Stephe

the Grand Sun Suite, the cold night wind whi

s of wings beat against the freezing air,

lame-scale Sub-Dragons, preparing to fly back to the ancestral fortress

e stripped of every loophole before

was draped gently over

ing was threaded with subtle, golden dragon silk that

forearms on the crystal balustrade, looki

en has already drafted the petitions for the King's High Court. If Kraig Harris tries to contest a sing

y eyes drifting toward the dark, jagged silhouette

. "He thinks I am worthless. He t

izing spasm ripped throug

my hands slapping down hard a

rp, tearing sensation flaring behind my sternum, ri

lling me against her side, her powerful inner heat flaring i

th hitching as another wave of cold,

t a physi

the res

still tethered my soul to Kraig Harris, a brutal, deliber

y severed his end o

lty practiced by ruling lords

off the subconscious flow of mental presence, plunging t

rushing weight of being co

d void of his absence, and to come beg

s as she seemed to sense the psychic backlash shivering through

" Germaine hissed, her voice vi

igniting with a blinding cor

ce straight down his throat. I will shatter

aid, reaching out an

lready fading, replaced by

the balustrade, letting the heavy fur

nd the entire night trembling in the dark, weeping into my pillow, wonderin

he distant black moun

sor

lon

he hot sti

ren, froze

id, my voice eerily calm, smooth as

sed m

my Stephens blood hummed beneath the surface, I visualized tha

iless mental snap, I se

nce died c

y. It can only be truly severed when the final oath of r

old in my irises flashing co

ng to look at my mother. "We send the missive tonight. I

g the unyielding, unbreakable steel in my post

ping back toward the warmth of the su

ing cedar and sweet milk washing over me

pot of black, indelible ink, laying out a sheet of thick, of

e quill i

ot writ

write an e

d, legally bi

Harris of Blac

hour of the morning. The Parting Ritual shall be conducted to sev

seal. Do

n it with the

it simply

and whistled-a sharp, piercing note

st and bearing the crest of the royal postal service, swooped down from the pa

it into the hawk's bronze leg cylinde

whispered to the beast.

road, dark wings, and launched into the night sky, stre

nto the darkness, my

the cage w

walk straight into the