The next day was another lovely day in the kingdom. Though it never grew as hot around the castle or down in the village as it did in the rest of the Vast Desert, this morning was crisper and cooler than usual, enough so to require a shawl and an extra blanket for Anniston when we left my room.Feeling restless and in need of a walk, I bundled her close and started down toward the garden, only to come across Brentley and Allera out and about among the flowers, laughing and talking by a row of bushes where Brentley was slipping a daffodil behind Allera’s ear.I turned to leave them in peace, but Allera caught my eye and smiled. “Morning, Vienne. Lovely day, isn’t it?”Pausing, I nodded and sent her a return grin, even though a nip of jealousy tugged at my heart. If only my own arranged marriage had worked out as successfully as hers seemed to be.Although, actually, no, that wasn’t what I wished at all. If I wanted to be perfectly honest with myself, my thoughts veered more cruelly

With the threat from dark magic turned real, I temporarily put field training on hold in order to send out all the soldiers to Mandalay and around the castle so they could keep their ears to the ground for any news they could discover.Not twenty-four hours later, we caught a lead, and I requested an immediate audience with the king.“You asked to see me?” Caulder said as soon as I was admitted into the Throne Room. “How’re you doing, by the way? Any permanent injuries from the explosion?”“I’m well, Your Majesty.” I lifted my arms and rotated in a circle to show myself off. “All wounds have healed completely and without consequence.” I glanced Soren’s way since it was his wife’s fault I was doing so well.The dick narrowed his eyes but refrained from speaking.“That’s good to hear.” Caulder nodded. “What would you like to discuss then? I hope it’s an update on the search for dark magic.”I glanced around before answering. The king had beefed up on security substantially. Soren,

She took me out of the castle through the secret tunnel.First, we went along a narrow corridor that passed behind the kitchens and down a dark stairwell, where she had to grab a torch resting in a wall sconce at the top before descending. At the bottom, I found myself in a dank, cool wine cellar.“Hold this, will you?” She handed the torch to me so she could turn to a stone wall and dig the fingers of both her hands into a crack I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. Then she gritted her teeth until the tendons in her neck strained and she began to pull open a concealed doorway.Feeling the fool for standing there, holding the light while she did all the muscle work, I dryly said, “I could’ve done that for you, you know.”Once the door was opened enough for us to pass through, she straightened, blew out a breath and moved some hair out of her eyes with her fingers. “I didn’t mind,” she told me brightly, reaching back to retrieve the torch.I handed it over, asking, “Who usually holds

I left a numb, shell-shocked Vienne with the king, queen, and princess, and I stormed from the castle, more determined than ever to find Anniston.Whoever had taken that precious little child wasn’t going to live to see another day. That was my promise.As soon as I exited the keep, a party of people were hurrying toward me, Brentley, Allera, and Soren among them.“Did you find anything?” I demanded.“We captured these two,” Brentley answered, out of breath as he motioned to two men with their hands tied with ropes around their wrists as the soldiers containing them pushed them forward for me to deal with. “They were just outside Mandalay near one of the sand mountains between the castle and the village. We think they may be Far Shore scouts.”I strode to the two men and looked them both in the eye.“We asked about Anniston, but they’re not talking.”With a nod, I eyed one, then the other. “Did you help kidnap that baby?” I asked.When the bolder one spit at my feet, I took tha

“Well, while the boys are outside having all the fun and we’re trapped in here during the battle, is there at least some safe room we can go to?” Allera asked, pacing the Blue Chambers impatiently.“Whatever for?” Yasmin asked with a laugh. “Don’t you have any faith in your darling brother to keep us safe?”“He’s not the one I’m worried about,” Allera muttered under her breath. Then she spun to me, revealing all her vexation as she begged, “Vienne?”I sighed, readjusted the sleeping Anniston in my arms—whom I couldn’t seem to part with after she’d been returned to me—and said, “We could always go down to the wine—”But Yasmin sharply bit out, “No! We have no reason to hide. The men have everything well in hand, I’m sure. Besides, I hate the wine cellar. It’s so dank and cold down there. I wish to stay up here where I can see what’s happening.”“If you want to actually see the battle,” Allera bit out irritably, “then why aren’t we up in the East Salon, watching through all that nif