In the early hours of the morning she awoke to the sound of her father’s coughing. She moved over to the bed and sat down beside her father.“Daddy?”Andy looked up at Shay from the bed weakly, his face red from coughing. Shay fetched him a glass of water from the far side of the room and handed it to him. He drank thirstily and Shay fetched him another glass.She cursed herself for falling asleep. Time was of the essence and she had fallen asleep when she should have been looking for information. Beyond the window Shay could see a tinge of orange blossom on the horizon. She did not know what time it was exactly but it was obvious that dawn was approaching and with it the wedding.Then the chamber doors opened and a man entered whom Shay had not seen previously. He ap

As Maica left Andy’s quarters, she knew she could no longer trust Algwad. There was a book that allowed people to cross between worlds and he had said nothing. He had captured the woman who looked exactly like her and yet he had said nothing about a book. That woman had been Andy’s wife. If Andy used a book, she had to have used a book. Where was it? For that matter where was Andy’s book?Maica surmised that it had to be with Shay. No doubt she would have taken it with her. Maica would have to wait for events to play out as planned before she could get the book from Shay.She wondered how far Algwad’s plotting went. Was it simply him trying to act on his own? Would he betray her after the King was dead?As she pondered Algwad’s possible betrayal her anger rose and by the time she reached her chambers

After Algwad left, Josh opened the book and began to read. He needed to understand as much as he could about this world and events before the wedding. He had planned to talk to the woman he had heard in the dungeons earlier but he was not returning to the dungeons.He thanked Algwad and set to work reading the book for clues. Unable to push aside the distraction caused by his meeting with Shay, he paused often though and his progress was slow. He was stunned and struck with disbelief and anger. Could the girl he loved so much be such a different person? How could someone be so deceitful? Knowingly and intentionally deceitful. How could they care so little for another person’s feelings? How could they seem to be so kind and loving and yet underneath it all, they were so evil? He felt anger stirring within him. Anger he had not felt before. He began to clench and unclench his fingers and he knew he would soon expl

In the instant that the room exploded in chaos Shay knew she had to leave. She turned around and saw Fiere was gone from his seat. She looked around quickly and saw him headed for the curtain behind their table. She knew he was leaving through the rear door and decided to follow him. She was surprised for the briefest of instants wondering why he would desert her. Then she realized he had made the connection with Josh after she had denied knowing him. She hesitated before following Fiere though the door. She turned to look for Josh. He was frozen for just an instant longer before he started to move.The guards moved quickly and began to close the doors at the back of the hall against protests from the guests. One door was closed in time while the second could not withstand the pressure and gave way with the guards and the door crashing outwards. Guests diverted from other exits which had been closed already to the one

Shay felt her grip on the knife wrench free and she assumed that Josh had taken it from her. She rolled away as quickly as she could fearing an attack from him. Then she stood and turned to face Josh.Josh kneeled. He clutched at the knife that protruded from his chest. Shay stood frozen in horror and watched him as he tried to speak.“No!” Shay cried. She rushed over to Josh and caught him as he collapsed. She cradled his head in her lap. Blood poured from the wound in his chest. His eyes were open. He was still alive. He looked at Shay without saying a word. Shay could see the anger, hatred and vengeance from a moment ago were gone now and the old Josh was back.Tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched the life flow from Josh.“I’m sorry Josh. Forgive me. I