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Get the APPA Queen Unchained
Chapter 2 Two
er, and a little less trapped. But as she stood in her chamber staring at the packed trunk, she felt the truth settle on her shoulders. This was not a dr
. Nothing that screamed future duchess. She tied it around her neck, swallowed the dry lump in
ore like an old door swinging on rusty hinges, rea
embered. That made her smile a little. "Typical," she muttered.
eted her again, cool and full of promise. She stepped out and closed the doors quietly behind h
disciplined, loyal, and always half asleep after midnight. She had observed th
eft. A low cough near the oak tre
slipped down the balcony steps, kept low behind the rose bushes, and hu
ch of soft earth. She stumbled forward and muttered,
discovered as a child when she tried to chase a butterfly. Her mother nearly fainted when she found her out there. Victor
she crouched and dragged the trunk through with her. On the
town of Greenwharf if she followed it long enough. Greenwharf had inns, noisy taverns, and ships that traveled far beyond the border
rf
ook a
ano
everything she had ever known. Her ho
ees. For a moment she felt free i
a way of makin
of walking before her thou
out. Cedric would stand at the altar with that polite, practiced smile. The guests
ria would
"Maybe I am insane," s
napped b
. She had taken it from her uncle's old chest years ago. It was not large enough to scare
nto the darkne
ing
ess deer. Surely not a guard. She had
d hard and k
irt. She imagined she was a character in one of the stories she used to read aloud in the attic. A girl with a mission.
her head. "If I survive this, I w
rrying the trunk. She switched hands every few minutes and
. Birds began to stir. A thin mist curled along the road. It felt like the
near a small clearing. She placed the tr
"I need to rest for a mome
losed her eyes. The air was dam
she f
watchi
s snapp
teady and silent. Tall. Hooded. Moving with the kind of conf
Her fingers brushed the hilt o
stopped a f
Serious mouth. Eyes dark enough to look intimidating even at dawn. The cloaked st
Victoria forgot
ightly. "You should n
for someone who had just encountere
t appear out of the mist like a charac
he wanted to smile but refused to let hi
ood ra
w where I came
ut not enough to seem like a threat. "Because I have be
eath c
k
seen ev
t
grip on the dagg
her hand, his gaze
he said quietly. "I am here becaus
s pulse t
you?" she
more of his face. Strong features. Tire
id. "And your life is not
's heart
wa
eant nothi
n his calm voice
whether to run, Rowan glanced over his shoulder and s
are co
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