News from the border was not encouraging. With the addition of the ghouls, the invaders had tripled in size. Grayson was anxious; he didn't like sitting back while others fought for him. "You would have been a terrible king, my love," Abigail teased him one afternoon. "You should have been a general." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I don’t know enough to be a general," he argued. "I just don't like sitting around when I know I could help." "What should we do then, my love?" "I think I need to go help them." Grayson asserted, turning to look at his wife. "I said 'we', Grayson," Abigail said gently. "We are in this together. If you go, you aren't going alone." "She's right," Cat interrupted, walking up to them. "We are all in this together." "Where are we going?" Rose asked excitedly as she came up behind Cat. She gave Cat a kiss on the cheek. Grayson looked at them all in a mix of gratitude and concern. "I can't keep having the three of you fight for me. I need

The rustling behind the door continued as she crept closer. She should have strapped her crossbow to herself under her cloak. Maybe they wouldn't have seen it. Whoever they were. She gripped her knife tightly, took a deep breath, and kicked in the door. The room was empty. She went inside to look around, and the door slammed shut behind her. "Hello, Duchess," a sultry feminine voice called out. A woman stepped out from the shadows. A woman who looked an awful lot like Abigail. The only difference was the hair - unlike Abigail - this woman had straight hair. "Kasdeyah," Abigail replied coldly.The sorceress was impressed. "You know my name. I'm honored," she curtsied deeply."I also know you've tried to seduce my husband and steal his power."The sorceress laughed, "To be fair, he wasn't your husband at the time. He was a free man.""He's always been mine," Abigail asserted angrily. "Yes, I learned that very quickly," she replied dryly. "You're a lucky woman. No other man has ever

The morning before their arrival in Knocklean, Rose found Grayson curled up into a ball, crying in pain. "Grayson! What's wrong?" "She knows we are close. She's hurting Abby." "I'm going to kill her myself if she hurts my sister," Rose growled. Just then, Grayson let out a wail. "She's going to kill her. We need to hurry." The group packed up their things and hurried into Knocklean. As soon as they crossed the border, the rain started, and they were attacked by ghouls. Grayson was still weak from feeling what Abby was feeling, but he managed to hold his own. Suddenly, they were in front of the castle.Aryk blasted the door down again, and they walked into the same empty room as before. "There's blood over here," Thomas said."Abby," Grayson whispered. He held up his hand for the others to be quiet. He had heard a voice calling his name. "Do you hear that?""Hear what?" Aryk asked. "Someone is calling my name.""Grayson, be careful," Rose urged, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We

The others had truly underestimated Kasdeyah and her power. She was stronger than they could have ever imagined, though still not stronger than Grayson. That's why she needed him. With their combined powers, the entire world would have to kneel before them. Before her. She had caused the argument between Grayson and Abigail that had caused her to flee. She had been able to manipulate their emotions slightly, and it had been enough to get what she wanted. As for Abigail, that was an easy illusion. Any body would do, and she had plenty to choose from. A simple illusion to make them look like the Duchess permanently, and voila! she had her own powerful king to do with as she pleased. The Duchess was finally out of her way. Pesky thing. The best part was she got to keep Abigail around and make her watch as Kasdeyah seduced her husband and made him do evil things. Kasdeyah couldn't wait to get Grayson into bed. He had four - almost five - children with his former wife; he must be ama