The Half-blood crown

he wolf pace inside her like a caged animal. Tomorrow she would enter the Blackwood. Tomorrow she would

through her shirt. Love of a

e? Was that what kept

at her door.

me

y with bread and tea. He set i

," Ser

is something you shoul

rned.

ompany you, but he cannot fight the beast. Only you can strike the killing blow.

old. "They want me

our Hig

ey do. They expect me to die. And i

hancellor Voss has posted guards at ever

ot fle

ould know." He bowed. "Your m

ned. "Thank you, Hal

d raced. Voss had trapped her. She could not flee. She could not refuse.

ill could

es. Let it be. Le

rred. But it

-

. She braided her hair tight. She strapped a knife to her thigh and a sho

s a princess. She w

-dark clothes, no armor, two blades at his hips. He lo

ront, his thin lips curved in a smile. Darius stood beside him, ar

kwood at sundown. You have until dawn to kill the marked rogue. I

e rules,"

ay the gods dec

him and walked into the

od swallowe

-

s. The deeper they went, the darker it became. No birds

. The feral. He knows this forest better th

ed to find

He looked around. "There's a clearing half a mile east. Open ground.

odded.

ra's senses sharpened-her hearing, her smell. The w

of grass, ringed by ancient oaks. The moon was r

he comes, I'll hold him. Y

if I

ral, Sera. You're not lost. You're just afraid.

e him. She wanted to

he how

was broken. Agonized. Human and beast at once. I

tened on his bla

burst from

eyes that burned red. Its jaws were too long, its limbs too thin. It had been

cha

feral's first lunge on his blades, deflecting it sideways, then s

shouted. "

ous. It was everything she feared. Everything she could b

hesi

not fast enough. Claws raked his should

outed. "I'l

feral turned to her.

-somethi

her did not ri