Action & Adventure
Hana ran through the broken streets of Blood Burrow. The smell of burning followed, sliding into her mouth as she gulped for air. It was as damp as toads. She would never wash herself free of it, and never stop hearing the women scream or wipe out the memory of the Limping Man.
The horses' iron shoes scraped, metal against solid stone. Slowly they struggled upward, legs bent, lungs wheezing. Society Girl's halter rope tightened in my hand. I looked back. The old mare was really having problems.
Groaning, she put her head down and lurched over one of the big rocks, her shoes slipping.
Then, as though in slow motion, she crumpled to the ground.
"The prince has...there has been an accident, a terrible accident. Crown Prince Lovell is dead, Princess."
I found myself sitting on the floor with my skirts in a heap around me...
The sea, I thought. I hear the sea. Lovell had promised me that before I went up to Dunmorra to be married in the autumn, he would steal me away for a day of freedom. We would take a boat down to the sea and fish for sole over the sandbars.
That was when I started to scream.
