 Chapter 127 -> Gavin bent over to take off his shoes.  His spine stood out from his skin.  Cora looked away. She heard his voice say, “You can still turn back.  One of the guards will take you to your room.” “Do I need to undress as well?”  She was wearing her…

<- Chapter 124 Chapter 126 -> The wind wafted savory and sweet.  Alexander saw Riley and Ruskin turn their heads toward the breeze and then he caught it. Roasting meat. Alexander’s step lightened as he heard the sound of tremulous singing, distant.  He turned his head, questioning, and his heart quickened as he realized they…

<- Chapter 123 Chapter 125 -> Cora picked up a brown leaf from her bowl.  It dripped butter.  Herbed, salted, peppered.  Rotten.  The other plate was better.  Orange sweet potatoes.  Terndowns grew in greenhouses.  Ariland traded with the south.  Kaldenval lived on cabbage and sweet potatoes in winter.  The potatoes were swimming in the same…

<- Chapter 122 Chapter 124 -> The end of the watery trail through the trees squelched with mud.  Alexander sat in the boat, pushing against the shallow bottom with the oar.  The silt and reeds were not firm, so he swept them down with the face of the oar to create a surface. Riley tugged…

<- Chapter 121 Chapter 123 -> Cora watched Gavin cut his beet into four quarters.  He ate one of them.  He flinched when he put it in his mouth.  Cora could see the pain on his face. He moved the errant triangle in between the other two, then spaced them so that they looked like…

<- Chapter 120 Chapter 122 -> Alexander could hear Riley fighting with the roots.  He’d watched for the first few minutes, but the impossibility of the situation began to bore him.  She would pull and tear one away, and another root seemed to reach out and grasp the boat. Makes sense, sure.  Of course. Why…